SBA Women's Business Programs Act of 2007

Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking Chairwoman Velazquez and Ranking Member Chabot for their support for this legislation and also in helping to build a strong bipartisan coalition in the Small Business Committee.

This bill, the SBA Women's Business Act of 2007, will strengthen the Women Business Centers program that was established in 1997 by making it more efficient and more accountable. The Women's Business Centers are a very important part of the grant programs that are funded by the Small Business Administration. Today, Women's Business Centers all across the country are providing women entrepreneurs with much-needed technical assistance in starting and operating their own small businesses.

In the mid-1990s, the Federal Government began awarding grants to Women's Business Centers that were operating as nonprofit organizations in conjunction with institutions of higher learning. Originally, these grants were intended to be awarded to business centers in their first 5 years with the understanding that after the first 5-year period had ended, the center would be financially self-sustaining.

Although many Women's Business Centers did meet this goal, some have not for a variety of reasons. As a result, a greater percentage of the funding for this program has been consumed by the operating costs of potentially unviable centers rather than the intended purposes of establishing new business centers. The result is a drag on the system and viable business centers that are not truly serving an unmet need in their communities. This jeopardizes the effectiveness in the viability of the entire program.

The SBA Women's Business Programs Act of 2007 will restore the original priorities held by the Federal Government when this program was created. By offering a three-tiered system of funding and lower caps on spending for older business centers, we can ensure a balanced percentage of funding is used to support both new and existing business centers.

The first tier requires that at least 40 percent of the total funds be reserved for the purpose of establishing and supporting new Women's Business Centers during their first 5 years of existence. The second tier will use 20 percent of the total funds to help sustain the centers that have successfully existed during their first 5 years.

Lastly, the third tier will use a maximum of 40 percent of the funds to continue supporting centers that have existed for 8 years or more and have met the necessary benchmarks set forth by the SBA to receive this funding. This three-tiered system will offer a helping hand to newly established centers while slowly weaning the older centers off the dependency of the Federal grants.

It is important to realize that this legislation does not affect the overall funding level of this program. Rather, it rearranges the distribution of funds to reflect the original intention of these grants, an offer of temporary assistance rather than one of permanent dependency on the Federal Government.

This legislation will ultimately restore accountability and efficiency to a program that, while well intentioned, has become weighed down by inefficiency. These are goals that every Member of Congress can all support. The SBA Women's Business Programs Act of 2007 has passed in the Small Business Committee with overwhelming bipartisan support, and I want to encourage all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote in favor of this today.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2397, to reauthorize the women's entrepreneurial development programs of the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes.

I would first begin by applauding my esteemed colleague from Oklahoma, Congresswoman Mary Fallin, for her work on, and undertaking of this important piece of legislation. The SBA Women's Business Programs Act of 2007 will help to restore the goal of the Federal Government to award grants to Women's Business Centers, originally operating as a non-profit organizations in conjunction with institutions of higher learning. This bill will also restore the balance of funding between new and existing Women's Business Centers, originally envisioned at the start of the program.

Women Business Centers (WBCs) are community-based projects that are funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration through grants that require matching funds. They provide long-term business skills training, counseling, and mentoring to benefit emerging and existing small businesses that are owned and controlled by women, especially those who are socially or economically disadvantaged. Its goal is to continually ensure that those WBC's that are indeed serving an unmet need in their underserved communities remain sustained. They also work to provide valuable technical assistance to women entrepreneurs.

The SBA's Women's Business Programs Act of 2007 authorizes the National Women's Business Council to conduct annual studies on problems hindering the success of women entrepreneurs and to submit reports to the President and the House and Senate Small Business committees. By offering a three-tiered system of funding and lower caps on spending for older business centers, SBA hopes to make certain that a balanced percentage of the funding is used to support both new and existing business centers. This system will offer assistance to newly established centers, while slowly reducing the older centers dependency on federal grant funds.

Grants awarded to these business centers in their first 5 years were awarded with the intention that after this 5-year period had ended,

the center would be financially self-sustaining. These grants were not intended to be a source of permanent funding. With that said, one of the main objectives of the SBA has been to provide direction and resources to those desiring to start and expand their small business firms.

As once stated by the House Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia M. Velazquez, ``today's small business owners are leading the way when it comes to job creation and economic development in communities nationwide. [H.R. 2397] will ensure that the needs of the drivers of our economy--small businesses--are met.'' This legislation dedicates resources to strengthen centers and ensure stability in the program.

