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ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT: OBSTACLES 

AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUPPORTING, 

SUSTAINING, AND GROWING AMERICA’S 

ENTREPRENEURS 

ROUNDTABLE 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS AND 

ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

JULY 21, 2011 

Printed for the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

( 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov 
(II) 

COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS 

MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana, Chair 

OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine, Ranking Member 

CARL LEVIN, Michigan 

TOM HARKIN, Iowa 

JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts 

JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut 

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington 

MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas 

BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland 

JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire 

KAY R. HAGAN, North Carolina 

DAVID VITTER, Louisiana 

JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho 

MARCO RUBIO, Florida 

RAND PAUL, Kentucky 

KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire 

MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming 

SCOTT P. BROWN, Massachusetts 

JERRY MORAN, Kansas 

DONALD R. CRAVINS, JR., Democratic Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

WALLACE K. HSUEH, Republican Staff Director 
(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

OPENING STATEMENTS

Page 

Shaheen, Hon. Jeanne, a U.S. Senator from New Hampshire ............................ 1 

WITNESSES

Sanchez, Ami ............................................................................................................ 3 

Dietz, Diane .............................................................................................................. 8 

Rowe, Charles ‘‘Tee,’’ President and Chief Executive Officer, Association of 

Small Business Development Centers ................................................................ 12 

Schick, Holly I., Deputy Associate Administrator, Office of Entrepreneurial 

Development, U. S. SMall Business Administration ......................................... 12 

Snair, Scott, Program Director, New Jersey Veterans Business Outreach Center .......................................................................................................................... 12 

Bottary, Leo J., Vice President of Public Affairs, Vistage International, Inc. .... 12 

Yancey, Jr., W. Kenneth, Chief Executive Officer, SCORE ................................. 13 

Weeks, Julie R., Chair of the Board, Association of Women’s Business Centers ........................................................................................................................ 13

Williams, Daryl, Chief Executive Officer, Urban Entrepreneur Partnership, 

Inc. ......................................................................................................................... 13 

Tymes, Clinton, Director, Delaware Small Business Development Center ........ 13 

Shear, Bill, Director, Financial Markets and Community Investment, Government Accountability Office .................................................................................. 13 

ALPHABETICAL LISTING AND APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED

Bottary, Leo J. 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 12 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 107 

Collins-Williams, Maureen 

Letter dated August 4, 2011, to Chair Landrieu ........................................... 166 

Dietz, Diane 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 8 

Landrieu, Hon. Mary L. 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 4 

Rowe, Charles ‘‘Tee’’ 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 12 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 133 

Sanchez, Ami 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 3 

Schick, Holly I. 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 12 

Shaheen, Hon. Jeanne 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 1 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 50 

Shear, Bill 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 13 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 54 

Small Business Administration 

Report titled ‘‘Opportunities Exist to Improve Oversight of Women’s Business Centers and Coordination among SBA’s Business Assistance Programs’’ ............................................................................................................ 53 

Snair, Scott 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 12 
Page

IV 

Snowe, Hon. Olympia J. 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 9 

Tymes, Clinton 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 13 

Weeks, Julie R. 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 13 

Williams, Daryl 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 13 

Yancey, Jr., W. Kenneth 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 13 
(1) 

ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT: 

OBSTACLES AND OPPORTUNITIES 

FOR SUPPORTING, SUSTAINING, AND 

GROWING AMERICA’S ENTREPRENEURS 

THURSDAY, JULY 21, 2011 

UNITED STATES SENATE, 

COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS

AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP, 

Washington, DC. 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:09 a.m., in Room 

428–A, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Jeanne Shaheen, presiding. 

Present: Senator Shaheen. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JEANNE SHAHEEN, A U.S. 

SENATOR FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE 

Senator SHAHEEN. Good morning, everyone. I apologize for being 

a little late. I want to thank all of you for joining us this morning. 

I am really pleased to be here to discuss the reauthorization of 

the very important, as all of you know around the table, Entrepreneurial Development (ED) Programs at the Small Business Administration. 

I know you were expecting Senator Landrieu, but she is at another hearing. She has asked me if I could fill in for her for a few 

moments this morning and open the hearing. So, I am here to do 

that. 

I was especially pleased to be asked because the ED programs 

are very important to us in New Hampshire. As you all know, they 

provide terrific technical assistance and counseling to small businesses; and for us in New Hampshire, that is absolutely critical. 

We are a state where 95 percent of our businesses have fewer 

than 100 employees. We are clearly a small business state; and last 

year SBA resource partners, including the Small Business Development Centers and SCORE, provided assistance to over 6500 small 

businesses in New Hampshire. 

By Louisiana standards, that may not be a lot but by Maine and 

New Hampshire standards, as Senator Snowe would know, if she 

were here, that is a lot for a small state. So, I am glad that these 

programs are a priority for Senator Landrieu and this Committee. 

Our goal is to ensure that these programs are as efficient and as 

effective as possible, and that they provide the necessary resources 

to carry out their goals and responsibilities. 
2 

I want to take just a few minutes to talk about some of these important programs. This past March this Committee held a roundtable to discuss the reauthorization of SCORE, which as we all 

know is a nonprofit association dedicated to counseling and mentoring entrepreneurs across the country. 

At that roundtable, we heard from several small businesses that 

have benefitted from SCORE’s counseling, including a New Hampshire business. We had Sheree Burlington from Manchester, who 

was here to talk about the difference that it made for her. 

She told me that without SCORE’s counseling she would not 

have survived the recession, and not only has that counseling 

helped her to survive, but she has actually expanded her business 

and grown over the past two years and added some employees. 

Success stories like Sheree’s are common with SCORE which 

maximizes a small federal investment of $7 million to help tens of 

thousands of entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. 

SCORE works by leveraging private sector resources and knowledge through a network of over 13,000 volunteers and 355 chapters 

nationwide. 

I am very pleased to have Ken Yancey here, who is the CEO of 

SCORE. Nice to have you here, Ken. He is going to talk about some 

of his ideas for what we can do to support and build SCORE’s capacity in a responsible manner. 

Another integral component of the SBA network of training and 

counseling services is the Small Business Development Centers. 

With over 1000 locations, SBDCs offer a one-stop shop. 

They provide a wide variety of information and guidance in easily accessible branch locations, and again this is something that I 

know very personally from what I have seen in New Hampshire, 

what a difference the SBDCs make. 

I am glad to have Tee Rowe, President and CEO of the Small 

Business Development Centers, here with us. Nice to have you 

here, and I look forward to hearing your ideas to ensure how we 

can continue to provide consistent quality services. 

In addition to SBDCs and the SCORE, we also have representatives from a Women’s Business Center and Veterans Business Centers, both of which do so much to support entrepreneurial women 

and veterans. 

As we continue to tackle the tough issues that are facing small 

businesses in this time of economic recovery, we all know that it 

is critical that we do so in a fiscally responsible way. 

To meet that responsibility, we have to continue to examine our 

small business programs. We have to make sure they are as effective and efficient as they can be, but we also have to look at ways 

in which we can better leverage our public and private sector resources. 

Last Congress I was very pleased to join Senator Landrieu and 

Ranking Member Snowe in cosponsoring S. 1229, the Entrepreneurial Development Act of 2009, which would have provided SBA 

resource partners, many of whom are represented here today, with 

the tools they need to help entrepreneurs create, manage, and grow 

their businesses. 

The legislation was similar to provisions which have passed this 

Committee over the last several Congresses, and we hope to build 
3 

on those previous efforts in developing comprehensive, entrepreneurial development legislation. 

For the ineffective programs, we hope to find ways to figure out 

how we can make those more effective or change them so that we 

can utilize every possible resource to operate effectively and efficiently. That is why your testimony today and your ideas will be 

so important. 

Unfortunately, like Senator Landrieu, I also have another hearing that is going on at this point. So, I am going to have to leave 

and turn it over to Ami Sanchez, who is with Senator Landrieu’s 

staff, and also Diane Dietz with Senator Snowe’s staff, to provide 

opening remarks on behalf of the Chair and Ranking Member. I 

would ask Ami to go over the format for today’s discussion as well. 

Ami. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Thank you, Senator. 

Chair Landrieu asked me to extend her sincerest appreciation for 

your continued leadership and commitment to addressing the critical issues facing small business today particularly on those issues 

that we will be discussing in today’s roundtable. Thank you very 

much for that. 

Senator SHAHEEN. Thank you. I look forward to seeing the written testimony of what everyone has to say this morning. 

Thank you all. 

Ms. SANCHEZ [presiding.] Thank you, Senator. 

As Senator Shaheen mentioned, my name is Ami Sanchez, counsel to Chair Landrieu here with the Committee. With me is Diane 

Dietz, professional staff member to Ranking Member Snowe. 

Senator Landrieu deeply regrets not being able to make it today. 

As Senator Shaheen mentioned, she had a couple of other hearings 

simultaneously but really wanted to be here and wanted to convey 

her appreciation to you for contributing to today’s important discussion. 

As Senator Shaheen stated, we will be discussing the reauthorization of the SBA’s Entrepreneurial Development Program and 

building on the work that we have done over the last several Congresses including the reauthorization bill from the last Congress, S. 

1229. 

Today’s discussion is important to not only evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of the programs and soliciting your ideas on 

how we can make those programs better, but also to build a sufficient record in support of the value and need for the services that 

these programs provide to small businesses. 

Chair Landrieu has made entrepreneurial development one of 

her top priorities in this Congress and is continuing to work with 

her colleagues to come up with a comprehensive entrepreneurial 

development reauthorization bill. 

As leaders in the field of entrepreneurial development, your participation in today’s discussion is critical and invaluable. So, thank 

you for being with us today. 

Senator Landrieu has prepared an opening statement which we 

will be submitting for the record. 

[The prepared statement of Chairman Landrieu follows:] 
4 

OPENING STATEMENT FOR ROUNDTABLE on 

"Entrepreneurial Development: Obstacles and Opportunities for Supporting, 

Sustaining and Growing America's Entrepreneurs" 

U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

Chair Mary L. Landrieu 

July 21, 2011 

Good morning and thank you all for joining us for this morning's roundtable. Today we 

will discuss the reauthorization of important Entrepreneurial Development programs within the 

Small Business Administration. E.D. programs provide counselling and technical assistance to 

promising small businesses in America. As Chair of the Small Business Committee that oversees 

SBA programs, one of my top priorities is ensuring that these programs are as efficient and 

effective as possible, with the necessary resources to carry out their goals and responsibilities. 

VALUABLE ED PROGRAMS 

This past March, I held a roundtable to discuss the reauthorization of SCORE, a nonprofit association authorized under the Small Business Jobs Act dedicated to counselling and 

mentoring entrepreneurs across the country. SCORE is maximizing a small federal investment 

of $7 million, to help tens of thousands of entrepreneurs start and grow their business by 

leveraging private sector resources and knowledge, through a network of over 13,000 volunteers 

and 355 chapters nationwide. 

According to a recent Gallup survey, SCORE helped more than 16,000 small businesses 

save jobs in 2009, and at least 90 percent of SCORE's "In-Business" clients (those already in 

business in 2009) remained in business in 2010. In addition, SCORE clients created more than 

1 
5 

30,000 jobs in 2009. I appreciate Ken Yancey, CEO of SCORE, coming back to talk about 

SCORE and ways we can build and encourage more public-private partnerships like it. 

We also have Tee Rowe, President and CEO of the Association of Small Business 

Development Centers here with us today. With over 1,000 SBDCs, these locations offer a 

"one-stop shop" for assistance by providing a wide variety of information and guidance in easilyaccessible branch locations. 

I look forward to hearing from him as to how we can maximize the efficiency and 

effectiveness of the entire SBDC network. 

Beyond SBDCs and SCORE we also have representatives from the Women's Business 

Center (WBC) program and Veterans' Business Centers (VBC). WBCs provide support and 

services to a range of women business owners and entrepreneurs, particularly women of color 

and those in economically disadvantaged conimunities. Veterans' Business Centers provide 

business training, counselling, technical assistance and mentoring to Veterans, Reservist, 

National Guard and Active Duty business owners and start-up candidates in the Southeast 

Region of America. With more and more service men and women coming back every day, 

Veterans' Business Centers are an essential resource helping to create small business ownership 

opportunities. I am very proud to say that we recently opened a Veterans' Business Center in 

Jennings, Louisiana. 

FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE REAUTHORIZATION 

To suggest that the SBA and its programs that do have a successful track record are easily 

abolished is irresponsible, and I will continue to work to strengthen and promote the SBA. 

However, with that being said, we must continue to review small business programs for their 

2 
6 

effectiveness and efficiency. Prior to today's hearing, I fought to eliminate waste, fraud and 

abuse U; the U.S. Small Business Administration. In January 2011, I along with Ranking 

Member Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, sent letters to Administrator Mills and Inspector General 

Gustafson requesting recommendations for programs within the SBA that could be eliminated or 

substantially reduced, without undermining the agency's ability to serve the needs of small 

business owners. 

Additionally, in March of2011, I, along with several of my Senate colleagues, introduced 

the Small Business Contracting Fraud Prevention Act (S. 633). This bipartisan legislation 

provides a comprehensive oversight framework within the SBA to execute effective certification, 

surveillance and monitoring, and robust enforcement of its entire contracting portfolio. The bill 

also increases criminal penalties for businesses awarded contracts through fraudulent means. 

And in the previous Congress I, along with Ranking Member Snowe, introduced S.1229, 

"The Entrepreneurial Development Act of 2009." The Entrepreneurial Development Act of2009 

is the cornerstone piece of legislation for SBA resource partners, providing them with the tools 

necessary to help entrepreneurs across America to start, manage, and expand their small 

business. 

Today, we look forward to hearing from the experts. We look forward to seeing how and 

why we must change some of the entrepreneurial development programs. Most importantly, we 

hoep to receive the necessary guidance to improve entrepreneurial develop legislation. 

Developing law will provide small business owners with the programs to help create new 

programs and maximize on those already in existence. 

3 
7 

CLOSING 

In closing, I would just like to say thank you again to today's participants and I look 

forward to working with you and other leaders in the small business community as we develop 

an Entrepreneurial Development bill this Congress. 

4 
8 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Diane, do you want to say anything on behalf of 

Ranking Member Snowe? 

Ms. DIETZ. Thank you, Ami. I would just echo Ami’s remarks and 

say that I think many of you, as we were speaking this morning, 

have been long champions of the small business community. So, everybody knows everybody here, and it is certainly well-known that 

Senator Snowe has been a champion of small business throughout 

her tenure in the Senate. 

Senator Snowe has prepared an opening statement that I will 

submit for the record, and I would also like to thank each of you 

for making the effort to join this morning’s roundtable, and my sincere thanks to Senator Shaheen for her eloquent statement. 

[The prepared statement of Senator Snowe follows:] 
9 

STATEMENT FOR ROUNDTABLE ON 

"Entrepreneurial Development: Obstacles and Opportunities for Supporting, 

Sustaining and Growing America's Entrepreneurs." 

Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

Ranking Member Olympia J. Snowe 

July 21, 2011 

(VERSION 1, July 19, 2011 at 5:00 and 5 MINUTES) 

Thank you, Chair Landrieu, for holding this critical roundtable and our 

panel participants for your commitment to job creation across all demographics. 

We are truly indebted to your efforts, and eager to hear your personal insights. 

When we last met, in 2009, to reauthorize the Small Business 

Administration's (SBA's) entrepreneurial development programs, our nation 

had just surpassed a nine percent unemployment rate which cultivated an air of 

uncertainty. Unfortunately, afu1l25 months later, that alarmingly high 

unemployment rate has been virtually unchanged. As a result, a trend has 

emerged with more and more individuals taking the risk in starting their own 

small business, which is where the SBA's portfolio of counseling and 

entrepreneurial advocacy programs playa critical role. 

As Ranking Member of this Committee, one of my foremost priorities is to 

ensure that the SBA is equipped with the resources necessary to work effectively 

on behalf of those entrepreneurs who are interested in starting a new endeavor, 

or are laboring to keep their doors open. And I firmlv believe that the SBA's 

Entrepreneurial Development programs can and should plav a leading role in 

helping small businesses drive our economic recovery. 

Our nation's return to a strong and robust future depends on an economy 

of small businesses that have created approximately 64 percent of all new jobs 

over the past 15 years. The SBA's entrepreneurial development programs 

provide tremendous support and technical assistance for small businesses across 

Page 1 of3 
10 

the country. And I am pleased that many ofthese programs have matching fund 

requirements or utilize volunteer counselors, to help provide a higher return on 

investment for taxpayers. 

In Fiscal Year (FY) 2010, the nation-wide network of Small Business 

Development Centers (SBDCs) provided business counseling for over 200,000 

clients during 2.9 million hours oftraining services. And how does this translate 

in our economy? The Association of Small Business Development Centers 

estimates that a new business is opened by an SBDC in-depth client every 45 

minutes. 

We are also encouraging job growth through the 110 Women's Business 

Centers (WBC) that trained, counseled, mentored, and otherwise assisted nearly 

200,000 clients in FY2010 - a 15 percent increase from FY2009. WBCs receive, 

on average, 38.5 percent of their funding from the SBA, and according to recent 

data from the Association of Women's Business Centers, refer clients when 

appropriate to SBDCs, SCORE counselors, and additional sources of 

entrepreneurial advocacy collaborating. rather than competing. with their 

colleagues in economic development. In FY2010, it is estimated that each WBC 

helped to start 121 new businesses, and create 333 new jobs. 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate (or 

Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans stands at 13.3 percent - up nearly two 

percentage points since this time last year, and over three percentage points higher 

than the overall unemployment rate. Thus I am deeply committed to providing 

support and assistance for our military veterans who have started, or are thinking 

about opening their own business, particularly those who have recently 

separated from the service. In 2007, I worked with then-Chairman John Kerry 

to pass the Military Reservist and Veteran Small Business Reauthorization and 

Opportunity Act. This legislation required the SBA to increase its number of 

Veterans Business Outreach Centers (VBOCs) from three to the 16 VBOCs that 

Page 2 of 3 
11 

exist nationwide today, offering our veterans support in starting new ventures, or 

keeping their firms open while they deploy. 

And last, but certainly not least, in FY2010, SCORE volunteers reached 

more entrepreneurs than ever before. With the assistance of SCORE, nearly 

72,000 new jobs were created through more than one million volunteer hours of 

counseling. SCORE is a fantastic program literally powered by the sheer 

dedication of volunteers, to whom we are sincerely grateful. 

As we discuss reauthorizing these critical programs, it is also vital to 

safeguard taxpayer dollars by ensuring that they are strategically utilized, which 

is why I was pleased to invite the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to 

today's discussion. The GAO has closely examined overlapping and duplicative 

efforts, so I look forward to their insights on how the SBA can streamline their 

efforts to maximize resources. It is my hope that everyone at this table today 

walks away with a heightened awareness as to how best to reduce inefficiencies. 

Today's roundtable discussion is regrettably set against the landscape of 

debt ceiling disagreements, bleak economic and employment news, and lingering 

uncertainty throughout our economy, so I appreciate that everyone here has 

gathered with an eye toward collaboration knowing that the Administration has 

recommended flat funding for each ofthe SBA's entrepreneurial development 

programs. H ever there was a time to do more with less, this is it. 

Thank you, Madam Chair. 

Page 3 of3 
12 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Thanks, Diane. 

I would like to begin by going over the format for today’s roundtable. We have a good foundation for a reauthorization bill that we 

are going to work on based on the work that we have done over 

the last several Congresses. 

If anyone has ideas for changes from the last bill or recommendations on things that we can include or improve upon moving forward, today is the day to make your case. 

