House Small Business Committee weighs in on SBA 2011 Budget

Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), the Chairwoman of the House Committee on Small Business, comments on the 2011 budget for the US Small Business Administration (SBA). This is the government entity most directly involved with helping small businesses to succeed, and small businesses are often touted as being the economic driver of the economy and the major job creator.

Here's what she noted about the budget for the SBDC;

“Entrepreneurial Development programs have a track record of solid returns. In fact, every $1 spent on these efforts puts another $2.87 back into the Treasury. Most of these programs--such as Small Business Development Centers-- are catalysts for job creation. Unfortunately, the FY2011 budget would flat fund virtually all of them. It instead invests in unproven efforts like the Emerging Leaders program, which does essentially the same thing as SBDC’s, only at twice the cost. The end result is spending $6,000 on each job created when we could be spending $3,000."

Here in Minnesota, the Minnesota Small Business Development Centers program has beat the national average listed above with a program cost per job of only $382, generating a ROI (Return on Investment) in the program of $13.14.

The full statement by Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez can be found by clicking here.

To view the 2008 Annual Report for the MnSBDC (in PDF format), please click here. (The 2009 report will be available shortly)

As always, the MnSBDC program stands ready to assist small businesses in the state of Mn to succeed, and nationwide, there is an SBDC program in each state, ready to spring to action to help small businesses succeed.

Economic Clusters as a means to growth

One idea that is firmly entrenched in current economic development thinking is the idea of 'economic clusters' - related firms that build on and leverage a specific skill set or market segment. One definition (there are many) comes from the Harvard Business School's Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness; "Clusters are geographic concentrations of interconnected companies, specialized suppliers, service providers, and associated institutions in a particular field that are present in a nation or region. Clusters arise because they increase the productivity with which companies can compete."

In the 2011 budget request, the concept of economic clusters is seeded throughout various agencies. This has potential to blossom into new jobs, and only time will tell if the concept passes the budget review process and is successfully implemented by the agencies. The New Republic provides a useful summary of the agencies and the amounts, along with hyperlinks to the specific agency budgets. Here is the link to that article.