I rise today to support, as well as to encourage my other colleagues to join Representative Fallin and myself in helping to increase the effectiveness of Women's Business Centers nationwide by supporting the SBA Women's Programs Act of 2007, H.R. 2397. I thank you once again, Representative Fallin, for introducing this important piece of legislation. I am looking forward to witnessing the tremendous effects and positive results that this bill has to offer.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2397) to reauthorize the women's entrepreneurial development programs of the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, there is no question that the face of small business is changing in this country. Women entrepreneurs now account for 50 percent of all small business owners and are growing at a phenomenal rate. The SBA Women's Program Act of 2007, sponsored by Congresswoman Fallin, works to enhance opportunities for women by increasing access to in-depth outcome-oriented counseling and training. It strengthens SBA's Women's Business Centers to ensure that they continue to serve the important role of assisting small business owners.

While many have taken advantage of the services Women's Business Centers offer, not all budding entrepreneurs are getting the resources they need to successfully start and own a business. A significant gap exists between the

number of women in our country and those involved in entrepreneurship, particularly in certain industry sectors.

Representative Fallin's legislation will increase the reach of Women's Business Centers to help develop entrepreneurship, particularly in underprivileged areas. By setting standards, it ensures that those who want to start their own firms have quality support and training resources available. The increased research that this bill requires will make sure that challenges currently impacting women are identified and addressed.

The SBA Women's Procurement Act of 2007 builds on the strong track record of Women's Business Centers. The expansion of these centers has the potential to spur economic growth in disadvantaged communities and to even move impoverished women from welfare to entrepreneurship.

I strongly support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, the small business face in America is changing. We have more and more women who would like to get involved in opening and starting their businesses, and the bill that we have before us as sponsored by Representative Fallin does just that.

It promotes opportunity for women by increasing access to business counseling and training through the development of the Women's Business Center. This will better enable women to have flourishing enterprises and help to spur job creation and economic development across this Nation. I urge adoption of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, as a husband, a father of a young daughter, the proud brother to 6 sisters, and having served alongside dedicated women in the military, I have seen first-hand the role that women play in economically strengthening American society. And this is why I rise today to support H.R. 2397, the SBA Women's Business Programs Act of 2007.

Despite their significant contributions, women who work full time, year round, still only make 77 cents for every dollar made by their male counterparts, and women business owners, particularly those from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds, face significant challenges resulting from inadequate community resources. Such resources include lack of access to capital, training resources, and networks of assistance.

Today, women-owned firms are one of the fastest growing, successful small business sectors. The number of women-owned firms has increased at nearly double the rate of all firms, and those with socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds have grown at twice the rate of their counterparts and 6 times the rate of all U.S. firms. As the number of women entrepreneurs grows, particularly those from underserved communities, I believe it is critical that women have adequate and appropriate resources to prepare them for success in the marketplace. To that end, H.R. 2397 proposes to expand the agency's commitment to the Women's Business Centers (WBCs).

WBCs provide in-depth, substantive, and outcome-oriented counseling, training and mentoring, resulting in substantial economic impact as measured by successful business start-ups, job creation and retention, and increased company revenues. They also provide financial, management, and marketing assistance to women small business owners.

H.R. 2397 supports the growth of women small business owners by expanding entrepreneurial development assistance, particularly in low- income areas. The legislation dedicates funding to the opening of new WBCs in underserved areas, while implementing new benchmarks to ensure centers that continually receive funds are meeting performance requirements. These metrics, which include information on clients served and fundraising plans, will help to preserve resources for centers that have demonstrated success helping women entrepreneurs while promoting the expansion of assistance centers into underserved areas.

H.R. 2397 is important legislation which promotes economic security for America's women, and I urge all my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2397, the Small Business Administration Women's Business Programs Act of 2007. I commend my colleague from Oklahoma (Ms. Fallin) for introducing this important legislation to reauthorize the women's entrepreneurial development programs of the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Most notably H.R. 2397 would authorize the SBA Administrator to provide financial assistance to private nonprofit organizations to conduct projects for the benefit of small businesses owned and operated by women. The bill notes that such projects shall provide, among other things, financial assistance, including training and counseling on how to apply for and secure business credit and investment capital, preparing and presenting financial statements, and managing cash flow and other financial operations of a business concern; management assistance, including training and counseling in how to plan, organize, staff, direct, and control each major activity and function of a small business; and marketing assistance, including training and counseling in identifying and segmenting domestic and international market opportunities, preparing and executing marketing plans, developing pricing strategies, locating contract opportunities, negotiating contracts, and utilizing varying public relations and advertising techniques.

H.R. 2397 would also direct that the National Women's Business Council (NWBC) conduct at least one study per year that evaluates the challenges hindering the success of women entrepreneurs, and mandates that NWBC select the topic for the study in consultation with the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate.

Support for this legislation will help Congress fulfill its commitment to ensuring that women owned and operated small businesses are able to access the resources and training they may require in order to achieve success. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2397.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.