Diane and I will be reporting back to Chair Landrieu, Ranking 

Member Snowe, and other members of the Committee on today’s 

discussion and we will be using this discussion to really develop 

the bill to make sure that it is appropriate and an effective bill for 

building on the programs currently. 

We will keep the record open for two weeks, so, August 4 is the 

deadline if you would like to submit additional materials or information. 

Given the breadth of the things that we want to cover in today’s 

roundtable, it is important that the focus of today’s roundtable stay 

on constructive ways to improve coordination and effectiveness of 

these programs. 

In order to ensure that we are able to cover all the items on today’s agenda, I ask you please make your remarks and answers as 

brief as possible to allow for everyone to be able to contribute to 

the record. 

Also to be recognized to speak, I ask that you please stand your 

name card up long ways if there is a question or an answer that 

you would like to address and/or something that you would like to 

add to the record on a particular issue. 

Also when you speak, please make sure that your microphone is 

on, and you can do that by pressing the talk button right in front 

of you. 

At this time I would like to ask each of the participants to state 

their name, title, and organization for the record. If we could start 

with Tee and just work around. 

Mr. ROWE. I am Tee Rowe. I am the President and CEO of the 

Association of Small Business Development Centers. We represent 

the entire network of 63 leads and over 1000 centers from Guam 

all the way to Maine. 

Ms. SCHICK. Good morning. I am Holly Schick. I am the Deputy 

Associate Administrator for the Office of Entrepreneurial Development in the Small Business Administration, and thank you for the 

opportunity to be here. 

Mr. SNAIR. Good morning. I am Scott Snair. I am Director of the 

New Jersey Veterans Business Outreach Center. I help veterans 

with business plans and registering for targeted contracts with the 

Federal Government. I do so in New York State, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, although my budget does not allow 

me to travel to those last two places. 

And thank you so much for having me. My headquarters is based 

at Rutgers Business School in New Jersey. 

Mr. BOTTARY. My name is Leo Bottary. I am Vice President of 

Public Affairs for the Vistage International. Vistage is the largest 

for-profit CEO membership organization in the world. We operate 
13 

here in the U.S. with about 10,000 members and about 15,000 

members in 15 countries. 

And thank you very, very much for having us today. 

Mr. YANCEY. I am Ken Yancey. I am CEO of SCORE, and like 

my colleagues, thank you for allowing us to join you today. 

Ms. WEEKS. My name is Julie Weeks. I am the Chair of the 

Board of the Association of Women’s Business Centers, representing all 110 Women’s Business Centers across the country. 

And like my colleagues before, thank you very much for this opportunity. 

Mr. WILLIAMS. Good morning. My name is Daryl Williams. I am 

CEO of the Urban Entrepreneur Partnership, a program of the 

Kauffman Foundation. We are in seven different states. 

And thank you for allowing us to be here to testify today. 

Mr. TYMES. Good morning. My name is Clinton Tymes. I am the 

State Director for the Delaware Small Business and Technology 

Development Center in Delaware, housed at the University of Delaware, and obviously a member of the Association with Tee. 

And thank you for having me here today. 

Mr. SHEAR. Good morning. I am Bill Shear. I am Director of Financial Markets and Community Investment at the Government 

Accountability Office, better known as GAO, and it is always a 

pleasure to be here, and thanks very much for the invitation. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Great. Thank you. 

In order to get a better idea of the various programs, the current 

core ED programs that are offering services to small businesses, if 

I could ask our resource partners that are represented here today, 

that is SBDC, SCORE, Women’s Business Centers, and veterans 

business centers, to briefly describe the types of clients you typically serve and the types of services you provide. And if you could, 

in your answer please clarify what percentage of your services focuses on counseling, what percentage focuses on training and, to 

the extent that you do this, what percentage focuses on 

mentorship. 

Tee. 

Mr. ROWE. Sure. I will start. 

Well, and I will let Clint chime in to correct me because everybody is a little different. We have 63 networks. So, it is hard sometimes to paint with a broad brush. 

I would say that the typical client of an SBDC tends to have 

been in business longer, a couple of years or more. That being said, 

we have approximately 50 percent of our clientele nationwide that 

is what the SBA calls pre-venture which is that zero days to one 

year range. 

The majority of the services that an SBDC provides are counseling. I would say that is 80 percent. About 20 percent is training. 

Mentorship is kind of a, it is a tough thing to define for us. Because we work in and with business schools, a lot of our networks 

do have mentoring but I would not call it a formalized system in 

any way, shape, or form. 

As to what the typical client does business-wise, we help everyone in everything from biotech and software development to machine shops and restaurants. And I do not think there is any particular way to categorize the small businesses. 
14 

Clint. 

Mr. TYMES. I agree with Tee because one of the things about the 

SBDC program is that we all are different in that we meet the 

needs of our particular state, and that is the way we design our 

programs. 

So that if, you know, whatever the state, the economic development agency or the governor, their priorities are in terms of economic development, we form our programs to meet those objectives 

as well. 

So, that is why you will never get any two that are ever going 

to be the same. Tee mentioned that it is a 50–50 between pre-venture and existing. 

As in Delaware, 70 percent of ours is existing; 30 percent is preventure. But that is all by design using resource partners, you 

know, et cetera. But it is all designed to meet the needs and priorities of each state. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Thank you. 

Ken. 

Mr. YANCEY. Thank you, Ami. 

At SCORE our mix of services are roughly 55 percent counseling 

and mentoring. The balance are workshop participants. We mentor 

both face-to-face as well as online, the same with our educational 

offerings. They are both face-to-face and online. 

Our clients, we break them into roughly thirds. A third are nascent or new to business, have yet to start. A third is zero to one 

year, and a third already in business. 

At the end of a year, what we find is typically two thirds are in 

business with the balance being in that nascent or startup category. 

The services that we offer obviously are the one-to-one counseling 

much like our colleagues at SBDC, available face-to-face and online, as I mentioned, as well as a series of workshops or seminars, 

last year almost 10,000 total seminars across the country that we 

offered. 

In terms of size of business quickly, typically less than three 

years. Those that are in business and less than five employees. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Thank you. 

Julie. 

Ms. WEEKS. I would like to draw attention to not only those of 

you around the table but people in the audience that the Association of Women’s Business Centers just completed a survey among 

all of the Women’s Business Centers, a summary of which is over 

on the table to the side. 

We have had discussions with not only the Senate staff but on 

the House side too about the need for better metrics. As of fiscal 

year 2010, Women’s Business Centers helped 160,000 clients 

around the country which is actually 24 percent higher than SBA’s 

estimates because the Women’s Business Centers provide more 

services than can kind of fit into the EDMIS forms. 

According to that survey, 58 percent of the clients are socially 

and economically disadvantaged; 39 percent of them are persons of 

color; 81 percent of them are women, meaning 19 percent of them 

are men. 
15 

Part of the reason for that is not only, I mean, it is open for all. 

Anybody who wants to come in, but our services are different in a 

lot of ways. It is much more relational, not so much transactional. 

It is a long-term relationship. And a lot of people, women and men 

alike like that. 

Also as of this year, 41 percent of the clients of Women’s Business Centers are pre-start, nascent entrepreneurs; 25 percent are 

in the startup phase; and 35 percent are in business. 

That is a shift from a few years ago. There are more women in 

business, active business owners. And that is again because sort of 

like once a client always a client. A lot of women come in when 

they are thinking about starting a business. Then they will come 

back for more. Then they will maybe train or become a mentor. So, 

it is a longitudinal kind of a relationship. 

We also asked in the survey about what services do you provide 

to your clients. A hundred percent of the Women’s Business Centers provide one-on-one counseling; 100 percent of them also provide training classes in basic business skills, the ABCs of starting 

a business; 92 percent are providing classes in advanced topics, 

procurement, certification of your business, doing international 

trade, you know, selling to corporations, a wide range of growth oriented programming. 

Seventy-two percent provide loan packaging or linkages to lenders so it is access to capital as well as training and technical assistance; 67 percent are providing peer mentoring opportunities. 

There are an awful lot of mentoring circles that are formed by 

cohorts of women who are going through classes. Group counseling, 

53 percent of people who want to kind of learn to gather in a group, 

not just a training session; 35 percent women’s business certification such as with WBENC, and 13 percent also provide business 

incubator space which is, you know, a very good way for startups 

to provide low-cost overhead and also to share and mentor with 

others. 

So, that is the variety of what Women’s Business Centers do. 

Ms. Sanchez: Thank you. 

Scott. 

Mr. SNAIR. Typically, a Veterans Business Outreach Center, of 

which there are 16 in the United States, has several hundred veterans, I would say, split evenly between veterans starting up and 

veterans who currently own their business and either want to (a) 

expand and hire more veterans or (b) want to register themselves 

as either disabled veteran-owned businesses or veteran-owned businesses so that they can partake in some of the targeted contracting 

that exists for veterans on the Federal level with, for example, the 

Department of Defense, Department of Transportation, or the VA 

itself, and then finally the Department of Labor. 

Something I was very surprised to find when I started this center a year and a half ago was that many veterans who came to me 

had been diagnosed as incapable of functioning at a regular workplace either due to severe physical disabilities or due to mental 

health issues. 

And let me tell you, when a veteran walks in and says, hey, pal, 

you are all I have got, you know, hopefully I can start a business 

with your help, it is very touching. 
16 

When you see somebody like that make a go of it by securing an 

SBA-backed loan and going forward with really a clever idea that 

allows that person to work out of his home or out of a shop, it is 

very rewarding and very touching. 

I do not have the numbers comparable to, for example, a Small 

Business Development Center, but I would say it is a very specialized population, and I do want to say the numbers are growing exponentially. 

It took me a year to get to a little over 100 clients but it only 

took me a year and two months to get to 175 clients. So, I think 

the word is getting around. 

To answer your specific question about training versus mentoring, I would say to the extent that sitting with a veteran and 

writing one-on-one his or her business plan that he or she can go 

before a lender with, I would say that falls under counseling. 

Maybe one-on-one training regarding how to maneuver the roadblocks the center for veterans enterprise has kind of put up hoping 

to screen out fraudulent veterans organizations, you know, showing 

them the right way to register so they actually secure that registration, I would call that one-on-one training. And again, I would say 

about half and half. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Great. Thank you. 

I would like to go to SBDCs and SCORE. Given the current 

budgetary climate, I think it is very important that we have a clear 

understanding of SBDC and SCORE’s funding structure at the national level. 

Could you just describe that structure, that funding structure; 

and if you could, delineate what percentage of your funding comes 

from federal sources, what percentage comes from state and local 

government but not federal sources, and what percentage comes 

from nongovernment and/or private sector. 

And for private sector, if you are able to split up how much you 

utilize volunteers as part of that private contribution and what is 

remaining. 

Mr. YANCEY. Thank you, Ami. 

As you well know, the appropriation that SCORE receives from the Congress is $7 million and represents roughly 52 percent of our 

total funding on an annual basis. Our chapters raise between $3.9 and $4 million a year in support 

for the SCORE program. That comes from workshop fees, seminar 

fees, as well as donated revenue. 

Our foundation also contributed in 2010 $2.8 million or roughly 

20 percent of our total funding, and total funding for the year was 

just over $14 million. 

We also received in-kind support from various organizations to 

help us with technology or space or other needs. Like our colleagues in ED, we estimate in 2010 that the value of that in-kind 

support was roughly $2.4 million. 

We do not, for the purposes of reporting, capture a value of our 

volunteer time. SCORE volunteers in 2010 gave 1.3 million hours 

of service. Depending on how you value that service, Independent 

Sector which is one of the most prominent volunteer organization 

conglomerations, associations, whatever you want to call it, estimates that on average the value of a volunteer hour of time in the 
17 

U.S. is roughly $18. If you look further, you will find that volunteer 

management technical assistance runs somewhere between 70 and 

$80 an hour. 

So, you would be looking between $18 to $20 million and about $100 million in terms of value of the contribution of a SCORE volunteer from a time standpoint. But again, it is not a number that 

we accumulate and report on from an audit perspective. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Tee. 

Mr. ROWE. Well, SBDCs, as you know, receive a regular appro- priation from Congress. Last year it was $112,200,000 I think after 

the recission. But for the last fiscal year, full fiscal year 2010, it 

was $113 million. 

In the core program $107.5 million of that was what we call sort of our foundation. On top of that the SBDCs receive about $150 

million in cash contributions from their host institutions, state and 

local governments. 

On top of that is in-kind contributions that a lot of SBDCs no 

longer track simply because, as Ken said, tracking volunteer hours, 

it gets to be essentially a budget nightmare. And as the SBDC program has grown over the past 30 years and we have developed the 

relationships with the host institutions, the cash match as appeared, where the statute says it can be 50–50 cash and in-kind, 

it has essentially become one-to-one cash, and in-kind is the other 

side of the coin. 

To give you a rough idea, I would venture to say that the total value that we leverage the $110 million, $112 million into it is over 

$300 million in services to small businesses. 

Again, I cannot quantify the value in the hours at a college or 

university when a business school professor is lending his or her 

time in helping one of our counselors. Our counselors are doing 

over a million and a quarter hours of counseling. 

On top of that, they are getting assistance from the schools. 

Frankly, we just, yeah, it would be an accounting nightmare to figure it out exactly. But it is safe to say that the support from Congress is being leverage at least two to one. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Clinton. 

Mr. TYMES. Let me just add to what Tee says. At the university 

we do not track in-kind either because it just has become a nightmare. 

But just using Delaware as an example, our overall budget is about $1.25 million when you put all of the programs together. Our 

base funding from SBA is $627,000. 

So, we have been able to leverage that with state funding, with 

support from the university and the private sector, you know, well 

over $900,000. That is just in Delaware. 

Mr. ROWE. If I could just chime in quick because I got a little 

pie chart from one of our SBDCs. It is Oregon but it is a very good 

example. 

49.5 percent of their funding is coming from states and local; 34 

percent is the federal funding, and the other 15 percent is private 

sector support, et cetera. 

Now, that private sector support sometimes varies wildly. Last 

year—now, this year things in California, apparently their budget 

is in better shape. So, they will be receiving support from the state. 
18 

Last year, the six SBDCs in California received no state support 

but got all of their match from private sector support: foundations, 

chambers of commerce, banks, private industry. 

So, it does fluctuate but obviously the SBA support is that seed 

corn to everything we do. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Diane, do you have questions? 

Oh, I am sorry. 

Ms. WEEKS. I just wanted to chime in even though Women’s 

Business Centers are a drop in the bucket compared to those budgets, the $14 million from the Women’s Business Center program we 

have estimated it as leveraged up to $60 million in overall program 

activity because of the fact that on average the Women’s Business 

Center budgets, 39 percent comes from the SBA. The rest come 

from other federal money, state money, corporations, program revenue, other sources, that sort of thing. 

The average budget for a Women’s Business Center is about $500,000. It ranges from a low, in our survey, of $100,000, and that 

is probably one that just got started at the beginning of a fiscal 

year, up to the biggest one is like a $3 million budget. So, there 

is quite a wide range. 

And I should also add that there is a five to one ratio of volunteers to paid staff. On average, our Women’s Business Centers 

have four paid staff and five times that many volunteers. We do 

not track the hours of the volunteers but we are leveraging a lot 

of money and sharing a lot of staff with SBDC, SCORE counselors, 

and that sort of thing. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Diane. 

Ms. DIETZ. Thank you, Ami. 

I would like specifically to ask Tee, and I appreciate Ami setting 

the stage for us. As you all know, this is a political environment 

where the debt ceiling conversation is ongoing and will continue in 

the coming weeks, and budget cuts are particularly necessary to alleviate the federal deficit. Because each of you understands budgets 

and understands the limitations of those budgets, I believe you are 

very wisely leveraging that money. 

But I would like to ask Tee, under the current financial situation 

that we find ourselves in, what are the challenges faced by the 

SBDC program? 

For example, I know that SBDCs received a 9 percent cut, although you did receive $50 million in the Jobs Act that eased that 

cut. So, I am curious because in this budgetary environment, you 

do handle a tremendous amount of outreach to the small business 

community. 

What are the challenges you are seeing right now when we are 

looking at a jobs report where unemployment is unmoved from the 

month previous? 

Mr. ROWE. Well, the 9 percent was proposed in SBA’s budget in 

the last fiscal year. Under the continuing resolution, we essentially 

stayed the same. There was that small recission. 

I think the continuing issue that SBDC’s members have is always going to be making sure you acquire the match and the support from the host institution. Now, a small state, for example, like 

Delaware or Maine, has a base level of funding in the formula of 

about $627,000. Then they have to go out and match that. 
19 

In a fiscally challenged state budget, you know, Connecticut is a 

good example, but sometimes you are scrambling for loose change 

in New Hampshire and Maine too. 

Those are probably the biggest single issues. So, we are always 

trying to work with our members to develop additional sources of 

assistance. 

The accreditation process which is the, I guess for lack of a better word, we used to call it the certification process. The accreditation process for SBDCs, one of the key tenets is that there has to 

be a solid commitment from your host institution, whether it is the 

University of Delaware or the University of Maryland or the University of Georgia or the State of Ohio or whomever, they have to 

be committed to you, committed to your mission which brings up 

what Clinton said. 

The SBDC ends up being integral to the state’s economic development plan; and if you are not integral to that, then you have got 

a problem; and it is becoming part and parcel of that that drives 

us to make sure that we are integral to the state’s plan, they have 

the support, and that the support continues from SBA. 

It is a symbiotic sort of a thing. If the federal support were to 

diminish, it unfortunately has a ripple effect that sends a bad message the other way to the host institution. You know, if SBA and 

the Congress do not think you are worth it, why should we pony 

up. 

Ms. DIETZ. Well, knowing how important the dollars are from the 

SBA to leverage that money, when supplemental funding is available, how important is it, Clinton, for you in a state like Delaware 

on base funding to sort of be able to tap into those funds? I know 

it is per rata, if at all, and that is based on population and the 

number of people you are serving. 

But you are in a very base budget here. It sounds like you have 

a big mission and you are really making those dollars work. So, 

how important is not only your funding but the possibility of supplemental funding? 

Mr. TYMES. Critical. You know, I mentioned the numbers that we 

are able to leverage, and we are able to leverage that because we 

can go to the state, et cetera, and say we are leveraging two or 

three times. So, at that point it becomes critical. 

In terms of supplemental, it is important to us. This year I must 

say it is not pro rata from my understanding. If it is pro-rata it 

would be absolutely tremendous for us. But from my understanding 

the way that it is set up—— 

Ms. DIETZ. What would you do with it? What would you do? 

Mr. TYMES. What would we do? 

Ms. DIETZ. Hypothetically of course. 

Mr. TYMES. Number one, we have an opportunity. Tee mentioned 

becoming an integral component of economic development for our 

state and our host institution, and what we would do is the following. 

One, the Delaware SBDC is a unique model, a unique model in 

that we are housed not in the college of business and economics but 

we are housed within the technology transfer office of the university which drives innovation to the market place. So, we are 

unique. 
20 

We have been able, because of our technology designation and a 

number of other things, to be at the table what we call the intellectual property committee which determines the future of all innovation at the university and the state. 

Now, we are at that table. What we are going to use those dollars for is to increase our capabilities to make sure that we are able 

to stay at the table and continually contribute to those missions. 

So, professional development in terms of different business development strategies and different intellectual property strategies so 

that we become ingrained again to Tee’s point and become an integral component of the university. 

They have recognized that, and during tough times, yes, they 

have come to the table recognizing the value that we contribute 

there. 

So, that is how we would use those dollars again through increasing the capabilities and resources for databases to determine 

the market feasibility of new and innovative technologies so that 

one can make a decision whether or not to go forth with the patenting process, as an example. Should we license or should we do 

a spin out at the university in terms of a small company. 

So, that is how we would use the dollars and again become an 

integral component, an indispensable component of the economic 

development strategies of our host as well as the State of Delaware. 

