Expanding Entrepreneurship Act of 2009

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

Mr. Speaker, first I would like to recognize Chairman Velazquez for her great leadership and bipartisan fashion on this committee which has a myriad of issues that we address on a daily basis, and I want to thank her for her excellent leadership and providing us a forum to debate these ideas in a fair fashion.

I am proud to support H.R. 1842, the Expanding Entrepreneurship Act of 2009, to assist many fellow small business owners and employees throughout my district in Missouri and throughout the country. Small businesses have generated up to 80 percent of net new jobs annually over the last decade and continue to contribute 38 percent to the gross domestic product. As we try to jumpstart the slumping economy and put people back to work, it only makes sense to provide relief and not more onerous tax hikes to our Nation's most productive job creators.

While this logic has underpinned alternative plans supported by myself and many of my colleagues to boost the economy and ensure growth in the future, it has been all but ignored by the administration and the majority in Congress. At a time when small businesses are struggling to keep their doors open, we must remain ever vigilant in improving the efficacy of entrepreneurial and technical assistance programs. We also need to ensure our small businesses are able to adequately utilize all available resources.

My bill beefs up support services in key entrepreneurial development programs, making these programs more effective and responsive to the needs of small businesses and ensuring that existing programs are being used effectively and duplicative government programs are done away with.

To make these widely used programs more responsive to the needs of small businesses and at no cost to the taxpayers, H.R. 1842 establishes planning standards within these programs, requires maintenance of an entrepreneurial development database, and ensures that someone is available to assist small businesses at all SBA district offices. The bill also requires the SBA to develop a job-creation strategy for 2009- 2010.

The bill also expands specific programs, such as small business development centers, women's business centers, and the Service Corps of Retired Executive, or SCORE. These widely used programs are intended to assist entrepreneurs with practical and technical skills needed to help start and sustain a business.

In addition, the bill creates new support programs for veteran-owned and Native American-owned small businesses, improves cross-program coordination to maximize use of program resources, and creates 21st- century online learning initiatives for entrepreneurs.

An investment in entrepreneurial development programs yields strong returns. In 2008, the SBA entrepreneurial development programs helped to generate 73,000 new jobs and bring $7.2 billion into the economy. Some economists have estimated that every dollar invested in these initiatives returns $2.87 to our economy and helps these small businesses thrive.

Since the onset of the credit crisis over 2 years ago, available credit to small businesses and consumers has contracted by trillions of dollars. Without access to credit, small businesses can't grow, can't hire, and too often end up going out of business. That is why I am particularly pleased to support a bill that strengthens small business development centers, one-stop assistance centers for current and prospective small business owners designed to assist small firms in securing capital and credit.

As Louis Celli, CEO of the Northeast Veterans Business Resource Center in Boston, put it at a recent hearing on this same subject, we have the right focus by wanting ``to interweave these programs together and really force everybody to play in the same sandbox.''

And by making entrepreneurial development programs more effective, we can be not only more responsive to small businesses but also be better stewards of taxpayers' dollars.

I urge my colleagues to support the legislation.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise before you today in support of H.R. 1842, the ``Expanding Entrepreneurship Act of 2009.'' I would like thank my colleague, Representative Luetkemeyer, for introducing this act of solidarity, as well as the cosponsors.

When people think of the American Dream, there are few things they are more likely to think of than opening a small business. Our President called them the dreamers who built this country. In his words, ``They're the workers who took a chance on their desire to be their own boss, the part-time inventors who became the full-time entrepreneurs, the men and women who have helped build the American middle class, keeping alive that most American of ideals.'' My home city is very much a part of this dream--according to Fortune Small Business magazine, Houston, Texas, is one of the five best cities in which to start a small business.

That is what makes the Expanding Entrepreneurship Act such an important bill. It would make several changes to the Small Business Administration's, SBA, entrepreneurial development programs including establishment of planning standards, greater coordination of SBA programs, maintenance of an entrepreneurial development database, creation of an entrepreneurial development portal, and the introduction of community specialists to the program.

Under this legislation, the Administrator of the SBA would be required to develop a job creation strategy for 2009-2010. This plan would include the agency's intent for using existing programs, including Small Business Development Centers, SBDCs, Women's Business Centers, WBCs, Service Corps for Retired Executives, SCORE, Veterans' Business Outreach Centers, Native American Outreach, and other appropriate initiatives, to create and retain jobs throughout the United States. The SBA Administrator would establish performance measures and criteria including job creation, job retention and job retaining goals, to evaluate the agency's progress in this effort.

Also, under this act the Administrator would be required to oversee the coordination of SBA's Entrepreneurial Development Programs with other Federal agencies when it's appropriate. The Administrator would be required to report to Congress annually on opportunities to foster coordination, limit duplication, and improve Federal entrepreneurial development programs, without regard to the agency that houses an entrepreneurial outreach effort.

To ensure easy access for entrepreneurs, a portal will be designed on the SBA website with links to all of the SBA's entrepreneurial development programs. This portal will also have links to relevant web content organized by industry type, stage of business, and level of need. A separate database of providers of entrepreneurial development services will also be established on the SBA's website.

A community specialist would also be recruited to serve in every SBA District office. Their sole purpose would be working with

local entrepreneurial development service providers to improve coordination with Federal resources. This will make the bill especially helpful for minority owned businesses.

This legislation is particularly efficient because it develops a cost effective way to reach a larger number of entrepreneurs in need and coordinates all entrepreneurial development programs eliminating duplication and government waste.

That is why I am supporting this legislation--because of what it will do to help women, minorities, and veterans who gave the ultimate service to our great country to be a part of its great dream.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1842) to amend the Small Business Act to improve the Small Business Administration's entrepreneurial development programs, and for other purposes, as amended.

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

Mr. Speaker, entrepreneurial development initiatives, or ED programs, provide critical services for aspiring entrepreneurs seeking to launch a new enterprise. These programs also help established businesses that are trying to expand and create new jobs.

By helping small firms flourish, the SBA's ED services will be vital to sustaining our economic recovery. But for this to happen, the SBA must use its resources effectively. This is especially true during economic downturns. After all, when money is scarce, we want to make sure the taxpayer gets the most job-creating bang for their buck.

We already know that ED initiatives are a wise investment. Every dollar put into these programs returns $2.87 to the U.S. Treasury. The legislation that we are considering today will make these programs even more responsive, so that they better meet the needs of small business owners.

H.R. 1842 will bring enhanced coordination to the SBA's portfolio of ED services. In order for these initiatives to perform at their full potential, we have to know what is working and what could function better. This bill takes important steps in that direction. Requiring the SBA to collect data will provide important insights into the strengths of the ED program and highlight where there is room for improvement.

The bill also instructs the SBA to develop a plan outlining how to use ED initiatives to create new jobs over the next 2 years. Given the current state of the economy, it make sense that the agency focus on using ED to expand employment options. The bill will also reduce duplication between different ED initiatives. By verifying that the SBA's right hand knows what the left hand is doing, we will further leverage the agency's resources and channel more support to small businesses.

Mr. Speaker, this is a good bill. It puts in place some commonsense steps that are badly needed at SBA. Most importantly, this bill will ensure the SBA's programs do a better job of helping businesses. I think all of us can stand behind that goal. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''

I reserve the balance of my time.

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