The Floridant - DCA Virtual: Two Decades Since the SBA Has Been Reauthorized

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RICHMOND, Va. - Floridant -- It has been 23 years since the Small Business Administration (SBA) was fully reauthorized. Now Congress may be reviewing legislation that includes reauthorization of the SBA.

Small Business Owners have been relying on the SBA to help them meet their needs since it was established in 1953. It is the only cabinet-level federal agency fully dedicated to providing counseling, capital, and contracting resources to small businesses around the country.

A unique partnership has formed to advocate for this initiative between Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices and the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC). They help bring the voices of America's Small Business Owners to our elected officials in Washington.

Janetta King, Regional Director for GS 10,000 Small Businesses Voices, shared the following:

"I was called to public service because I thought, and I still do think government can do good for people, but we have to make sure we're engaged in the process."

The Goldman Sachs 10K Small Businesses Voices is only one way that Small Business Owners can have a say in policies and legislation that impact them, thus impacting the economy.

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Dane Stangler is the Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Bipartisan Policy Center. He expanded on the recent work in Congress to modernize the SBA and this session's desire to push legislative reforms through.

"In 2019, Senators Rubio and Cardinal came really close to full reauthorization of the SBA. They were 98% of the way there, but it didn't happen. It fell apart over detailed disagreements… Our partnership with Goldman Sachs 10K Small Businesses Voices is allowing us to dig into those details," said Dane. "What are the actual, substantive, detailed things that we need to figure out, we need to hash through in a bipartisan way?"

They believe change will only come by advocating for Small Business Owners and empowering entrepreneurs to advocate for themselves.

"We have been able to marry this army of Small Business Owners with all these compelling stories, policy research, and recommendations that they can take to their elected officials and give input to what they need. BPC has done numerous focus groups. And so, we really appreciate that this isn't anyone's agenda other than the agenda of what we hear from our Small Business Owners," said King.

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Strangler added, "We're fortunate that we can take that feedback and their insights back to Washington, back to policymakers."

As the 70th anniversary of the SBA approaches in July, these organizations continue to work hard to push for reauthorization, one voice at a time.

Visit https://dcavirtual.com/23-years-since-full-sba-reauthorization/ to hear more about this initiative from King and Stangler on the Nurture Small Business podcast. You can also listen on Apple or Spotify.