Ms. DIETZ. Excellent. Thank you. 

I just have one more question and then I will turn it back over 

to Ami. And that is for Ken. 

Ranking Member Snowe loves SCORE. SCORE is a wonderful 

program. It is literally powered by the sheer determination of volunteers who have a wealth of knowledge, and just as Ami mentioned when we had our SCORE reauthorization roundtable a couple of months ago, we had nothing but people singing its praises. 

Ranking Member loves that you take a team of volunteers with 

a small amount of money and you send them out and they do fantastic work. 

My question is in fiscal year 2010 SCORE distributed $2.5 million of the $7 million SBA federal appropriation to the districts and 

the chapters that are delivering these services. 

And I am wondering if the lack of specific direction in the Small 

Business Act or by the SBA is something that we should address 

because my understanding is that yourself and the COO of SCORE 

actually makes that determination. 

Can you kind of describe to me how the budget is broken down 

and how that money gets out and how much typically gets out because it sounds like you had a $14 million leverage over all of the 

program? 

So, can we talk about, as the discussions go on about expanding 

SCORE, how the breakdown would be, would we get more money 

to the states? 

Mr. YANCEY. That is a very good question, and we certainly appreciate the Senator’s support. 

Today, the way that we distribute the budget is based on performance from a field standpoint. We do set a dollar amount cap 
21 

that will be distributed directly to the field for their purposes in 

spending. 

That is done based on volume. It is done based on growth. It is 

done based on market penetration; and then as you know, we hold 

out a percentage that we allow ourselves to make adjustments. 

Adjustments are based on the impact of change in a market place 

that are due to reasons that may or may not be controllable by our 

volunteers. 

New Orleans was a good example many years ago with the hurricane. Most of our volunteers moved away and did not come back. 

But we knew that we needed to invest more there to make sure 

that we could re-establish and be valuable and help with recovery. 

So we did. That is the way that is used. 

In the event that there could be agreement that SCORE would 

receive additional funding, the answer is absolutely yes, more 

money would go to the field. 

In terms of total going to the field, roughly two-thirds of the 

budget goes to the field directly and indirectly. Indirect support includes things like the materials, publications, Web sites, other educational pieces. 

The requirements, the data collection requirements that we have 

under EDMIS through our own system, all of that is provided by 

a national system. This support is an indirect contribution. 

We do look also to expansion opportunities, and in the event that 

we had additional funds in 2012 or beyond, we would be looking 

at markets where we believe we can do more and better which, 

quite frankly, include just about every market we are in. 

The ability and the need for us to expand and partner and figure 

out ways to better leverage existing services that are in a market, 

whether it be a Women’s Business Center or an SBDC or any 

other, Chamber of Commerce or any other program I think is important. 

That would include, and I know the Senator is particularly sensitive to, the needs of rural communities. We believe that we can 

partner with anchor organizations that are already existing in 

those communities and provide services beyond what is already 

available. 

Correct, like the people here. 

And offer sometimes unique services that might not already be 

there. For example, while the Women’s Business Center may have 

a fantastic presence in a small market, they may not have an expert in international trade. If they don’t, I do; and I have the ability to get that service to that market in an electronic fashion either 

over the telephone or, in many instances, face-to-face. 

So, we believe that we can provide skills, unique skills and abilities, and talents that are not resident and can work with anchor 

organizations that are already in place to continue to add value in 

those communities. 

And assuming that there would be an increase, we would certainly use funds to do those things. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Great. Thank you. 

We have two representatives from the entities that provide these 

types of services that are not officially SBA resource partners. One, 
22 

like UEP in the nonprofit world and then a for-profit representative. 

I would like to ask you two if you could provide a background 

on what your entities do, how you provide your services. And really 

for Vistage, I would like if you could, to the extent that you provide 

mentoring not just from experience, chairs or counselors, but 

amongst each other in the businesses that are part of your organization, how important is that to the success of what you are doing? 

Mr. WILLIAMS. Again, thank you for having us here. The UEP is 

a program of the Kauffman Foundation out in Kansas City, Missouri, and our focus is a little bit different. 

We have touched locally all of your organizations at one point or 

another in our work that we do. But we look at ourselves as an extension of the work that the SBA programs do because we focus on 

scalable firms in underserved areas. 

So, that is our mission, to really try to move that needle. And 

so, we work in a different kind of model where we think mentoring 

and coaching are both important but they are different. So, we separate those. We think volunteer and paid employees are both important but we separate those as well. 

And we work on the side of the coaching and the paid coaches, 

on that model, because our businesses are probably at a different 

stage than some of your businesses, although we get some of those 

clients that come into our doors and we refer them out to some of 

your organizations. 

And so our focus is twofold. One, we want to make sure that we 

have the stats behind what we do in terms of trying to extract the 

best practices. So far we have trained approximately 2000 entrepreneurs. 

We have offices on the Gulf Coast. We have a small amount of 

local government funding there but most of our funding comes from 

foundations, and we have increased the profitability by these clients by 24 percent over the past five years and their revenues 

about 44 percent. 

We collect over 250 variables on every entrepreneur. We want to 

make sure that we understand what these levers of success are so 

when we go to replicate, you know, that we are extracting the best 

practices. 

But I think that it is very important in terms of working with 

these other organizations. I mean, I think there is a linear path. 

I think sometimes we may get caught up in our organizations as 

opposed to what is best for the clients. 

And when you look at clients that are out and we have the ability to, say, we have a better mousetrap, the entrepreneurial dream, 

there should not be any seams in that process. It should be from 

startups, from the small veterans that can move to SCORE, that 

can move. 

But I think on the other side of the lever I think Mr. Bottary 

here and what the UEP does, we do not have a lot of government 

support. So, when the entrepreneurs get to that level, for example, 

in Detroit we are working with 150 of the top minority auto suppliers. Their revenues range from $1 million to $500 million. 
23 

So, we have businesses at that level that we are trying to help 

and transform or diverse their manufacturing portfolio, and we do 

not have any government support to do that. It is all philanthropic. 

I think it is important because at the end of the day what we 

are all looking for is impact on communities in terms of the economic impact. 

I think anything we can do to create that linear process with a 

seamless integration from the beginning to the end, because we 

know no small businesses create all those jobs, and you know, that 

is the economic engine that will bring us out of this recession. 

Anything we can do to encourage that I think is important. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Great. Thank you. I appreciate that and maybe 

there are some things we can learn in how you are utilizing your 

approach to serve small businesses in that. So thank you. 

Mr. WILLIAMS. Absolutely. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Leo. 

Mr. BOTTARY. Vistage has been around since about 1957. Some 

of you may know it as TEC, which was The Executive Committee. 

It changed its name back in 2006. 

Probably to look at the audiences we serve, we could break them 

up into four groups. Largely they are chief executive officers of 

companies that are usually in excess of 25 employees in the $5- to 

$50 million range. We do have about just over 900 companies that 

would be over $50-million and about 300 of those over $100-million 

in size. 

The next group would be CEOs of what we call small business 

in terms of our SB group or $1- to $5-million companies under 25 

employees. 

Next we serve key executives. For many Vistage CEOs who get 

the value of the Vistage experience, what they want to do is make 

sure that maybe some of their key executives get that as well. So, 

it helps kind of improve the bench strength of each of these companies. So, key executives are a third group. 

And fourth are trusted advisors. Those are typically those who 

counsel and provide consulting services to CEOs. 

So, as a member, for example, so let us say I am a chief executive of a $5- to $50-million company. I would be part of a peer advisory group. 

So, in my city or county or wherever I am, I would be part of 

a group of 12 to 16 CEOs that would be led by a Vistage chair who 

is also a former CEO and our Vistage chairs go through very extensive training not only prior to becoming a Vistage chair but 

throughout. 

And they facilitate these group sessions where effectively CEOs 

who are otherwise just sitting in the chair alone having to make 

decisions for the good of their organization want the benefit of 

being part of a group where these CEOs are not competitors. 

By definition, we form these groups in a way where there are no 

competing companies but yet at the same time they share very 

common challenges and they worked together to do that. 

The second part of the Vistage experience is they get one-to-one 

coaching. That chair provides them monthly one-to-one mentoring 

session throughout the year. 
24 

Third, these group meetings that I am talking about are full day 

sessions. They meet once a month and for eight of the twelve 

months, there is a Vistage speaker. We have about 800 of them in 

our stable of, I think, world-class speakers who speak to topics that 

the chair believes are most relevant to the group. 

So that is their training. They are very intensive workshops. 

They typically last the morning, and then I would say the next leg 

of the stool here really comes in the form of what we talk about 

as content and connectivity. 

So, whether it is through our Web site or white papers or all the 

ways, they can engage the content that we can provide our members; and in addition, they network with one another on everything 

from national conferences to all-city meetings to online engagement. 

I guess, getting to the third part of the question, just briefly, is 

this idea of mentoring, training, and counseling. And it is so interesting as I think as we talk about this we all kind of have our own 

lexicon, I think, with regard to what those things mean. 

I think on the mentoring side, I would suggest that the one-toone coaching really is the heart of what we would talk about as 

mentoring at Vistage. 

I certainly think the training that both Vistage chairs get in 

preparation to lead a group or with regard to the speakers that 

come not only to the Vistage meetings but to other such gatherings 

are really, really important. 

And then I would say on the counseling front what I think is 

very interesting about our model in this regard is that we do not 

provide consulting services or counseling in quite that way. 

It is a process that we have that we refer to really as issue processing that helps these CEOs who face difficult challenges to really 

come to their own conclusions by asking really good clarifying questions, by working with them directly so that they come to their own 

conclusions, and I think that is so they are not getting advice 

pushed on them. It is really coming to them. 

I think ultimately what is really beneficial is when you are part 

of a group like this and you are showing up to this group each and 

every month there is an accountability factor that is very much in 

play here so that as people get together with mutually agreed upon 

action steps, what is the path forward, what are we supposed to 

do, they are accountable to their group every month to say how is 

that working out for you, you know, how is that going? 

And it is a group that really keeps you on task and accountable. 

In many respects I think that is part of why Vistage has been successful. Our retention rates are just over 80 percent and the average tenure of a Vistage member is about 6 plus years. 

So, that is the quick overview of what Vistage is about anyway. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Great. Thank you. Following up on this collaborative approach model that you describe and the value of mentoring, Julie, you had mentioned both training and mentoring, in 

this collaborative approach as well, being critical to the services 

that the WBCs provide. 

Can you describe in more detail, is there a formalized process for 

ensuring that those two are reconciled to the extent that their 

trainings are one hits versus this one-on-one counseling which de-
25 

velops the relationships over a period of time and what mechanisms that the WBCs employee in and of themselves to ensure 

quality control and ensure that there is a real good return on investment for taxpayers on this? 

Ms. WEEKS. That is a good question, and one of the values of 

Women’s Business Centers is that there is not a one-size fits all of 

cross all 110. Part of the unique characteristics of them is that they 

do different things in different regions. 

So that said, I do not know if we can say that there is one key 

way that they perform those services. I know that up until a few 

years ago, and maybe Holly you can help answer this question, 

there were formalized mentoring roundtables that OWBO and 

Women’s Business Centers did in most if not all of the Women’s 

Business Centers. That was back I do not know maybe 10 years 

ago. It was probably before your time. 

And I do not think that officially exists anymore, and actually it 

would be a good idea perhaps to chat about revisiting that because 

there is not right now a mechanism to ensure, I do not want to say 

uniformity, because I think that goes against the grain of the local 

flavor that Women’s Business Centers have. 

But, not to dodge your question, I want to answer it by pointing 

to a research study that I did or we did when I was at the National 

Women’s Business Council. 

It was actually really interesting looking at mentoring for women 

business owners around the country and it found that there were 

three different ways that it seemed to go by size and growth of 

business. 

At the very beginning, mentoring was a one-to-several teacher 

and a small group of students I guess you could say, and that was 

those Win net mentoring roundtable things that were happening at 

Women’s Business Centers at that time. 

Then, at the middle stage of growth of a woman-owned business, 

it seemed that the existence of mentoring was more mentor protege 

pairs. Then at the higher level, it was much more the TEC/Vistage/ 

women presidents organization peer group mentoring. 

And this was an assessment of what is as opposed to perhaps the 

ideal of what should be. So, I think we could have a conversation 

about what should be. But that looked to be the range of what is 

going on in the women’s business community in terms of mentoring. 

I hope that at least partially answers your question. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Yes, that is absolutely right. 

Diane, do you have anything you would like to review? 

Ms. DIETZ. I would just be curious especially from Clinton and 

from Scott, if you could talk about—we have already talked about 

some of the coordination you have in leveraging and university 

partnerships—so I would also be interested to hear if you have any 

best practices for the public-private partnerships that you have 

built up over the years or learned from somewhere else and how 

that propelled your programs and your centers forward. 

But before you can answer that, I would like to ask Holly what 

the agency is doing to encourage the collaborative approach that is 

so necessary, particularly today in this budgetary environment? 
26 

Ms. SCHICK. Thanks, Diane. We have actually taken several 

steps to move the ball forward in that regard, and I think one of 

the things that we do is establish a national framework for these 

programs to operate, and that is just the basic of how we do business, and that helps us with the consistency of services which, I 

think, is fundamental to how they collaborate and work together. 

One of the things that we do is just in a formal way in the program announcements, those are the formal SBA vehicles that we 

put forward to say this is what the statute calls for you to do, this 

is what the agency and Administration see as a national economic 

development agenda for priority items. 

So, we put all of that into the program announcements that get 

provided to the resource partners. In those documents we have a 

very specific statement that says you all will collaborate, you all 

will play nice, you all will do all of these great things. So, that is 

our formal statement. 

From experience I know personally that if these programs were 

not doing the collaboration and the partnering that everybody 

wants them to do, they would not be successful. 

It is incumbent upon Clinton, the SBDC, WBC’s and the SCORE 

chapters, they become part of that local fabric; and if they do not, 

it hurts them in terms of their reputation, their client draw in the 

community. 

So again, we make that formal statement that says you all will 

do that. I think we also have, and I will talk about the SBDC program, through the accreditation process that Tee and I think Clinton referred to which is a peer quality evaluation process. 

There are components in that review that talk about your relationship to your customers, to your stakeholders, and all of those 

things. And again, the centers would not succeed if those things 

were not in place. 

Our challenge at SBA is to provide the framework for what everyone should do consistently but also to be able to allow enough 

breathing room for them to get into those local markets and customize their services, because in every market, and I think Julie 

and Ken were talking about that, if there was not an international 

trade expert and one of WBCs, Ken’s program or an SBDC might, 

indeed, have that, and that local network is really, really important 

so that again it is seamless to the customer as Daryl said. 

So, I think back to that accreditation process for SBDCs, that is 

really important because again they cannot do their job unless they 

are connected and hooked in. 

So, SBA wants to provide that framework but also give a balance 

and allow them the freedom to establish those relationships as 

need be. It is a balance, and so, we are looking for ways that we 

can help move the ball forward and certainly welcome any input 

and dialogue from folks that we can get. 

We also have research that shows through our impact studies, as 

well as other studies that the individual resource partners have 

done on their own, that speak very specifically to the niche markets that these programs in kind of a standalone fashion where 

their primary market is. 

And that research tells us that these programs really target the 

statutory mission of what they are supposed to be doing, and it also 
27 

tells us that they implement that in an excellent way in their local 

marketplace and adjust accordingly depending upon the resource 

mix, because we do not have one of everyone in every market. 

Our challenge I think again as we move this ball forward is finding ways to facilitate, ways to encourage, ways to measure that 

perhaps we have not yet mastered, and it is tough to really measure. 

It is one of those things like you know it when you see it and 

when it is working it is really good. So, we are trying to get our 

arms around how do you really measure that? We do not want to 

layer on a whole other level of reporting kinds of things. 

We get in their narrative reports from the different centers. They 

talk about best practices in terms of collaboration and all of those 

things, and we try to add annual conferences and convenings of the 

group, try to profile some of those folks who figured out how to do 

it right, and so that we can put them up in front of other folks so 

that people do not have to reinvent the wheel all over again. 

Those are some of the things that we are trying to do, but again, 

finding that balance between how we incent and how we provide 

the framework but not yet be really oppressive in terms of the reporting and all of that. 

We are trying really hard to see where we can move next to keep 

it building. 

Ms. DIETZ. Julie and then Leo. 

Ms. WEEKS. Women’s Business Centers at an individual level are 

extremely collaborative and we have asked in our surveys in the 

past, with whom do you collaborate and what do you do with them? 

And virtually all of them are working with SBDCs, working with 

SCORE. Other collaborative partners that are interesting at least 

in our world is model chapters and the Association of Business 

Women Owners [off microphone] have a relationship with. 

What I would say as active as it is at the local level there will 

be a couple of words, at the national level we are not talking as 

much as we ought to [off microphone]. I do not think it needs to 

be something mandated or whatever, but I would pledge that the 

three of us plus you and SBA get together and chitchat about what 

is going on in our worlds, what can we do more of, because I think 

the collaboration that is happening now is that we are at the 

ground level and we really ought to kind of do more talking, and 

I am sorry I forgot to push my talk button. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Julie, I think that is an excellent idea and I know 

Chair Landrieu would be extremely interested in seeing that type 

of conversation take place and what progress results afterwards. 

Mr. BOTTARY. This whole issue of collaboration is so interesting 

as we are all talking about it, because I think we are really taking 

baby steps toward getting better at it, but we have a long way to 

go. 

We are not natural collaborators in many respects. We are 

brought up, we go to school and we are hiding the answers from 

the person next door to us sitting at the desk for fear because God 

knows it might help them do well. 

Yet, we go into companies, we are asked to work together; and 

even working together within the organizations can be a challenge. 
28 

If you can imagine organizations having to work together in that 

way. 

The June issue of Harvard Business Review dedicated the entire 

issue to collaboration; and I figure if we were any good at it, they 

might not have necessarily done that. So, they felt it was obviously 

necessary to cover that ground. 

I will say that there are certainly a lot of organizations that have 

values statements or posters on the walls or things that appear on 

annual reports; but I will say that the people who started Vistage, 

so it has nothing to do with anyone involved with it today. 

But they have been enduring and, I think, are really critical to 

this notion of successful collaboration. And those values are trust, 

caring, challenge, and growth. 

That at the end of the day, you have got to trust one another. 

You have to be able to convince someone that you care about their 

success. 

And when you challenge them, if that challenge comes from a 

place of caring, people will accept that, and I think work with that 

and know that it comes from a good place. 

And then in the end if that can fuel growth which, of course, we 

hope builds trust and we continue that cycle, we have got something I think really powerful. 

So, to the extent that that is remotely helpful as we are sitting 

and thinking about how do we improve upon the way we collaborate, it is certainly a good start and it has worked very successfully 

for Vistage for a long time. 

Ms. DIETZ. I want to recognize Clinton but I will say that the 

Chair, the Ranking Member and I have sat with Ami in many 

meetings and with Julie and with many of you, and we do talk 

about data, and we do talk about collaboration, and we strongly encourage you and will be speaking with GAO very shortly, strongly 

encouraging you to work together. They all work together and it is 

a tremendous impact for communities that desperately need tremendous job impact right now. 

So, Clinton, I’ll turn it over to you and Tee. 

Mr. TYMES. Sure. First, I just want to say to Leo I was just on 

your Web site last week. We are looking at doing a peer-to-peer for 

technology-based businesses. I went to your Web site but we are 

going to talk afterwards. 

But I will say this in terms of collaboration, the Delaware 

SBTDC could not do its job without our resource partners. It would 

just be impossible. 

As a small state we all do the same types of things. We provide 

information. We do counseling. We provide the training, et cetera. 

And what we have been able to do in Delaware is, our target audiences are different, and I think that that is the key, that our target audiences are different. 

