This Portfolio.com article discussing proposals within the Small Business Administration to reassess, in many areas, expand the definition of a small business. A similar article can be found on Kiplinger but the Portfolio.com article also discusses political action and severe budgetary cuts proposed by the House Small Business Committee. Another resource is the SBA website itself.
If you and your small business utilize the services of the Small Business Administration, then you will want to follow President Obama’s budget proposals. The President’s 2012 budget proposal asks for $985 million for the SBA, a 45% reduction from last year’s budget, reports The Wall Street Journal. It’s not all bad news for business owners, though. Some of the savings, an estimated $20 million in fact, should come from the SBA’s efforts to streamline loan applications, re-engineering certification processes and generally making loan-management and accounting systems more efficient. It should be said, too, that the 45% reduction is not…
A few weeks ago I posted about the SBA’s focus on women in business. On October 4th, they filed a final rule aimed at expanding federal contracting opportunities for women-owned small businesses (WOSBs). On October 28th, the SBA published a compliance guide to describe “in plain English” requirements to participate in the program. Generally speaking, if one or more women own at least 51 percent of a business that qualifies as “small,” according to the SBA’s size standards, they can participate. The 60-page guide clarifies the contracting, certification and eligibility requirements of the program, which goes into effect early next…
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