So, as example, we do a starting out in business program, and 

we go through all the regs and do the business plans, et cetera, but 

it is more of an assessment as well because what we are trying to 

do is determine at what stage of development that person is so that 

we can refer them to the agency that is best appropriate for their 

deeds at that particular point in time. 
29 

So we work closely with our resource partners. We have done on 

the occasion some co-counseling, to be honest with you. And in 

Delaware, with the high priority on technology, most of our SCORE 

consultants have come from the Dupont Company and Hercules. 

So, we use them. I mean, these are the guys that have brought 

new innovative products to market. That expertise is tremendous 

so that is how we go about that leveraging. 

There was a couple of other things I just want to mention. Diane, 

you had mentioned private sector collaborations, and I will just 

mention a couple in terms of what we have done in Delaware with 

the private sector. 

One is a procurement conference as an example of where we get 

a lot of private sector companies to sponsor a procurement conference. Another is a collaboration that we do with McDonald’s and 

the Marriott and the university, and it is an entrepreneurial summit and this is targeted to historically Black university and college 

students who are in the hotel and restaurant management majors. 

They are in terms of entrepreneurialship franchising with Marriott 

and McDonald’s, et cetera. Another is with J.P. Morgan Chase 

chasing a dream. We go in and work with kids. This is a summer 

camp on entrepreneurship. So, these are some of the things in 

terms of the public and private partnership. 

Lastly, I had a note here we were talking a little bit earlier about 

quality control there. From the SBDCs’ perspective, quality is paramount. Holly and Tee have mentioned the accreditation process. 

The whole point of the accreditation process is to go into a program 

and determine if, in fact, that SBDC is meeting the needs of its 

local community. And if you are doing so, how are you doing it. 

Number two. 

And number three, is it working; what are your measurements 

and how are you measuring quality? From an oversight perspective, the SBA through project managers call our clients. 

The Delaware SBDC we send out customer service questionnaires a few months after we have seen a client. We also do an annual survey of our clients through Chrisman, the ASBDC economic 

impact study there. So quality is a critical factor, and we do measure it through a number of mechanisms to make sure that we are 

providing a quality service and at the same time meeting those 

needs. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Great. Thank you. 

With regards to accreditation, is it mandatory for every SBDC 

center to be accredited? I do not know if we have this information, 

but if you do, can you tell me what the ratio is of those centers that 

are accredited through the process versus those that are not accredited and/or do not make it through the accreditation process? 

Mr. ROWE. Every SBDC network is accredited. You have to be. 

If you are not accredited—what essentially happens is, well, the 

team goes in the whole process; but if the network fails the accreditation, that report goes to SBA and then basically, for lack of a better phrase, SBA has the option of either saying you must take the 

following steps to remedy as recommended by the accreditation 

committee or we will just pull your ticket, and at which point they 

put these services of the network up and do an RFP and say, will 

somebody, can some other institution step in. 
30 

Now, and I e-mailed you and Diane earlier without wanting to 

inundate you with like a wheelbarrow full of paper because accreditation is a very serious and time-consuming process, and we are 

doing 16 reviews a year so that every SBDC is getting accredited 

every four years. 

Now, that sounds like not very often. But in the interim, of 

course, all the processes that have been put in place in the accreditation process are then being reviewed annually by SBA when, as 

Clint said, the POs come in and they do the reviews and they are 

going through all of the files that a counselor has, they are picking 

out random clients, and they are discussing with those clients the 

quality of the services. 

And that is on top of the individual customer service surveys 

that are being sent out. And just for instance, I know in Louisiana 

when Marilyn sends it out and it is 60 days down the road, and 

she wants the responses from the client, and then if she is not getting the response she wants, somebody’s head is rolling. 

And on top of that, there is a professional development requirement in every SBDC for all the counselors on top of your counseling hours and your client impact metrics. 

It is a huge process and a very serious one as to what the key 

performance indicators are for our business advisors and counselors, because it all revolves around making sure that the clients 

we are working with in the community, they are getting the assistance they need, not the assistance we want to give them, the assistance they need, which is why on the other hand we have 63 

networks and probably 63 different customer impact surveys. 

But at the end of the day, no matter how you slice it, and I sent 

you all just a sample accreditation report. I can give you all 63 if 

you really want to wade through it all. 

But it goes through in painstaking detail what you have, what 

you do not have, how you have met your strategic planning and 

your goals, how you failed, and whether you have met the conditions or not. 

It is a peer review process, but it is a pretty tough one. People 

are fairly objective about it, to say the least. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Thank you. Julie and then Clinton. 

Ms. WEEKS. I just want to say that while the Women’s Business 

Centers are not formally accredited, there is an assessment process 

that has been going on for the last couple of years whereby, and 

Holly can chime in with the exact number, but I think almost all 

of the Women’s Business Centers now have been visited by some 

of the same accreditors that the SBDC has used, and there is a 

quality control process that is going on and that will continue to 

evolve to make sure that Women’s Business Center people are 

doing things in the correct way. 

And certainly all the customer satisfaction surveys and whatnot 

that have been done by Concentrance that are evaluating the three 

ED programs on counseling which is our only sort of area of overlap of all three of us, the customers are equally satisfied with our 

different methodologies. 

And one little thing I would add on that, it can come maybe later 

with the recommendations for how we might be able to change and 

improve things, is that the Concentrance study is only looking at 
31 

counseling. The Women’s Business Centers, for example, do so 

much more that we are not getting evaluated on; and that would 

be a really useful thing to improve. 

Mr. TYMES. I just wanted to mention that, one, I have served on 

the accreditation committee of our national association. It is a 

grueling process. 

And the standards by which we have established, which is, I do 

believe, it is about six standards at this particular point in time, 

are all patterned after the Malcolm Baldrige standards for quality. 

So, that is the basis of our accreditation process itself. 

Having served on the committee, I will say this that we have had 

a number, will have a number, a couple of programs where, say, 

accreditation has been referred because certain standards have not 

been met. 

However, before you can pull a program, there is a process by 

which a plan is developed that is monitored by the accreditation 

team as well as the SBA so that we can make sure that the program is brought up to standards which again the whole accreditation process is about establishing standards so that all SBDCs are 

operating on say a standard level at minimum, if you will. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Great. Thank you. 

Mr. Williams and then Holly and then I think Diane and I both 

have questions for Mr. Shear about this concept of collaboration 

and quantifying that. 

Mr. WILLIAMS. Yes. I think that what we are talking about here 

is so important in terms of collaboration not just within the SBA 

organizations but between SBA organizations and the ones who are 

out in the philanthropic community and in the for-profit community. 

I know I have talked to a few of you already, and I promise we 

will reconnect. I have talked to Julie and said we will reconnect. 

I would like to offer to hold something in Kansas City at the 

Kauffman Foundation for all of us and maybe some more people 

outside of this to come to Kansas City and look at the idea of 

standardization of how we measure things, the idea of how do we 

have a linear process between our organizations back to your point, 

how we can effectively use government resources and philanthropic 

resources and private sector resources to really have this process 

of really leveraging what we do in order to make sure we are providing the best services for the clients. 

So, if you have a sheet of contacts, I would love to have that so 

we can maybe offer that to everybody here. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. I think that is a great idea. That is fantastic. I 

love it. We are not even done with this roundtable and we are already working on the next one. 

Mr. WILLIAMS. Right. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. That is awesome. 

Holly. 

Ms. SCHICK. Just two quick points. One follow-up to Julie’s comment about the impact study in counseling. We have just undertaken a pilot impact survey for training specifically for the Women’s Business Center because we understand that a large percentage of the deliverable on the outcomes are realized from the training impact and the training activity that we do. 
32 

So, we are trying to get started with that to really evaluate what 

training contributions will mean to customers’ ultimate impact. 

And second, if I may, I would like to call on my colleague Ken 

Yancey who is quiet in this conversation about quality. SCORE has 

implemented a very rigorous quality improvement process. And 

then when you are managing a very large national network of volunteers, you can imagine how difficult that is. 

So, if I may turn it over to my colleague Mr. Yancey to speak to 

that I think we should not end the conversation without that. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Actually, I think that is great. We collectively as 

a matter of form refer to resource partners as one big group. I 

think it is really important to note that one size does not necessarily fit all. It usually does not fit all. 

There are different programs to meet different needs and there 

are different ways of going about it. I think, as Diane mentioned, 

utilizing private sector resources particularly individuals with particularized knowledge and skill set to assist business owners is incredibly important and the quintessential utilization of leveraging 

private sector. 

I mean, do you fire volunteers? 

Mr. YANCEY. Yes. Yes, we do. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. But I like Holly’s point about how when you are 

using that specialized expertise and free in-kind contributions in 

that way, how do you assure that you are providing quality services? 

Mr. YANCEY. Please excuse my silence. We do a lot of the same 

things that are being done by the other organizations. We call our 

process chapter minimum standards. The chapter is reviewed 

against minimum standards once every two years. 

It emanated years ago from a question that we used to get about 

whether or not a chapter was a unit member in good standing 

within the SCORE association. We felt that we needed a way to 

measure that, and so now we do. 

We recognize chapter performance levels on an annual basis. We 

have three tiers based on criteria that has been set collectively 

within our organization. From a quality standpoint in terms of the 

specific volunteer, we actually follow-up with every client using a 

net promoter SCORE process. 

Most of you are familiar with net promoter scores. I think the 

book was called The Ultimate Question. And the question is, on a 

scale of zero to ten, how likely are you to refer a friend, a colleague, 

a family member to this service? 

I have a net promoter score on every volunteer that counsels. So, 

we can look out across the organization and say, well, this individual has an 8.6 but this one has a 2.5 which leads us to ask a 

question, not to say that one is doing a better job than the other. 

Often it is driven by the expectation of the client. 

I am sure it does not happen in your programs but occasionally 

a client comes to us expecting to walk out of our office with a 

grant; and when we do not provide that grant, we typically do not 

meet their expectations; and when that happens, the net promoter 

score is low. 

But it also tells us that we have got to do a better job on the 

front end of having people that utilize our service understand what 
33 

they should expect. And so, while it is a bit humorous, it is also 

something that we take seriously and we know that we need to 

work on. 

The other thing that we have done recently related to quality, 

what we found as we have begun to measure client satisfaction and 

more specifically client engagement, in a partnership we had with 

Gallup we found that over time SCORE services have become more 

transactional than relationship oriented. 

That is concerning to us, and so we have entered into a partnership with Gallup and the Deluxe Corporation Foundation developed 

a proprietary counseling methodology that is not intended to tell 

our volunteers what they need to know about business processes. 

It is training our volunteers on a counseling process that is five 

steps that is intended to result in longer term relationships, and 

part of that step is a question that they need to ask that is collaborative in nature. 

Is there another organization in the community that can better 

serve this client’s needs? If it is technology transfer related and it 

is not with Clinton, then we are not doing the client justice. 

If they are a veteran and there is a veteran service center in the 

area that is better able to serve, we have to get that client there. 

That does not mean we do not follow-up after the fact, but we need 

to get them there, and then we will call them. 

What did you find out? What are you getting? Is it working for 

you? How can we help? What are your next steps? And the next 

step, maybe we send them to Julie or we send them somewhere 

else. 

But I think that our role as an organization is certainly to help 

create jobs and create businesses but we do not have to do that in 

a vacuum and do it only with our volunteers. 

And so our new plan and strategy is to really be more collaborative and that is something that we are rolling out. I think that 

I agree with Leo’s comment, if we were doing a good job of this, 

the Harvard Business Review would not have devoted June to a 

very good discussion of collaboration so quality is critical to us. 

We are doing a lot of new things and a lot of different things. 

From a collaborative standpoint, we think it is important enough 

that we are going to begin measuring referral relationships, not 

only who we have them with and where they are but what are the 

results and how can we improve those. 

Those are with chambers and with SBDCs and Women’s Business Centers and with Kauffman and anybody else. With Leo we 

have a really exciting conversation ongoing there. 

So, thank you for prompting me to suggest this. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Great. Thank you. 

Julie and then we will move on to Mr. Shear. 

Ms. WEEKS. Just real quickly. 

Ken, you have done a really good job over the past few years diversifying the range of counselors. There has been a legacy from 

like 10 or more years ago of SCORE being the Service Corps of Retired Executives, meaning older white gentlemen. And a lot of the 

female clients who would come in, it would get sort of what are you 

doing wanting to start a business, young lady, kind of responses. 

That legacy still, maybe there is a little teeny bit of it left. 
34 

So, I think that what you are doing now with the more relationship oriented is also going to better serve the women who are coming because women are much more relational than transaction. 

They do not really want to ask a question and get an answer and 

go their merry way. They really want to talk about it a little more. 

So, that will serve you, plus the diversification of the SCORE 

counselors. There are far more women and far more people who are 

still business owners, not retired, so kudos and I think that bodes 

well for ramping up of our collaboration. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Great. Thank you. 

So, I think a take away here is measuring, a successful collaboration is often times difficult. The more interwoven our resource 

members become in providing that seamless service that Mr. Williams discussed, the more difficult it is to attribute the success to 

any one particular entity or service. 

So, I know this is something, these are ongoing conversations 

that we have had, and Senator Landrieu has discussed this many 

times about is it possible and to the extent that it is impossible, 

why or why not? Why can we not measure this effective collaboration? Why is it so difficult? 

Mr. Shear, I do not know if you have things to add about quality 

control and how GAO is reviewing resource partners and having 

these conversations about collaboration and effectiveness. 

Mr. SHEAR. Okay. Thanks. I will say something to tease myself 

because you know me well enough that I could probably go on for 

a day on this but I will try to be succinct. 

Let me just start with a comment Leo made. A lot of times people do not want to collaborate or, to use Holly’s expression, play 

nice with each other. 

We see different personalities express that. We see that in terms 

of our collaboration within SBA and among resource partners. We 

see that in looking at SBA with other agencies. 

So, we see that, and a lot of times we see certain things happen 

sporadically because it is just that you might have some people out 

in the field that I will call out in the trenches that do want to collaborate because they see it as part of their success, and you have 

some people that just do not like to do it. 

So, given that, we do not think one-size-fits-all, and I would like 

to bring up that the clienteles served tend to be different. That is 

one of the reasons why collaboration which is a requirement or coordination is a requirement is because you do not want the different resource partners to be competing with each other. You want 

it to reach—there is a lot of meat out there, and you want to reach 

the intended audience. 

So, let me step back from measuring collaboration and just say 

there are certain things that we look for, and let me go back to 

even our Women’s Business Center report which is now a few years 

ago. 

We made three recommendations in the report, and a lot of it 

was creating more of the structure to the program and how it was 

operated, make it clear what the district office technical representatives were supposed to do and things like that, creating a better 

structure. 
35 

Out of our three recommendations, two of them, the one that did 

not deal with coordination, were implemented very quickly, I would 

say relatively quickly. I think it was within a year, which is quick 

in our standards. 

The one on coordination has not been, and it is not like we want 

everybody to be doing the same thing. Quite the contrary. And we 

do not want SBA to be dictating what everybody is doing. 

But a little bit is to step back and think strategically as far as 

what are the roles of the different resource partners in different 

areas of the country. 

In one of the things that you have to build upon, and we knew 

and I knew in signing the report, we saw lots of very good collaborative practices out there, out in the field in a lot of different 

places. 

We are looking for a certain structure. We are still looking for 

a certain structure, whether it is through providing guidance in 

terms of providing some sense in strategic planning, and really, 

what this all takes is leadership. 

So, I have been very glad recently Holly and others have been 

reaching out to us and trying to work with us, what types of ideas 

do you have in terms of working constructively with each other, 

and it looks like there is that commitment now to move forward on 

this front. 

But what we are looking for, both within SBA among resource 

partners and in terms of SBA administering these grant programs, 

is really creating a better structure for it. 

Within that, it could involve protocols. We do not like to micro 

manage how you get there. There could be certain output measures 

like how many times do you observe referrals from one resource 

partner to another, but it does not have to be that exact a number. 

Many times it is creating a structure. It is creating certain protocols for how things can occur. It is creating guidance based on best 

practices that we already saw a track record of certain best practices out there, and we also saw instances where it looked like resource partners in some places, not to be named, were not working 

so nicely with each other. 

So, a lot of times it is just being a little bit more specific about 

what are we looking for, strategically what are we trying to achieve 

overall. 

So, I realize that is a very long answer so thanks for bearing 

with me. But that is basically what we are looking for. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Great. Thank you. 

Diane. 

Ms. DIETZ. I would like to build on that for those of you who do 

not know Bill. For Bill, I always say, this is his second home. He 

is a fixture here in the Committee. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. We have a desk reserved for him in the back. 

[Laughter.] 

Ms. DIETZ. And we certainly look to him for insight because he 

has sort of the eagle-eye view of what you all are doing and how 

you interconnect. I think I speak for Ami when I say that as Small 

Business Committee staff, I can report that one of the greatest 

challenges we confront is determining the efficacy and job creating 

potential of the individual ED programs and, as Bill referred to the 
36 

2007 report, there is also a report that came out this May on duplication, inefficiencies, waste. 

One of the outcries from GAO is typically a lack of data. We need 

data. If we do not have data, we cannot tell you whether or not this 

is a duplicative program or whether or not this is an effective program. 

And when I reach out to Julie Weeks who knows women’s entrepreneurial data like the back of her hand, which is why I am so 

thrilled she could be here today, she says I have that and I just 

got that and I can show you more. 

And when I reach out to Tee, I hear I think I know the number 

off of the top of my head but I can get it for you and here you go. 

And Ken can bring numbers to a meeting but I feel like at the 

end of the day somehow that data does not get back to the Committee unless I go directly to our ED partners when I should be 

getting it from the agency. 

So, I guess this question is for Holly. We hear that MOUs are 

ineffective despite their very nature in creating collaboration, and 

we hear that the data is there but somehow we are not able to access it. 

It is hard for us to measure these programs in terms of how effective they are when we do not feel like we are getting enough 

data. And my counterpart, Meredith West, who works on these 

issues very closely with Ami is always saying data, data, data. I 

think the first thing she taught me. We need to see more timely 

data throughout the collection process rather than months and 

years later. 

What can these programs, everyone is in the room, do for the 

SBA to help you communicate and share that data so we can get 

it back to the GAO and they can make more educated decisions. 

And Bill, if you want to follow up on Holly’s answer. 

Ms. SCHICK. Thanks, Diane. 

First, I would like to talk about the difference in data. SBA collects information from the resource partners through what we call 

our EDMIS system. 

EDMIS was built as a data capture system, not necessarily built 

for a client management or an analytic tool, and so when we get 

requests for data, although it is not maybe as efficient as we would 

like it to be at the current time, that data is always available upon 

request to us through our OCI’s office. 

So, the data is there, based upon all the fields that we collect. 

The analytics, not as robust as we would like it to be, and we have 

a plan in place right now where we are moving forward with requirements for a new and more robust version of EDMIS so that 

we can, once we get the good data in, we can get it out in a more 

expeditious fashion and do more analytics and more data mining. 

We collect impact data through our third-party contractor 

Concentrance, and we come up with impact numbers and we use 

methodologies that, you know, are approved by OMB. 

Our resource partners, they also conduct their own impact studies and their own analyses of what is being produced out in the 

network. We do always hear that in cases, well, it does not always 

reconcile. 
37 

Well, the fact is perhaps it should not because we might be comparing apples to oranges. In each one of those impact methodologies there are different parameters for the surveys, and it would 

not match necessarily what we do. 

So, you know, on the impact data, I think collectively we all get 

a big picture but we do not always match. I think that matching 

perhaps it is not a good goal in terms of that particular data. 

Again, back to the EDMIS, any of the data that we collect from 

the resource partners comes into our systems and is uploaded and 

we collect it on standard forms, that data is available. It just takes 

a minute for us to make requests and get the parameters correct 

and then have the folks running the reports. 

Ms. DIETZ. Well, I will say to a person that is speaking for the 

Ranking Member of the Committee, oftentimes we make requests 

and it is very difficult to get data; and when we work with resource 

partners, they often tell us it is very difficult to get data from the 

agency. 

So, if you could take that back as a constructive request—— 

Ms. SCHICK. Sure. 

Ms. DIETZ [continuing]. That we would love to have more timely, 

actionable and available data, I think that would make our job 

easier. 

I will turn it over to Bill. Do you have thoughts, Bill? 

Mr. SHEAR. Yes. And many times we talk about data where we 

are really talking about documentation that might not even be 

numbers; and to take this back again, something that you run into 

a lot when you are in an auditing agency, including at SBA, is the 

idea that everybody says we have lots of data on a lot of things but 

a lot of times we are saying, as in here, let us step back and say 

strategically what are you trying to achieve in terms of coordination among resource partners. 

In here, our focus is we obviously go out and look at the programs and we interact with the resource partners, but our focus is 

on how SBA runs those grants programs. 

And so, in that case we are often a lot of times in our interactions with the agency in a number of areas, we are saying these 

are the types of things we are looking for, and those things are 

often documented processes. 

And many times we have found that when we interact on those 

documented processes, it brings more definition to what the agency 

could do to improve those processes, and that is what we are looking for here. 

Just as in our conference call yesterday, I said one of the best 

examples of us working in that manner dealt with the SBA’s disaster loan program in terms of what we were looking for and how 

do you set policies and procedures, where you are stepping back 

and the first step is how do you think strategically of what you are 

trying to achieve. 

And this might seem very hypothetical, but there is a way to 

bring it to life. As I say, one of the strong points here, we find the 

Concentrance studies quite useful. You always have a problem 

when you go to those served by a program with response rates. 
38 

But even given that, they are quite useful in terms of seeing how 

clients view the services, and that puts these programs at some advantage to some other economic development programs. 

And again, we saw some very good coordination going on, some 

best practices, out there. It is a matter of creating more of a structure and more, whether it is protocols or whatever. 

Once you have that in place, coming up with metrics is easier, 

but it is a matter that there are all kinds of data out there. You 

want to answer the question what does the data inform in terms 

of how we can run these programs better. 

There are challenges of having three separate programs versus 

having consolidated programs. But if those programs were consolidated, there would be another set of challenges. Regardless, we are 

looking for how do you think strategically and put the pieces together. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Thank you, Bill. 

Julie. 

Ms. WEEKS. Just briefly. One of the complaints, I guess you could 

say, or suggestions from Women’s Business Centers is the fact that 

they perceive that when they are quarterly inputting data into 

EDMIS and their annual survey, it goes into a black hole and they 

never see anything out of it. 

In this past year, and Holly and I have talked about this, it is 

like not news, but in this past year when we were getting a lot 

more pointed questions about tell us your impact, and we would 

like to know all the information that we are inputting into the system like we do not get it out, back out. 

And also the survey, and I mentioned it briefly before that 

Concentrance is only focused on counseling which is only a part of 

what the Women’s Business Centers do. 

Another suggestion perhaps for us, and Holly and I also talked 

about this, is up until maybe, I do not know, six years ago or so, 

the Office of Women’s Business Ownership had an annual report. 

It was like here is our metrics, here is how many clients were counseled, trained, whatever; and there was an actual physical annual 

report from OWBO about the Women’s Business Center program. 

Perhaps the ED office could do one not only for OWBO but 

proactively publish something that is going to answer 95 percent 

of the questions that the Hill and everybody else would have anyway about these three ED programs. I think that would be extraordinarily useful. 

Mr. YANCEY. So, I go back to the original development of ED programs, excuse me, the EDMIS system, Entrepreneurial Management Development Information System, and that was a remarkable 

improvement at the time over what we had. 

But the desires of the Congress and the Committee and of our 

stakeholders and the GAO and others have changed significantly 

since we developed that system. 

And so, my suggestion is that it is probably time, once again, for 

us to take from Mr. Williams’ suggestion and have programs sit 

down one more time and let us understand what the Committee’s 

needs are on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis, understand 

what the SBA’s needs are, and then develop something that makes 

sense, recognizing in that process that these three programs are 
39 

very different in the way that they are developed, in the way that 

they are funded, in the way that money is distributed, and in the 

way that they are managed. 

You know, ASBDC, the Women’s Business Centers are trade associations basically that have a different relationship with our 

chapters and money flows differently than it does there. 

In data capture and analysis and how we use it for reporting 

metrics from a management perspective as well as to provide you 

impact data are very different between the organizations. 

A one-size-fits-all is not necessarily going to work. However, if, 

within the system that is developed, we all agree that there is a 

core set of data elements that you want and on what basis you 

want them, it should not be difficult since we are all gathering client data from a single form to be able to provide you what you 

want when you want it. 

From an economic impact matter, that is different. SBDC does 

one. We do one. Ours does not only provide economic impact, but 

it provides a tremendous amount of information on client engagement and what drives client engagement. We are making management decisions from a program perspective based on that data to 

help us do a better job with our clients. 

I think that whatever we do, if it does not worldwide in a timely 

way jobs created, businesses formed, taxes paid, all of those things 

that are important, then we have failed. 

And my challenge, as Holly and I have discussed many times, is 

that while SBA does do an impact survey, we do not have the information. It is over a year before we have the information. 

One of the reasons we are doing our own is that I have the data 

within 90 days of the close of the fiscal year, and we need that in 

order to tell our stakeholders, Congress and others that we have 

been successful and how that success manifests itself, what it looks 

like. 

I think that it is time, once again, and Holly I am sure this is 

on your list although we have not talked about it, for us to sit 

down and understand what the needs, what everybody’s needs are, 

create a baseline and then allow the programs to develop something that delivers on that baseline as well as whatever else they 

need to effectively manage the program. 

Ms. DIETZ. Thank you, Ken. 

I know we are getting close on time, but I do have a couple of 

questions especially for Scott. I have not forgotten about you. 

I did want to ask one question and I sort of want to pull Julie 

and Bill into this and I think it is a good segue for wrapping up 

the roundtable. 

I have received a couple of calls from a Women’s Business Center 

in Jacksonville, Florida, and literally they just called so I know 

what they are doing. 

We just wanted to let you know that we are collaborating with 

these people and we are happy to share our stories and our best 

practices, and I have to say, as busy as I can be some days, I am 

happy to get those calls. I really am. And they were fine enough 

to—— 

Ms. WEEKS. Would you like 109 more? 
40 

Ms. DIETZ. No comment. But I will say there in the northeast region, Jacksonville, Florida, and there is a partnership among ED 

resources and providers and they are collaborating to ensure an illumination of waste and duplication. 

And Pat Blanchard, I do not know if you know Pat, is the Director and she says for many years over 20 service providers have 

worked hand-in-hand meeting regularly, sharing and promoting 

each other’s programs and services and then focusing on where 

there are gaps for existing small business owners. She said, ‘‘We 

are a model for collaborating rather than competing.’’ 

I wondered if you had thoughts about if this is natural to Women’s Business Centers, if you think they are a model, and Bill, if 

this is what the GAO has been really advocating for in their reports in the last four years? 

Ms. WEEKS. I would say, yes, that is, the majority of Women’s 

Business Centers do that. In fact, almost three quarters of Women’s Business Centers are, by their nature, they are embedded already in the local economic development organization or maybe 

even in SBDC. 

They are not a standalone organization in the first place. So, 

they are a program of a larger economic development group which 

lends itself, of course, to all the collaboration and research that we 

have asked of Women’s Business Centers, virtually all of them, 99 

percent of them, are actively collaborating. 

Their number one partner is SBDCs, also SCORE, local economic 

development groups, universities which may or may not be part of 

SBDCs, and they are doing a wide variety of things. 

Perhaps Jacksonville is documenting it in more detail than some 

of the others do. But again, in surveys that we have asked in the 

past they are, of course, referring, that is the number one thing but 

they are also sharing trainers and educators. 

They sit on the boards of other organizations. Other organizations sit on their boards. They do events together. This is a natural 

part of what they do. 

And what I said earlier is I think it is happening out here. It is 

not happening as much up here. I think we need to do more of it 

up here because again that coordination then can swoop in the 

other one or two percent who are not doing that kind of collaboration and it can also bubble up and share some of those best practices. 

Mr. SHEAR. In discussion we hear a lot about collaboration, and 

with Women’s Business Centers and the other resource partners, 

we observed it when we did the audit work a few years ago. 

And again, looking at SBA, there is one point that I really want 

to make here about sharing data and documentation. For example, 

you said, well, we sent out formal notices, we do a number of 

things to try to create that structure to bring about coordination 

of services and things of that nature. 

Do not be shy about sending it to us. One of the most difficult 

things that I find doing, if I am at this Committee or anything else, 

of saying an agency has not given us documented evidence. 

We are auditors, documented evidence demonstrating that these 

things are really working or giving us enough detail. And many 

times our role in serving the Congress is like it is not just what 
41 

is in our reports. It is the idea that we can, to some degree, kind 

of synthesize certain information that comes from agencies and 

from others. 

So, it seems like there are a lot of good things going on out there. 

We are looking for a little bit more of a structure and a documentation to bring that about. 

Ms. DIETZ. Thank you, and I will turn it back over to Ami. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Great. Thank you. 

I know we are approaching the noon hour, and I am sure everyone is hungry. I know I am. 

I would like to actually just close with a question. We have had 

a lot of discussion here, really helpful and informative discussion 

here I think about what SBA, what resource partners, what other 

entities can do to kind of make sure that these programs are effective. 

But there is a role for Congress here, and so I would like to ask 

each and every one of you if you could give in true Chair Landrieu 

style your top five recommendations, your three to five recommendations for what Congress can do to create, support, 

strengthen entrepreneurs as well as the programs that serve them. 

And for Leo, if I could ask if you could in your answer give some 

recommendations for what Congress can do to help increase private 

sector involvement and help resource partners to leverage that private sector support. 

Who wants to go first, anyone? 

Mr. SNAIR. I will go. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. You are a brave soul. Thank you. 

Mr. SNAIR. It does not directly apply to this Committee, but I 

really think it needs to be stated. 

I started helping people start their own businesses after being a 

businessman myself for some years, again about a year and a half 

ago. And I really find it disheartening when I see really, really 

savvy business people who either (a) are unwilling to take the 

plunge or (b) have taken the plunge and are unwilling to expand 

their business because of the cost of health care. 

And I am a registered Republican. I have been my whole life. I 

consider myself a pro-business Republican. But I will say it right 

now socialized medicine is the way to go. If somebody does not 

have to worry about the cost of health care for himself or his employees, he is willing to take that business in a million different exciting directions, and I would argue that socialized medicine is probusiness. Thank you. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Great. Thank you. 

Tee. 

Mr. ROWE. I am not as brave as Scott. So, I am going to talk 

about other stuff. 

What Bill had brought up and the theme of collaboration I think 

is probably from a small business, entrepreneurial development 

point of view the 800-pound gorilla in the room whether it is capital access or international trade or rural development or federal 

procurement—let us pick some quick easy topics, right—the lack of 

coordination and collaboration because you have to deal with what 

we like to euphemistically call the alphabet soup, whether it is 

international trade, and the SBDC has an international trade cen-
42 

ter and we are working with the USEAC, but then you have to go 

to Commerce and the Census guys for the trade regulations and 

over here at EX–IM or maybe asked me at SBA because it depends 

on the package, et cetera. 

That confusion and lack of coordination makes our jobs that 

much harder, because we are trying to guide a small business 

owner. And I hope they are not sensing the frustration that we 

have because when you are trying to assist someone, obviously you 

want them to trust you and feel that they are confident in your 

skill set and that is why we work so hard on professional development at SBDCs. 

At the other end of the scale, it is, well, okay, go here but if you 

are doing this go there. And it makes it look like either we do not 

know what the heck we are talking about or the Federal Government end of it is so dysfunctional that it discourages people. 

And honestly, having been in your shoes, I do not know exactly 

how to go down this road. I do not know how you get the FDIC 

and the Treasury and the Office of the Comptroller and SBA and 

everybody all into one room to sit and think and talk about what 

are we really doing, and ICBA and ABA, what are we really doing 

about capital access for small business. 

If you write that into a reauthorization bill, I know you will end 

up with referrals to six other Committees and it will die under its 

own weight. 

But if there is a way we can start to identify and coordinate, and 

maybe it has to be in a bullet fashion, just what we did in the Jobs 

Act. 

And there is the great international trade effort in there, and the 

Office of International Trade at SBA will be working with several 

agencies to that TPCC, and SBA and ASBDC have already worked 

together and with the Women’s Business Centers to set up the certification so we are already rolling on that. So, we will have our 

folks trained as international trade counselors. 

But then to go the step further and start to push the coordination which we already do, we work with census so that we help 

them run their road shows city by city so that small businesses can 

get trade coordination and regulation training. And I am still confused over who is doing what over there but thankfully they know. 

But going down those roads. 

In the procurement arena, we work so hard with the PTACs and 

many of the PTACs are actually part of SBDCs. We need to work 

harder to reach out to Scott and the SBDCs that are also VBOCs 

to make sure that that procurement end of things is being fully coordinated so that the opportunities are not getting missed. 

I guess it is that larger, it is thinking thematically and then 

building the collaboration from there, maybe if we can work on that 

for those areas. I know it is hard when you have got a big government with 15 agencies. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Thank you, Tee. 

Mr. Williams and then Holly. 

Mr. WILLIAMS. Yes. There are two areas that you missed narrowly. Support for entrepreneurs and then the services that support those entrepreneurs. I think both of those are near and dear 
43 

to you UEP’s mission and spirit, and along with the Kauffman 

Foundation as well. 

So, I am going to say in terms of supporting the entrepreneurs 

and support we can give for encouraging entrepreneurs to create 

and start businesses. If you look on our Web site, the Kauffman 

Web site, there is a start up at 2011 that we just announced on 

Tuesday that talks about, I think, it is 10 different ways about how 

policies and the spirit of entrepreneurship can be encouraged in 

our country. So, as opposed to going over all of those now, just take 

a look at those. 

But I would like to talk about the service part and what Congress can do in terms of encouraging and being more effective in 

the service that we offer entrepreneurs. 

And one is if they really have specific economic goals attached to 

the programs, I mean what are we trying to accomplish, what needles are we trying to move, what pieces of the entrepreneurial ecosystem are we not satisfied with, what is the baseline, and what 

are we trying to move those two across at any kind of point in time. 

I think then it is easier when you ask for data what the data is 

trying to tell you and what you are actually looking for. And so, 

I think that would be one thing. 

I think clarify the entrepreneurial process as for people who are 

using these services. So, when you have five million people who are 

looking to these programs and say what can I do, I mean, what is 

the process for, let us say, someone who is trying to do international trade or trying to do a start up or trying to do different 

areas of entrepreneurship. 

There can be kind of a typology created to say if you are doing 

this, here is the development plan of services that the government 

offers that can move you from point A to point B. 

And I think a lot of times people are confused where to go, what 

to do depending on what they are trying to accomplish. Somebody 

who is in the restaurant business is somebody totally separate from 

somebody who has a new innovation that they are trying to license 

or something like that. 

So, there has to be away for one to figure out what it is that we 

are trying to do in terms, from the government’s standpoint, of the 

economic goals; and the other side is people who are trying to use 

those services need to understand what the process is to get to 

where they are trying to go. 

I think those two things will go a long way. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Great. Thank you. 

Holly and then Julie and then Leo. 

Ms. SCHICK. First, I would like to state that we look forward to 

working with GAO and exploring how we move the ball forward on 

this topic, and the thing that Ms. Julie said earlier we all built 

upon how we at the Federal level and the national level, how we 

communicate with this. We set the tone, we set a standard. And 

having said that, the terms of the dialog [off microphone] and I 

think that is where that whole issue of collaboration needs to start. 

We had some successes. I was doing some research before I came 

over and back in 2009, the Committee received correspondence that 

talked about a group called INEAQ. I do not know if you recall it, 

it is called the Interagency Network of Enterprise Assistance for 
44 

Providers. And it is a team of career managers from the Department of Commerce, the Department of Labor, and EPA. And this 

core group started meeting three or four years ago to just try to 

identify who are all the players in the Federal landscape that touch 

on the small business owner constituency. 

The group has grown from core membership of about four to five 

agencies to now it has over 19 participants. They meet on a monthly basis, every other month, and talk about what their particular 

program or agency is doing for entrepreneurship. 

And I think that has become a good basis for us in establishing 

contacts and in seeking input and ideas about how to handle this 

and doing what you are doing, why are we doing what we are 

doing. 

And I think that that would be a good platform, if you will, to 

work with GAO and see how that is working to see if we cannot 

continue to build on that. 

The other projects, I think, that SBA has reached out on in trying to do Federal cooperation is one through our cluster initiatives 

in trying to work with EPA, and Department of Commerce, and at 

the local level engaging a number of partners depending upon the 

cluster and the organizations to try to get folks collaborating as 

best we can. We have also worked with the Appalachian Regional 

Commission. We worked with NIST. The MET program has been 

around for a long time and certainly SBDC, in understanding how 

those operate in the local communities and partner with those that 

we try to reach out to at the Federal level. 

So, I think we have got a good running start, if you will, because 

we have had some successes. And the INEAP group, I think again 

is a good platform to start looking at how we raise that to the next 

level. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Great. Thank you. 

Julie. 

Ms. WEEKS. So, you asked for five recommendations for you to 

consider so I jotted down five, being the numbers person. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Thank you. 

Ms. WEEKS. First of all, keep calling these kinds of roundtables 

because it forces us to get out of our daily routine with blinders on, 

doing our jobs and start talking to one another more because I 

mean it is very helpful. 

Secondly, I would say demand data on the diversity of the programs. And I think hearing what Holly is going to be doing with 

expanding what they are gathering from the new EDMIS 2.0 or 

whatever is going to go a long way to help the Women’s Business 

Center program in particular tell its story. But I think if you keep 

demanding that kind of information, that will be very important. 

It strikes me also that the Census Bureau could be part of this 

conversation. Every five years there is a quinquennial business 

survey, and that is not nearly often enough to find out really what 

is going on in the economy. They are like the mother lode of data 

on businesses. 

The Kauffman firm survey does a really good job of following a 

cohort in one year. But you are winding that up in a year or so, 

right? 
45 

Doing something in-between census years, asking the Census Bureau to provide more information, they do it on an annual basis 

with employer businesses. Maybe there is something they can do 

with the 80 percent of firms that are not employer businesses. So, 

I would suggest having a conversation with the economic statistics 

people at the Census Bureau. 

Fourth, I think in the Special Jobs Act or other programs where 

there are some special allocations made for certain programs and 

projects, the Women’s Business Center program is kind of forgotten 

as it is a small program, a drop in the bucket compared to SBDC 

and SCORE. 

But as we now know, more than half of the clients of Women’s 

Business Centers are now existing business owners, and hey, we 

could play a role in growth-oriented enterprise developments and 

the job creation. We already do. 

And then finally in pinging on that, when we get to the whole 

idea of reauthorization, I mean, I know maybe this is a little too 

bold, but we the Women’s Business Center program essentially 

have one hand tied behind our back when it comes to being a full 

and active player in growth-oriented entrepreneurship. 

The legislative intent of the Women’s Business Center program, 

which I am perfectly in support of, has a social function as well as 

an economic one. But it sort of requires that all the money that we 

get from the SBA in the grant which is 40 percent of the full budget of all of the Women’s Business Centers be focused on socially 

and economically disadvantaged and pre-start business. 

All of the work that the Women’s Business Centers are now 

doing from client demand and from a need for helping existing 

business owners grow is something we are doing with the support 

of state or local governments, foundations, corporations, that sort 

of thing. 

Perhaps we can widen the mandate from a public sector perspective on what Women’s Business Centers can do. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Great. Thank you. 

Leo. 

Mr. BOTTARY. First of all, thanks so much for the invitation here 

today. It is always such a great learning experience to come here 

and to engage and participate in these kinds of forums and learn 

so much about the good work everyone is doing. 

I think that Bill offered a really important distinction between 

collaboration and coordination today, and I think opportunities to 

coordinate activities between the public and private sector I think 

there is great opportunity there. 

I think for us it is a matter of working harder and doing a better 

job to learn about all the great things that are going on here and 

how hard people are working here and making sure that we communicate it to our members and out to the business community. 

And conversely, I would really encourage and invite formally any 

member of this Committee who would like to go to a Vistage group 

meeting, we have 17 of them here just in Washington, DC, and 

more importantly and maybe more appropriately for them to go to 

a Vistage meeting in their home state where I think there is not 

only an opportunity to hear directly from the CEO members about 

what their greatest challenges are and how Washington can be 
46 

most beneficial there. But also it gives the Senator an opportunity 

to speak very specifically to what is going on here in Washington, 

because I will tell you that every time I come here I leave, I think, 

just really feeling wonderful about how hard everyone is working 

at all the work that is going on and the fact that we may be a forprofit organization but we are as mission driven as anyone out 

there when it comes to all of this. 

I think we are all really trying to accomplish the same things, 

and to the extent that we can coordinate that much more aggressively, I think would be my one thought contribution, I guess. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Great. Thank you. 

Mr. TYMES. My one thought is to use the networks that we have. 

I mean, we have a tremendous infrastructure here between our resource partners, and it would always to me be so frustrating when 

Commerce has an entrepreneurship program, and Agriculture has 

an entrepreneurship program, and Department of labor has an entrepreneurship program. 

And that to me has always been something, and I do not know 

how we get it done, but there is no reason why, with the infrastructure that we have, the skill sets that we have, that ED programs 

drive entrepreneurship in this country, period. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Great. Thank you. 

Mr. YANCEY. Just very quickly. I know time is of the essence 

here. Three things that I wanted to hit that have already been 

said. 

What you can do, as Daryl said, is to give us really clear goals. 

What do you want to move, and allow us to move that the best way 

we know how within our programs. 

Two, to Tee’s point, any barriers that exist that are hindering 

our clients from achieving their success need to be addressed in 

some fashion, because technical assistance can only overcome so 

much and there are a lot of things that need to be done that will 

make it easier for people to be successful in businesses and to create jobs and to move forward. 

And finally, to Julie’s point, the way that this is going to stay 

top of mind is if we keep having these types of conversations. If we 

do not have these types of conversations, we will all get busy and 

we will get busy doing other things, not that they are not valuable, 

but they are not this. 

So, for those things that you believe, that Senator Snowe believes, that Senator Landrieu believes, that Meredith believes are 

important, we need to have ongoing communication and conversation around that. 

It is like Leo talked about the importance of TEC and being accountable. If we continue to have the conversation, accountability 

will occur here too. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Great. Thank you. 

Diane. 

Ms. DIETZ. So on that note, we encourage you to keep talking. 

On behalf of the Ranking Member and the Chair, we encourage you 

to keep talking. And I thank Ken for those brief comments. 

Ken was recently in Portland doing a SCORE event which was 

very well received, and Senator Snowe was happy to support the 
47 

forum in Maine. So, we appreciate your work and your time, Mr. 

Yancey. 

I would like to ask one question before we leave and I am going 

to pose it to Scott. VBOCs are rather new. As Scott mentioned, 

there are 16 now, and I think they speak to a very specific part 

of the population right now that, in some states, double the national unemployment rate. 

The problems faced by returning veterans are unique and they 

are compounded by the sheer number of returning veterans, and 

when we see a larger drawdown in Iraq and Afghanistan, those 

numbers are going to continue to go up. 

Scott I think that VBOCs have a unique story to tell. These people have complex needs. I read one story about a soldier who deployed in 2003, and he said that he had to shut down his landscaping business; and then when he was deployed seven years later 

in 2010, he was able to keep it going by Skype and utilizing some 

of his employees’ management skills. 

And so, people are being very innovative, and I think entrepreneurs are innovative. But I am interested to hear from you how 

the needs of veterans have changed, what the range of needs that 

you see every day, and how you are addressing them. Also, is there 

a common misconception among veteran entrepreneurs, whether it 

is finding a lender or business resources? Please speak to the veterans entrepreneurial outlook. 

Mr. SNAIR. Sure and I will make it quick. 

I do want to say there has been some of the buzzwords I heard 

today, duplication and efficiency. For anyone who has never visited 

a Small Business Development Center or SCORE office, I invite 

you to go. 

When you read these statistics and the number of companies 

that are helped by these offices and when you read about the number of jobs that are created by any particular Small Business Development Center, you would think that these are bustling places, 

bloated with lots of people when, in fact, they are very, very 

streamlined. 

Any given Small Business Development Center is very, very 

leanly staffed and I am always amazed when I visit the Small 

Business Development Centers, in some cases to collaborate and 

work with their veteran clients, I am amazed at the things that 

they can do with the small number of people any one of those centers has. 

It is funny. When I first started this program, I thought that 

what I was going to be doing was triaging veterans and placing 

them in a program that would help them start their business. 

And about two weeks into it, I said I am the program. I am not 

triaging anybody. I am the program. So, if you want to duplicate 

my services that will put us at two and I am okay with that. 

So, I would say that I complement what goes on at SCORE and 

what goes on at the Small Business Development Centers, but I do 

not see any bloat or duplication whatsoever amongst these folks or 

as I relate to them. 

About the biggest misconception I think that is out there among 

veterans, two of them I guess come to mind, and then I will cut 

it off. 
48 

One very similar to what Ken says. They think there is free 

money out there, and there really is none. There are veteran-tailored small business loans that are extremely similar to the 7(a) 

SBA-backed loan. And unfortunately for veterans because a lot of 

times their lives are in turmoil, including their financial lives, because they are away from their banks when they are overseas, they 

come back and it is not that they are not paying their bills, they 

just had the capacity to pay them and call their lenders, their credit is no good, and that hurts them in getting started up. 

So, they think there is free money. There is not. And then they 

go for the loan and it is tough for them to get a loan because they 

have been away from their financial situation for a year to 15 

months a clip. 

And then the second one does not really pertain to me but there 

is set aside contracting for veterans on a Federal level. A lot of 

them come in with the misconception that it is going to be easy for 

them to register, and it really is not. 

I think the VA unfortunately has swung the pendulum in the 

other direction in trying to avoid fraud by making the process so 

unwieldy that it is essentially blocking and scaring away legitimate 

veteran businesses, both startup and existing. 

So, those are the two things that I see going on right now that 

concern me. Thank you. 

Ms. SANCHEZ. Great. Thank you. 

I think we have hit our time limit. I want to say thank you very 

much to each and every one of you. I think this has been a really 

helpful, informative discussion, and I think it is going to be the 

first of many discussions that we will have on all of these topics 

and all of these programs as we continue through the Congress. 

So with that, I think we will close. 

Thank you. 

[Whereupon, at 12:31 p.m., the committee was adjourned.] 
(49) 

APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED 
50 

OPENING STATEMENT 

Senator Jeanne Shaheen 

July 21, 2011 

Small Business Committee Roundtable: Entrepreneurial Development: Obstacles and 

Opportunities for SupportiTlf/, Sustaining and GrowiTlf/ America's Entrepreneur 

Good morning and thank you all for joining us for this morning's roundtable. I'm very 

pleased to be here to discuss the reauthorization of important Entrepreneurial 

Development (or "E.D.") programs at the Small Business Administration. 

Unfortunately, Chair Landrieu was unable to attend the roundtable this morning, so she 

asked me to start the roundtable in her absence. 

I'm happy to do that because E.D. programs -- which provide counselling and technical 

assistance to promising small businesses -- are critical in my home state of New Hampshire. 

New Hampshire is a small business state. 

• Over 95% of our businesses have fewer than 100 employees. 

• Last year, SBA resource partners, including Small Business Development Centers 

and SCORE, provided assistance to over 6,500 small businesses in New Hampshire. 

That's a lot for a small state. 

That's why I'm glad that Chair Landrieu has made these programs a top priority for this 

Committee. Our goal must be to ensure that these programs are as efficient and effective as 

possible, while providing the necessary resources to carry out their goals and 

responsibilities. 

VALUABLE ED PROGRAMS 

Let me take a few minutes to talk about some ofthese important E.D. programs. 

This past March, this Committee held a roundtable to discuss the reauthorization of SCORE, 

a non-profit association dedicated to counselling and mentoring entrepreneurs across the 

country. At that roundtable, we heard from several small businesses that have benefitted 

from SCORE counselling, including a New Hampshire businesswoman, Sheree Burlington 

from Manchester. Sheree told me and the Committee that without her SCORE counselling, 

she wouldn't have been able to adjust to the economic downturn and to turn her business 

around. Not only has her business survived, but it has also grown over the past two years. 

Success stories like Sheree's are common with SCORE, which maximizes a small federal 

investment of $7 million to help tens of thousands of entrepreneurs start and grow their 

1 
51 

business. SCORE works by leveraging private sector resources and knowledge, through a 

network of over 13,000 volunteers and 355 chapters nationwide. 

I am very pleased to have Ken Yancey, CEO of SCORE, back with us to talk about his ideas 

as to what we can do to support and build SCORE's capacity in a responsible manner. 

[Note: We will NOT be introducing the SCORE reauthorization bill this week.] 

Another integral component of the SBA's network of training and counselling services is 

Small Business Development Centers (SBOCs). With over 1,000 SBOC locations, SBOCs 

offer a "one-stop shop" for assistance by providing a wide variety of information and 

guidance in easily-accessible branch locations. 

I hear frequently from small businesses in New Hampshire that our SBOC provides vital 

support for the small firms that are the lifeblood of our state's economy. 

I am glad to have Tee Rowe, President and CEO of the Association of Small Business 

Development Centers here with us today. I look forward to hearing his ideas to ensure 

that SBOCs are providing consistent, quality services. 

In addition to SBOCs and SCORE we also have representatives from the Women's Business 

Center (WBC) program and Veterans' Business Centers (yBC), which are both critical 

efforts to support entrepreneurial women and veterans. 

FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE REAUTHORIZATION 

As we continue to tackle the tough issues facing small businesses in this time of economic 

recovery, we must do so in a fiscally responsible manner. To meet that responsibility, we 

must continue to examine small business programs for their effectiveness and efficiency 

along with their ability to successfully leverage both public and private sector resources. 

Last Congress, I was pleased to join Chair Landrieu and Ranking Member Snowe in 

cosponsoring S.1229, "The Entrepreneurial Development Act of 2009," which would 

provide SBA resource partners - many of whom are represented here today - with the 

tools they need to help entrepreneurs create, manage and grow their businesses. The 

legislation was similar to provisions which have passed this committee the last several 

Congresses as part of other SBA reauthorization bills. 

We hope to build on our previous efforts in developing comprehensive entrepreneurial 

development legislation that will maximize and build on those programs, and aspects of 

those programs, which are working successfully. And for the ineffective programs, we 

hope to figure ways to improve them so that every program is utilizing every possible 

resource to operate effectively and efficiently. 

2 
52 

That's why hearing from you today is so important. 

Unfortunately, due to several other hearings this morning, I will have to leave in a moment. 

At this time, I'd like to invite Ami Sanchez with Senator Landrieu's staff or Diane Dietz with 

Sentor Snowe's staff to provide opening remarks on behalf of the Chair and Ranking 

Member, ifthey'd like to do so. 

I'd also like to ask Ami to also go over the format for today's roundtable. 

[Turn to Ami Sanchez and Diane Dietz to give brief opening remarks] 

Thank you. 

[AMI SANCHEZ WILL THANK YOU ON BEHALF OF CHAIR LANDRIEU. AT THAI TIME. 

YOU WILL DEPART.) 

3 
53 

Why GAO Did This Study 

NQvember 200:1 

SMAll BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

Opportunities Exist to Improve Oversight of Women's 

Business Centers and Coordination among SBA's 

Business Assistance Programs 

What GAO Found 

Vntil2007, SEA funded WBCs for up to 10 yeru'Sl at which 

expected that they would become self-sustaining, Specifically, 

SllA has made annual awards to Wiles for up to 5 years, Because of concerns 

that WBCs- could not sustain operations without continued SBA funding, in 

W09, Congress created a pHot program to extend funding an additional 5 

years. Due to continued uncertainty about WBCs' ability to sustain operations 

without SEA funding, in May 2007, Congress passed legislation authorizing 

renewable 3-year awards to WBCs that "graduated" from the program after 10 

years and to Clurcnt program participants. Like the current award.s) the 3-year 

awards are competitive. SBA is revising its a\vard process and plans to 

provide the a-year awards in fiscal year 2008 (see figun> bE-low). 

Though SBA ha."J oversight proc-edures in place to monitor Wiles' perfonnance 

and use of federal funds) GAO found indieations that staff shortages from the 

agency's ctownsizing and ineffective communication was hindering SBA's 

oversight effort". SBA relies extensively on district office staff to oversee 

WBCs, but these staff mernbers have other agency responsibilities and may 

not have the needed expertise to conduct sorne WBe oversight procedures. 

SBA provides annual training and has taken steps to afljust its oversight 

procedures to adapt to staffing changes) but concerns remain. Some WBCs 

also dted problems with comnnmieation, and one study reported that 54 

perc0nt of 52 WBCs responding to its survey said that SBA could improve its 

centers. Inefff'ctive communication led to confusion 

among some about how to meet program requirements. 

Under the temlS of the WBe award, SBA requires W13Cs to coordinate wit.h 

local SllDCs ami SCORE chapters. However, GAO found that SBA pro,ided 

limited guidance or information on successful coordination, Most of the 

WBCs that GAO spoke that in some situations they referred 

clients to an SBDe cmmselor, and some WBCs to more 

SEDes and SCORE chapters 

and levE'rage resources. Still, som(' WBCs said that coordinating 

s('rvices was difficult, as the programs have sJ'nilar performance mea.":>lU"eS 

<mel could end up competing for diE-nts. Such COllcems thwart coordination 

efforts and could increase the risk of duplicatiop in SOUle geographic areas. 

______________ United States Government Accountability OHice 
54 

United States Government Aceonntability Oftlce 

Washington, DC 20548 

May 19, 2011 

Congressional Addressees: 

Subject: E;fficiency and Effectiveness of Fragmented Economic Develnpment Programs 

Are Unclear 

One of the areas included in our recent report on potential duplication among federal 

programs was economic development 1 1f economic development programs are 

administered efficiently and effectively, they can contribute to the well-being of our 

nation's economy at the least cost to taxpayers. Absent a common definition for 

economic development, we had previously developed a list of nine activities most often 

associated with economic development.' These activities include planning and 

developing strategies for job creation and retention, developing new markets for existing 

products, building infrastructure by constructing roads and sewer systems to attract 

industry to undeveloped areas, and establishing business incubators to provide facilities 

for new businesses' operations, among others. 

Our recent work included information on 80 economic development programs at four 

agencies:-the Departments of Commerce (Commerce), Housing and Urban 

Development (HUD), Agriculture (USDA), and the Small Business Administration (SBA). 

This work examined (1) the potential for overlap in the design of the programs, (2) the 

extent to which the four agencies collaborate to achieve common goals, and (3) the 

extent to which the agencies have developed measures to determine the programs' 

effectiveness. According to the agencies, funding provided for these 80 programs in fiscal 

year 2010 amounted to $6.2 billion, of which about $2.9 billion was for economic 

development efforts, largely in the form of grants, loan guarantees, and direct loans.' 

Some of these 80 programs can fund a variety of activities, including those focused on 

iGAO, Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and EnhafICe 

Revenue, GAO-ll..'lISSP (WashingWn D.C.: Mar. I, 2011). 

2GAO, Rural Economic Development: More Assurance Is Needed ThaI. Grunt FUnding In/ormation Is Accurately 

l/epoTted, GA0-<)0'294 (Washington D.C.: Feb. 24, 2006), 7. 

'In March 2011, we reported that the functing provided for these 80 programs in fiscal year 2010 arnoUIlted to $6.5 

billion, of which about $3.2 billion was for economic development efforts, according to the agencies (See 

GAO-II..'lISSP and GAO, LUll qJ &lecUJd Federal Programs ThaI Have SimiJ4r or Ove!iapping Objecti1Je<l, GAO-ll474R (Washington, D.C.: Mar.IB, 2011). We are reporting differentfundingflgures in this product because SBArevised 

the original infonnation they provided to us in December 2010. 

GAO-Il--4.77R Economic Development Programs 
55 

noneconomic development activities, such as rehabilitating housing and building 

community parks. 

In Febmary 2011 we briefed staff of the House and Senate Small Business Committees 

on the results of this work to date. See enclosure HI for the briefing presented to the 

congressional staff. We will perfonn additional analysis of some of these programs and 

v.ill report on them at a later date. 

Summary 

Our work to date snggests that the design of each of these 80 economic development 

programs appears to overlap with that of at least one other program in tenus of the 

economic development activity that they are authorized to fund. For example, as 

shown in figure 1, the four agencies administer a total of 54 programs that can fund 

"entrepreneurial efforts," which includes helping businesses to develop business plans 

and identify funding resources. 

Figure 1: Number of Pror9-:c',...am-,-s_b_Y-;A_9_en_C_y_-c-____________________ . _____ -, 

Source· GAO anatysis 01 inlorrnal\0Il11t>m Commerce, HUD, SOA,ijnd USDA 

DCommsrce 

l!aHUD 

• SEA 

.USDA 

&In December 2010, USDA officials provided us inbrmation on the economic activities that ea-ch of 

their economic development programs can funcj, which WE) reported in {Jur March 2011 report 

{GAO-11 -318SP). !n April 2011, they provided revisEld information for six of their programs and we 

incorporated the information into this product We identify these six programs in Enclosure V, 

Enclosure IV lists the specific programs in figure 1 that can fund each economic activity, 

grouped by agency and activity type. 

Page 2 GAO-Il-477R Economic Development PrograDl 
56 

We have also identified the ways each agency is able to distribute economic development 

funding, as well as the geographic regions based on population density that the agencies 

target (see figs. 2 and 3). 

Figure 2: Program Award Distribution Type by Agency 

D Qrantordlrectp8:yment 

~ Loan (dirE)(;! or guaranteed) 

~ Advantages tor federal c;Of1tract competrtion 

D Ornntsnd loan 

~ Grant and services/lechnlcal11sslstanC\'1: 

_ Ser'o'k:esttechnlC81 aSSistance and advantages lor mde~l contract ccmpeUUon 

5ourtxI:GAO anal\'llia of 1rl/00000000000ion trom COtT\milr<;9, HUD, SflA,and USOA, 

Figure 3: Percentage of Programs Designated toward Urban and Rural Communities 

Commerce HUll 

o 

o Not spGCIfioo 

o Urban only 

_RUffiIQnIY 

SBA 

o Sourw: GAO anaI\ISls oj inh,m18l1oll!rom COIlV11al'C(l, HlJP. SBA,atlIj USDA. 

USDA 

Enclosure V provides additional details on each of the 80 economic development 

programs, including administering agency, funding received in fiscal year 2010, economic 

activities eligible for funding, area served based on population density, primary 

recipients targeted by program, and award type. 

To address issues arising from potential overlap and fragmentation in economic 

development programs, we previously identified collaborative practices agencies should 

consider implementing in order to maximize performance and results of federal 

Page 3 GAO~11-477R Economic Development Programs 
57 

programs that share common outcomes.' Results from our work to date show that 

Commerce, lillD, SBA, and USDA appear to have taken actions to implement some of 

the collaborative practices, such as defining and articulating common outcomes, for 

some of their related programs. However, the four agencies have offered little evidence 

so far that they have taken steps to develop compatible policies or procedures with other 

federal agencies or to search for opportunities to leverage physical and administrative 

resources with their federal partners. 

In addition, a lack of information on program outcomes is both a current and longstanding concem We identified such weaknesses at the four agencies we reviewed. 

Better information on program outcomes is needed to determine whether this potential 

overlap and fragmentation are resulting in ineffective or inefficient programs. See our 

March 2011 report for more information on our preliminary results related to the extent 

to which these four agencies collaborate and how they determine the effectiveness of 

some of their programs.' 

Actions Needed and Potential Financial or Other Benefits 

In previous reports we identified areas of concern related to the extent to which 

agencies collaborate and assess the effectiveness of their programs. These areas can 

benefit from continued attention. 

• Agencies need to further utilize promising practices for enhanced collaboration. We first 

made this recommendation to SBA and USDA in September 2008, but these agencies 

have taken only limited steps to fully address our concerns.' The actions that the four 

agencies should consider include seeking more opportunities for resource sharing across 

economic development programs with shared outcomes and identifying ways to leverage 

each program's strengths to improve existing collaborative efforts. Continuing to explore 

the extent to which these agencies collaborate could help identify promising practices 

that may result in more effective and efficient delivery of economic development 

programs to economically distressed areas. 

• Agencies need to collect accurate and complete data on program outcomes and use the 

information to assess each program's effectiveness. In June 2008 we made a similar 

recommendation to SBA about its HUBZone program, but the agency has taken limited 

action thus far.' 

'GAO, RurUl Ecrmomic Development: CoUaboration between SBA and USDA Coukl Be ImproVed, GA().l)S-U23 

(Washlngton D.C.: Sept 18,2008). 

'GAO-ll-3lBSP,44-45. 

'GAO-OS-U23. 

'GAO, 8mall Business Administration: Additional Actions A .... Needed to Certify and Monitor HUBZone Businesses 

and Assess Program Results, GAO.(JS-004 (Washington D.C.: June 17, 2008). 

Page 4 GAO-1l47'IR EeoDOmie Development Programs 
58 

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 

We provided a draft of this report to Commerce, SBA, USDA and HUD for review and 

comment. Commerce's Assistant Secretary for Economic Development and SBA's 

Assistant Administrator for Congressional and Legislative Affairs provided written 

comments that are presented in Enclosures I aild II. In addition, Commerce, SBA, and 

USDA provided technical comments, which we incorporated where appropriate. HUD 

did not provide written or technical comments. 

Commerce's Assistant Secretary states that prior GAO reports have focused on the types 

of investments made without an appropriate definition of economic development. 

Because federal agencies do not have a standard definition of what constitutes economic 

development, we used a list of activities as criteria for identifying programs that are 

generally accepted as being directly related to economic development. Our list includes 

economic activities that we first identified for our 2000 report on economic development 

issues and then updated for our 2006 report on niral economic development.' The list 

was developed based on a general consensus of officials, including officials from the 

Department of Commerce's EDA, along with other federal agencies involved with 

economic development and several national associations familiar with economic 

development In general, we focused on activities that directly affected the overall 

development of an area, such as job creation, rather than on activities that improved 

individuals' quality of life, such as housing and education. The Assistant Secretary also 

stated that only an evaluation of programs that considers goals and the outcomes of each 

program can accurately identify duplication. We agree that accurate program outcomes 

are critical to evaluating the impact of federal economic development efforts. Our report 

states that these programs appear to overlap in terms of their design and authorization; it 

does not state that programs overlap in terms of outcomes. We have not concluded that 

duplication exists among programs and plan to address these issues in our future work 

on overlap and duplication, which will further examine the services that each program 

provides, program outcome measures, and collaborative procedures. 

SBA's Assistant Administrator for Congressional and Legislative Affairs made a similar 

point. He wrote that while our report provides an initial starting point by presenting a 

road map for further investigation into individual programs, it does not attempt to set 

forth specific data about the differences in focus, target recipients, delivery mechanisms, 

and other features of each program. We agree that more work is required before 

concluding that duplication and related waste or inefficiencies exist. In this report, we 

took an initial step to differentiate the 80 programs by identifying the primary targeted 

recipient for each program. In our work going forward, we plan to take further steps to 

identifY the unique value that each program provides. The Assistant Administrator also 

stated that he disagreed with our finding related to the extent to which SBA collaborates 

with other agencies. He noted, for example, that SBA's HUBZone program office recently 

signed a memorandum of understanding with HUD on sharing geocoding services related 

to its HUBZone map. The new information that the Assistant Administrator provided 

does not change our finding. We found that the agencies, including SBA, appear to have 

, GAO, Economic Devclopment· Multiple Federal Programs Fund Similar Economic Devclopment Activities, 

GAOIRCEDIGGJ).OO..220 (Washlngton, D.C.: Sept. 29,2000) and GA()"oo'294. 

Page 5 GAO-U477R E<onomie Development Programa 
59 

taken actions to implement some of the collaborative practices, such as defining and 

articulating common outcomes. However, SBA has offered little evidence to date that it 

has implemented some of the other key collaborative practices, such as developing 

compatible policies or procedures that help to facilitate collaboration between its federal 

partners. As we continue work in these areas, we plan to, for example, further monitor 

and assess SBA's collaborative practices. SBA also provided revised fiscal year 2010 

funding figures for each of their programs. These revised figures were significantly 

different from the ones they provided to us in December 2010, which we incorporated 

into our March 2011 reports.' SBA officials could not identify the source for the 

inaccurate figures. They did state that the majority of their programs do not receive 

program-specifc appropriations and that they rely on estimates provided by SBA staff to 

determine the costs associated with each program. We noted the programs for which 

this is the case. As stated in our scope and methodology, we relied on the agencies for 

program-specific funding data because the agencies are the only source for that 

information. Although we assessed the reliability of program-specific information that 

we used to support our findings (such as, the primary targeted recipient), we did not 

verify the reliability of either the original or revised program-specific funding figures 

because we did not rely on them to support any of our findings. However, as we continue 

our work, we plan to obtain a better understanding of how the agencies that we review, 

including SBA, determine the costs of their programs. 

USDA's Director of the Office of Budget and Program Analysis provided comments to 

our report and emphasized that the President's fiscal year 2012 budget proposes the 

termination of several Rural Development and Forest Service programs that have been 

determined to be duplicative of other programs as clarified in the terminations, 

reductions, and savings volume of the fiscal year 2012 budget. He said that these 

proposals demonstrate USDA's commitment to reducing duplication and improving the 

program efficiencies of USDA's economic development programs. In our work going 

forward we plan to continue to, for example, monitor and assess efforts made by the 

Administration to implement these and other proposals aimed at eliminating duplicative 

federal economic development programs. Among the technical comments USDA 

provided, officials made a number of revisions to the information they originally 

provided to us in December 2010, which was the information that we incorporated into 

one of our March 2011 reports.lO Specifically, they asked us to clarify the types of 

economic activities that six of their economic development programs can fund. We 

incorporated the changes to our report and noted the programs where this is the case. 

Scope and Methodology 

To identify areas of potential overlap and best practices to address the areas of concern, 

we utilized information from previous GAO products as well as our ongoing work 

following up on the recommendations from those previous products. We also relied on 

our recent evaluation of economic development programs at Commerce, HUD, SBA and 

USDA. During this recent evaluation, we compiled publicly available information on 

'GAO-ll..318SP and GAO-1l-474R. 

lOGAO-ll-318SP. 

Page 6 GAO~11*477R Economic Development Programs 
60 

each program to determine the economic activities that the programs can fund, the ways 

the agencies distribute economic development funding, as well as the geographic areas 

and primary recipients that the agencies target We then relied on the agencies to review 

this information, confirm its accuracy, and provide clarifications as necessary. Based on 

the information we collected and the clarifications that the agencies provided, we 

determined that these data were sufficiently reliable for the purposes of this review. Our 

report also includes self-reported data on program funds from the agencies for 

background and contextual purposes. We relied on the agencies for the program-specific 

funding data because the agencies are the only source for this type of infonnation. We 

met with officials from each of the agencies to discuss each of the programs and the 

program missions. Because SBA officials view all of their programs as being related to 

economic development, we included all SBA programs in this review. Using the Catalog 

of Federal Domestic Assistance and other agency documents, we identified 80 federal 

programs administered by the four agencies that could fund economic development 

activities and determined the primary targeted recipients (that is, the end user that the 

agency is focused on serving) for each of the programs. Agency officials reviewed our 

determinations of the primary targeted recipients and they generally agreed with our 

assessments. We did not include tax credit programs aimed at economic development in 

this review. For information on how tax programs can contribute to duplication, see the 

report we issued in March 2011. U We conducted this performance audit from October 

2010 through April 2011, in accordance with generally accepted government auditing 

standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain 

sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and 

conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained 

provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit 

objectives. 

We are sending copies of this report to the appropriate congressional committees and 

other interested parties. In addition, this report will be available at no charge on the GAO 

Web site at http://www.gao.gov. Should you or your staff have any questions concerning 

this report, please contact William B. Shear, Director, at (202) 512-8678, or 

shearw@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public 

Affairs may be found on the last page of this report. Key contributors to this report are 

listed in Enclosure VI. 

William B. Shear 

fU!~fi.~ Director, Financial Markets 

and Community Investment 

Enclosures (6) 

"GAO-ll-318SP, 75. 

Page 7 GAO-U477R Economic De",,)opment Programs 
61 

List of Congressional Addressees 

The Honorable Mary Landrieu 

Chair 

The Honorable Olympia Snowe 

Ranking Member 

Conunittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

United States Senate 

The Honorable Samuel Graves 

Chairman 

The Honorable Nydia Velazquez 

Ranking Member 

Conunittee on Small Business 

House of Representatives 

PageS GAO·ll.477B Eoonomle ne""lopmellt Programs 
62 

Enclosure I: Comments from the Department of Commerce 

Page 9 

April 26, 2011 

Mr. William B. Shar 

Di=Ior. F'UIIIICiaI MamIs .... Community luvcsImenI 

U.S. CloYemment Ac:counI8bIlity Of&e 

WasbingIon, DC 20548 

Dear Mr. Sbear: 

In teSpOIISC III your ~ fur _ on the U.S. CloYemment Al:coun!abiIity (GAO) 

Roportll-417R, "EfficiODC)' .... Elrocti_ ofF.........,mrd Economic DevdOJllDl!lll 

Programs Are U~" effecIively evallllllina FedcnoI programs dllllIIIJIPO'I ccooomie 

development R>lJuin:s a thorough lllldemtanding II( IIOIIIIIIy the typoo ofimalmCIIIs dill are 

IIIBde, but bow, wiIl'.and to wMm the m-..., made. GAO "'" periodlcaI.Iy I!IIIOd StM:I1Ii IqIDJ:fS dill aaa1ya:d poIadiaI overlap of Federal economic cIevoIopmcmt aclivillcs. A 

glaring deticiency in tbia n:porI, boweYer. is GAO's admission em page J dill th= is IlOl a common dcliailion of_Ie deveIopmcnI used 10 pide lIS -'Ysi& RaIhcr, lIS omaIysil 

<Iepcnds upon a listing of ocIlvilies to maIao inf_ rqarding wIIaI cconomlc dcveIopm.art is, 

and by exIeII8ion, whriIor th= is duplicatian of JIIOI!I&IIIS. 

Prior GAO top<HIS have all fbcused cxdusively em the typoo ofiDveslments made without 

considcrina!be goab of oach ordle pmgrams, as -u. Wilhaut viewing Fedenol in_ in 

t:COIIOmic developmeIII tIIIoush the lens of an 8ppI'O!IriaIe definition lIIId developmcmt of 

. outcomes arisiDs tiam dud: ddioitioo. GAO DIfI1 be inccaccIIy IdeotiJYins duplication where 

lIOIIO exi.... As 1he coUlllly JRll&relIO address the IIIlIWlIin& dcticit aod nocvaI.-its 

investmcnls, GAO' • .-roport could have olfen:d Imporbmt informatioD 10 inform fulure 

budaet discuMiorls. lllllcld, IhiII fundamcn1aI flaw in Ibe moIhodology ernp\<>ycd by GAO 1<> 

icleulilY duplicalioa and cxamiDo perfonnanCc limI'" the report'. vaIuc and uubility. 

Economic devclopmoat i. a common tenn used fur many types of activities. From the 

perspeerive of the Economic IlcveIopmoftt A.dmiDi!InIIioo (BOA). in its moot distilled form, 

t:COIIOmic development tradidcmally roc..... au Ibe CICBIioa or mention of joba tballftlPllOlt the growIb of iDCOJDe, and by exIOmSion, !be Ia>t ...... in • !IOD!lt'II'hlc regioo. CreaIiDg Iheso jobs, 

""--, r<:qUireB the ~ of a V1Iriety of 8CIOIS at r:vt:cY level willlin the public .... 

private sectam, as w.oll as many inpvta, i..::hadiDs in&asttuc:ture, housiDs. social aad community 

development, a skilled WOIIcfon:e, CIIIn:pCaIeUria IaICDI, h:chllolosY, and __ to capital. 

In the Federal Oovemmenl, the tenD economic developmOtll baa become synonymous with all of 

tbosc things. 

GAO·1l477R Economic Development Programs 
63 

Page 10 

Mr. WiUilllll B. Shear 

Page 2 

Ensllring !bot the American public benefits &om robust <XlOIIDIlIic development ""I~ 

investmeDIs in maay economic 8ClMties, """'" ofwhich OAO hal ldcmi1ied, IncbIding busiDcss 

ill<UbaIors, IcIecommunicalkms, plans and straIogico, inliuIzudurc, iDdustriaI pub,..... WhiJe 

Fedend asencieamay appear iii mate slmiLv t)'peS ofill_ based 011 ~eategodcs, 

because the goals of ...... agency and program dilb. 1hoir 0IIIl:0mcs are ultimately distinct. At 

1110 same 1io>e, Ibe8c in_ camplemeal ...... other in such • way as to maximize the 

economic po!elIIiaI of the United SIaIes. 

GAO idontifJed nine activities which they &II "'Pf"SCIIIed economic development Using 

this I..., J1IIIIl)I of the DeptrtmentslAgencies examined appeared to be duplicallve. However, 

EDA's ftamewodc Ibr inVCSliog in these CCOIIOIDic deYeIopmenI activities is ... bslani:iaIJy 

diffi:rent Iiom !bat of other FedcmI agonc:ics ... 11 i. based nn regional collaboration and 

inoowIiCIIL 

• Over the IasI """""" years, IDA hal fimded semiaallCOC!lllCb teptding rqiOlllll 

collabondinn and innovation, such as SUjipotIing Dr. Midrad Poner and his IeaIn to 

idemi1Y and map IegiOlllll iDIIDwtion cIuSeIs ....... the NaIion. Because of lCOC!IIICb 

such .. Ibis, IDA is C"""""" on making straIegic 21" cenIUIy in_ !bat help 

commwritics Iewtagc their COIIIp8I1IIive """"&IbS 11> spur innoYlllioD and invostment that 

will uIlirnalely lead to long-lerm economic prosperity. EDA .. regional bottom-up 

appmach to economic developmeat allows it 11> utilize it! brood array oflOCla to most 

elfectively addross Ioca1 needs ill order to support economic development I 

• Additionally, IDA plays a key mi. in sbaping Federal poRey Ibr footcring collabondive 

ecollOlllic cleveloplllmt. Ie !his Jeadmhip role, IDA has bIlilt upon ilS long practice of 

cotmliDating with other FedcmI ogc:ocics and its klIowledge ofbest practices in ecoltOlllic 

deveIopmeat to create seYollllIlClW iniliotives designed to DIDIO stralq!ica1ly ad ...... 

regiooal ecollOlllic dewIopment. These initioti_ fomtaIly lMngc each partner'. 

complemoatary acliyitlcs to ad'iBn<:e regional CCODOIIIic deYeIopmenI in the broadest 

-. including infroottudttre. housing. social and community deveIopn>ell~ a skilled 

woMon:e, ea/IepnlI1Curial !alent, technology, and ...... to capilal. 

o For example.I!DA...,."my cnIlabara1cd with the Small BusincssAdministnttion, 

the IlepaItm<mt of Labor, the Ileportmt:nt oflloe!gy. the NaIioDal Sciau:c 

Fouodotio1l, the Depottmeat ofBducalion, and the Nationallnslitule ofSttmdatds 

and Technology an the Iloe!gy IUgiooaIlonovation em-Initiative to develop 

and impIcmmt a ClDSM:utIing, collahonltive appmach buih 011 best practicosto 

stimIIIaIe SUSlaiuahle ecollOlllic deveIopnenL Because all of~ agencies have 

varying fbcuacs, pI118WJU1l8tic objecth"", and eligible recipiCIII .. !iii .. , they all 

• AddirioMl EDA·fimdod ......... examples: Un/nding _ COIIIptt/JitIe1wU: Tmr RoI • .ql/zgk»fal 

a...-..-Rcpx! '" _ .. WebsilO C!OO611uou!Jj1.....,.J;6ow r .... 1I41011 Ptojecl- CWrlcuIum '" 

1_ WebsI10 (2OO6-present); Croulng ,"" Hal 1I41011a1 FiunJIq: lnjiNmmICft tmtI..fOQ/yr,", LbrkIng 

l!.g/DnaIC_I""" ..... 'Q_...,"'.~_y-OccopDtIonDIC""'.,,(l~) 

GAO-ll.477R Econom!e Development Program. 
64 

Page 11 

Mr. William D. Shar 

Page 3 

have unlquo 8Dd COIlIJlI<:m=Wy nIcbes mated 10 ecoocmdc development. The 

flll8leSic collaboration of these six ...... ier aIioWB the Fed<ral Govemmcot 10 

support a ~ overan:biDa vision for........,;c development. 

o AnoIb<:r CX8IIIpI. is the recent tdease of EDA's Federal Funding Opportunity lOt 

the i6 a...... Cball ..... wIu:m BOA IImdlDa Is COCIdioaIed wiIh 6mdiDa 

opponunltier pnrvIded by 0Ibcr FcdcraJ ~ &gaICier, incIudlD81bc 

EnWomnemal ProtcctionAt,erlt:;y, the J)eptIrImImt ofEno:rsY, Ibc Depanmeot of 

Agriculture's Naliooallnslitutc ofPood azul Ajp:icuImre, or the Na1iooaI Sci",," 

FOUIIdaIIOIL Each oflhooo .......... wiD provide addiliollallllnding opportunities 

10 i6 Ot= CballaIge wioo<:n for compw-ry actMIies muhing in the 

developmanl ofproof of CODCqIl_ for 8I=llodmolosY. The tlmdiDgJiom 

our poItI\er agendes wiU DOl dupJlcaIe III overlap willi EDA tlmdlns. but provide 

Nppiea=tal timdins opporIIIIlities 10 wiDniDa ~ bocauao the range of 

II<IMtier c:xpcct&:d to be UIIderIakeD-liam JeSeIItCb azul kdmoIosi IIWft:r 10 

cammon:ializolion - is c:xpcct&:d to be divoae, wi~ wi performed by 

muIIipIe coIlabonding public azul pdvalc endties at the 1ocaI1 .... t. 

WiIh regatd III ouICOme_1, accurate program _ ore criti~ 10 

evaluating the impact ofFcdmI economic development emnu. While GAO hlshlightl!d 

po!t:nIiaI ~!hat EDA could make to its pcrfDnMllCe ............ IIDA _Iho only sgency tbal GAO cited which collected, IrIcbd, ot repmtecI data onloog-teJ:m pertbnnaDce of 

their JII08I8IIIS. fDA prides itself OIl ill efforts 10 COIIIinuousIy improoe illl pertbnnaDce JtaS\RS ODd vaIidaIion processes. EDA'. cuueDI pa:farmance IIICUics _ founded on ... 

indepeodeltt study ofEOA in_ caniod ont by RuIgeIs ill 1996. UJIIcIaIowlcdsed in the GAO repon is Ihat Ibis study was updated azul validated ill 2008 tbmugb • separaIc study 

conducted by Grant ThomIon. The Grant 'I1Icm*>n IIU.dy adopted BOA'. meIbDd fot COIIIIucting 

site visils 10 validate pertbnnaDce ............ and validated the data in the 1996 R1IIgc!5 repOIt. 

EDA COIIIiD.-Io work 10 strcnathen ill inIcmaI \<IIlidalion pml<!Cals and strives 10 cooduct IS I11III)' sIIe visits II _ pemUllIl verilY performance _os. WhIle I:llA 

could always gpetid additiooaI ........... to condlld mote site visits ODd \BIte even mote stepS 10 

furIbcr bo ...... its pa:farmance reportins. in fact, EDA's --. haw b= validated 

sufficiently. W. believe that EDA budget propouIs idadil7 die ~ level of supporIfor 

pcrfOllOllllCe tepOrIiog. RaIber 1han increue ssWIco and expe!lICIlOt IIIIIIIOCeSS8IY fine IUIIlng of 

pcrfonnance ............ we bcIicYt those 1Imds .... betIer aUoeatod1D the program IlCCOIDII where 

tbty can help COIDIIIIIDiIies inmwte their economies and creare Jobs. 

GAO·ll-477R EeoIlOmle De ... lopmellt Programs 
65 

Enclosure II: Comments from the Small Business Administration 

Page 13 

U.S. SMAlL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

WASIIINOlON, D.C. 20416 

April 29, 2011 

VIA ILECTRONlCMAIL 

Andrvw E. Finkel 

Asoistaol DiJooIor UnilOd _ Oovernment A<COW1tability 0fIiee 

washington, D.C. 20548 • 

Dear Mr. Finkel: 

Thank yaub this opport1mity to........at on tho draft GAO report 011 poIOIItlaI <\uplieation among __ nomic development pro_s ("Ef!icieney and Effective .... of Fragmented 

Economic Development Programs Are Unclear") as it Rlales to tho U.S. Small Busines. Administruion (SBA). 

SBA appreci_ tho opportunity to potticipallO in OAO'lsurvCf of eConomic: development prosrams, BIld agrees thai pnigroms sbouId be.roviewcd tOgtilarly to IMJid _ and duplication. 

W. agree thaltboro is ""I .. in identifying tho categories intowbicb _ r.n in otderto 

largoI.effectiw ...... at app!1lII<hing tho ~ developmenl challenge in ... h 

category. Altho_ time, ""be.liewo thoreport(and8llf IintIIor similar study in tho tbIuro) would _. fmm heving a .. tJicient _ ond hrosdth of categorI .. or fields to properly 

capture tho dati necessalYto dlfferontiato between ..... program and lis intBlldcd scope and 

1argoI. 

We ~ GAO 10 """""icier how it describes tho .... 1 .. of this survey and to ..plain thot 

tlti. _ i.limited to ninc, very bn>ed categories and that tho ''''''Cf did not attempt to sa flll1h 

specific dati about tho ditreren .... in foc .... 1Brget reclpi ..... delivery _isms,."d otbor featut<S of ..... prosnun. As ..... I~ die only infel<!l<CS _ can reasonably dmw fmm tho 

_ are that the four agenci .. each provide prosnms that cover .... of tho oi •• areas and 

_ inVOllligalioo is necessary to truly detormine ""'- proJ!lllllSmay be duplicativo. Viewed 

in this H~ tho GAO _ provides .. initial stattins po ... by giving us • bn>ed category road 

map for further investigation into indlvidnalprosnms. 

With regard to specific findings made by GAO in tho draft report, SBA respocdUlly submits th& 

foUowingcomments. . 

PageS: "Preliminary nsol1sfrom 1G.40'sJ "",,*'0 date ,Iruw thai Co""".,.".. HUD. SBA* and USD..4 appear to have la/cm act/om 10 ImpIemenl.rOIfW-O/IM coliaboraJivt! pracrices, sud <u tkforlng and arlicuIatlng common outcrnna.jrx so",e aflh<1r rdOled programs. 

_. th<four agencl .. _ oJf<red lilII •. evIdence so far thai ,hoy have "'"" slIpS 10 

d,..lop compatiJJk poIldu 07 prtJC<IIures IfIIth odM!r fodual "8'IfIC/oJ.,.1O nort:hfi»-

oppm1Ullit/u '0 leverage p/tysical and admilll!17ative "'80trrt:0S wah t_ fo<IuaI partners •• 

GAO.U477R Eronoml. Development Programs 
66 

PagelS 

SBA Comment' Colla!m!jop wilb rum aad USDA SSA _ not agree widldIose _p. In Dec:embor 201 0, SBA 1IOtIOd. _ of 

expl<>ring collaba!atiD& wiIb theOfli<el cifPollcy DeveIopmeDt and Raeueh (pD&R.) 

and the Communi11 PlIIIIIins and Deve.....- Program (CPD) II HUD 00 die ft>IlowIng 

iasua: 

• HlJBZone and HUD roc:endy ./pod.11II!IIIOnIDdum ofUDdontandlng (MOU). In < 

die MOU, HUD bas COI1IIIIittId to pmvide goocodiq servicco to the HUBZono 

Program. Th" support will provide. -.dard, _nt """"" of geocoded data to 

SBA. 

• Explore die possibility of out.,,,m:ins the HUBZone web hue mapping to HUD On tho summer 2011 we will """" an.......,.., of tho _ aad benoflu of tho .ffi>rt~ 

• ~ wiIb HUD in tbclr~of. map with tbclr own laycn ofplKa benofiIlng ftom HUD p __ ooooomic deveIopmcIIt pmgraIIIJ (e.g., 

I'.mpo-.nent Zone!, Community RmewaI, ""'1 ptOYidiq!hom wiIb Iaycn of 

HUBZone dosignatad ...... In this WB)', tho poblic will be able to ........ that"", 

benefiting ftom _ ofboth aaencies. 

• Develop • methodology to .. ~ tho impo<! of both agencies on die economic development of areu receiving funds ... benof.u &om them. 

Additionally, last year SBA and USDA .. 10m! ioto an MOU, ander whieb SBA bas 

fBcili1alod _85 with USDA Runol Development and our ~or......,.. partnerS 

(Small BusincslI Developmeot Catton, W"""",'s Busineu a..-, aad SCORE) to 

disoeminate infurmalioo about RD -""" Th" bas led to tho development of",1'erroI netwmb among __ and non-fodenI entities. In addilkm: 

• As a part ofSSA's oogoing effilIu to coonIinBIa _ to local and nBIiooal fin8ll<:ial institutions, SSA and USDA hav. __ tlllliooal and local 

_ fonuns arouod tho COIIDIry. 

• SSA and USDA have collaborBlod in -"' 0_ to Iradeshows, conventions, 

Congmsiooalmcmbcn, and medUi outlets. 

• USDA and SBA have developed _g relaliomhips wiIb other Federal, ...... 

county and local agencies, u well .. priYate otpni2ations, to facilltare and support 

tho dcveIopmcmt of 5Imttg run! businesses. 

• This coli_I< tho modellilr SBA', participoIiori in tho Apptlochian RegiooaI Development Initiative and _local working _ comprised of run! 

development organiza1ioos sueb u die Iowa RunoI Development Cotmcil 

Page 6: "ApPleiu 11«1110 coIJ«:t 0CCJIJ'tIU tJ1Id tomph/< ""'" 011 JI'OB'am outcomu tmd .... 'M inforrnotlmr I. tW ... ""'" progr-rDI! 'I ~ hr Jrsu 2008 [fUO] ".". a similar r"",1IIIIWRdatIon I. SBA abouIlts HUBZDM _ &1M dotI agency 1m I •• //JIIIJuJ adi .. 

Ilrusjar •.. 

GAO-U-477R Eronomle Development Programs 
67 

Page 14 

SBAComlMDt 

SBA beli .... k has tabn sisnir.- actioos 10 col1cct _e and compIelo dam on HUBZoneprogram _ tbatwlll help ...... program.m.:ti ........ 

For insIanoo, SBA Iracb. number ofperformance meuureolDrdle HUBZone __ including small ............ apprtI\'Od, donied aDd withdrawn &om die 

initial ccrtificatIon _ in addition 10 previou5Iy -uied finm tbat have 

"""';fiod, voluntBrily decertified aDd d_ by SBA. A by evaluation is 

based o. tho fiK:t!bat die CD_ has Bel • 3% fedenI Sovtmm .. ,-wIde soaI for HUBZone fedenI_ dollaa. A primory f ..... ofth. SBA has beeo on this.......,. .......... In FY2000, 0.35% offOdenll_doU ... went 10 

HUBZone conttKb. Thill_tap ImsSleldiIy in<reasedlo 2.81% by 

FY2009. 

SBA beliovos ovaIualing this __ i, c:riJicaIlO moedng tho HUBlone 

program', JIatcd purposo which "is 10 pnMde fedenI contnotlng asoistance for 

qnslified SBCs located in bistcrioally underutilimd buoiness ...... in an offort 10 incmao _1_ oppommltles, In-..ot, and economic development in 

sucII ...... • MoolIOring this measme _I .. SBA 10 proactively _ in 

aotIvilios tbat incmao HUBZono oonlnl<:l dol ..... 

Althoush SBA expected 10 worI<lOwanIs finalizing more""""" m....,.. thai 

link 10 die mission of tho HUBZone -. die cin: .......... and die 

Program', foc:us hll peciuded III &om doins so. The offono of tho HUBZone program for tho FYlOO9 and FY2010 _ fOcused on thoroushly ..... g"-ins the initial certification process, reviewing Its pcrIfoIio of Ii""., oxpmdins tho 

Dumber of Ike visits, and improviog Its mooiIOrIng of portic:ipeliog finm with 

doUus awarded. 

In FY20II, SBA is ~g 11_ portfolio review where .... wllI be 

spendins substantive resoun:e doins an _ve ibll document review of 

HUBZoae oertified lirms !bat have not 1'" receMod such a review. Ooce this 

in_yo is """"'-. OWl)' HUBlone finn will have bcon analyzed for 

meeting die Program'. coolin_ins eligibility requir<ments. Jo FY201l, SBA will 

abo coolinue 10 spend ,igoificao'lime aDd reoource _ins die eertiflCBlion _ and undertaking.ile vi,its. These efforts rigDltlUSly and .ysb:m .... lly 

teduc:e li:aud, waste and ab .... 

Analyzing other 0UIC0IDe meow ... such as (I) 1betconomic __ of 

the HUBZone .... and (2)..-.... beins COIIIIIed under multiple socioeConomic suhcalegmies ... complic:olod _ which requhe cmfbl selling up ofdle _ moIhods and approacbos .. well .. sigoificantstBliand 

budf!l". Giveo limi1ed...."...,.., SBA is not able 10 commit 10 finali>Iog die 

addiIiooal 0U1c0m0 ......... and conduct. program ovaInation usins those .1_ at this lime. Focusins ......... OIl (I) i_ tbatteduc:e li:aud, 

waste and abuse as well as (2) activities thai incmao HUBZono fedenI conlnl<:l 

dollan: makes wisc sense given the resomccs SBA has aDd. the cimumstances of 

lhe HUBZono PJOIP'IRL 

GAO-ll-477R Eeonomle Development Prosrams 
68 

Page 15 

Pago 16: "Although 8BA contlnws to t1!I"H thai evaluating program _u u imponanl, /. 

date the ogoncy has /101 yet appeared to make a meanlngfoJ ruourc:e commitmentfor such an 

wahttIt/oft. .. 

SBAComment 

See comment above. 

Euriolllu'e D: SBA Techbical COrrectioD Reqllestl 

em.! 

Reference to OWBO (Office of Women's Business OWnership) should be 

changed to "Wont<n's Ilusiness Centers" (to correspond to otherprogrmn. noted. sucIt .. SIlOC and SCORE). 

fm.j 

ReIm:ncz: to OWBO (Office ofWomen~s Business Ownership) should be 

changed to "Women's Busineu Centers" (to correspond to other programs noted 

such as SIlOC and SCORE). 

EDCIOlJDrem 

[See .ttached sprendsheet with SIlA's suggos1ed edits.] 

Should you or any of your colleagues at GAO have questiOM about SBA ~s comments, pJease 

"""tact me at (202) 205-6335. Thank you again for !his opponunity to comment on !he draft 

.. port. 

Sincerely, 

4~ Assistant Administrator 

SBA Congressional & Legislative Affairs 

GAO-ll~477R Economic Development Programs 
69 

Enclosure III 

Preliminary Results of GAO's Review of Selected 

Economic Development Programs 

Page 1 

Page 16 GAO·ll·477R Economic Development Programs 
70 

Our objectives for this briefing are to provide preliminary results 

of the extent to which 

the design of 80 economic development programs administered 

by four federal agencies overlap in terms of the economic 

activities they can fund, 

the four federal agencies GAO reviewed collaborate to 

administer economic development programs that share common 

,tf"'r,mc:", and 

the agencies evaluate the outcomes of the economic 

development programs. 

Page 17 GAO~1l-477R Eecnomic Development Programs 
71 

GAO Is Focusing on this Area 

Efficient and effective economic development programs can 

contribute to the well-being of our nation's economy at the least 

cost to taxpayers. 

• The federal govemment spent $6.5 billion in fiscal year 2010 on 

the 80 economic development programs that GAO is examining 

at U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Housing 

Urban Development (HUD), U.S. Small Business 

ict,ntir,n (SBA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

of which about $3.2 billion was for economic 

"Q'.",',nn''Y1cnr efforts, in the form of grants, loan 

Page 3 

Page 18 GAO~1l-477R Economic Development Pro«runs 
72 

nilion of Economic Development 

a common definition for economic development, GAO has 

previously developed a list of nine activities most often 

associated with economic development that we relied on in this 

effort. These activities include 

" planning and developing strategies for job creation and 

retention, 

.. developing new markets for existing products, 

infrastructure by constructing roads and sewer 

to attract industry to undeveloped areas, and 

business incubators to provide facilities for new 

operations. 

Page 4 

Page 19 GAO-ll·477R Economic Development Programs 
73 

Results: Design of Economic 

Programs Appear to Overlap 

.. The design of each of the 80 economic development programs 

appears to overlap with that of at least one other program in 

terms of the economic activities they are authorized to fund. 

• The most common economic activity that these programs (52 of 

the 80 programs) can fund is entrepreneurial efforts, which 

include 

» helping businesses to develop business plans and identify 

funding sources, and 

).> providing marketing assistance. 

Page 5 

Page 20 GAO~1l"477R Economic Development Programs 
74 

.... ?~ ..... 'ti"'l Overlap and Fragmentation among Selected 

n""!n"II"'~ Authorized to Fund Economic Development 

Activity USDA Total 

Entrepreneurial efforts 12 52 

Infrastructure 18 35 

Plans and strategies 39 

Commercia! buildings 27 

arkets 10 28 

11 10 26 

12 20 

11 19 

5 10 19 

Page 6 

Page 21 GAO~11·477R Economic Development Programs 
75 

limited-Scope Economic Development Programs 

to Overlap 

percent of the programs (46 of the 80 programs reviewed) 

are more limited in scope and can fund only one or two of the 

nine economic development activities. 

.. For example, many of these programs that are limited in scope 

appear to overlap because they can 

);> fund only entrepreneurial efforts and 

);> target similar geographic areas. 

Page 22 

Page 7 

GAO~ll·477R Economic Development Program!i 
76 

islative and Regulatory Reasons for Potential 

and Fragmentation 

Many of the economic development programs are differentiated 

legislative or regulatory restrictions. 

.. These restrictions target funding on the basis of characteristics 

such as 

);0> geography, 

);0> income levels, and 

);> population density (rural or urban). 

Page 23 GAO~11"477R Economie Development Programs 
77 

ive Practices Agencies Should Consider Implementing to 

the Performance of Federal Programs That Share Common 

and articulate common outcomes. 

Leverage physical and administrative resources to address resource needs and 

potentially produce cost savings. 

collaboration by establishing compatible standards, pOlicies and 

for the collatiorative eifortto operate across agency boundaries. 

Page 24 

and evaluate collaborative efforts and report on areas for improving policy and operational 

Page 9 

GAO·11~477R Ecollomic Development Pro~s 
78 

Results: Agencies Are Collaborating on a 

.. mited Basis 

~ The four agencies appear to have taken actions to define 

and articulate common outcomes for some of their . economic development efforts. 

';> In resRonse to a September 2008 recommendation t t GAO made to SBA and USDA 

relateiJ to improvin_q their collaboration, the two red into a memorandum of 

understanding (MOU) in 2010 so they c e resources to provide small 

businesses in rural areas with loan guarantees and ieal assistance to achieve outcomes such as building diverse and sustainable rural economies, reversinq population decline in rural areas, creating and sustaining jobs, and improving quality of life. 

';> HUD, SBA USDA, Commerce, and other federal agencies recentiy. entered into a MOU in 

order to achieve outcomes that include strengthening and diversifying: the Appalachian 

economy, improving the health and welfare of people in the Appalaclilan region, and 

protecting the environment of the region, 

';> Several agencies including Commerce and SBA, joined the regional innovation cluster 

effort initiated by PresidenfObama in 2010 that focuses on outcomes that include crealing ;lnd re!?ining jobs; accelerating the formation of new, high-growth businesses; and 

increasing regional prosperity, 

:>~:'~t~ ,'\' 

~\~i~~;u~ry 2011 

Page 25 

Page 10 

GAO"11~477R Economic: Develovment Prom-ams 
79 

Results: Agencies Are Collaborating on a 

Basis (Cont.) 

offered little evidence that they have taken steps 

compatible policies or procedures or leverage 

and administrative resources with other federal 

have not developed mechanisms to consistently 

effectively monitor, evaluate, and report on the results 

collaborative efforts. 

Page 11 

Page 2£ GAO~1l·411lt Economic Dev-el()pment Programs 
80 

iminary Results: A Lack of Information on 

rams Outcomes Is a Long Standing Concern 

·1'\,.,,',.....0.'"0·''' Economic Development Administration's (EDA) 

estimates about the results of its grants may not be accurate. 

.. USDA does not collect data to measure the accomplishments of 

one of its largest rural business programs-the Business and 

Industry loan program. 

HUD does not track measures on the long-term performance of 

108 program. 

Page 12 

Page 27 GAO~11-471R Erononrle ))evelopment Program! 
81 

first reported in March 1999 and then again in October 2005 that 

relies on a potentially incomplete set of variables and self-reported 

to assess the effectiveness of its grants. 

progress: 

};> In December 2006 EDA issued revised operational guidance that 

included a new methodology that regional offices use to calculate 

estimated jobs and private sector investment attributable to EDA 

grants. 

» EDA officials also stated that they now employ additional checks on 

the quality of the self-reported data. 

Page 28 

adequacy of the methods the 

the data. 

Page 13 

GAO·II·471ft Economic Development Programs 
82 

Business and Industry Loan Program 

2003 the USDA Inspector General (IG) recommended that USDA 

data exist to measure the accomplishments of the Business and 

loan program. 

progress: 

>- Agency officials stated that they have recently taken steps to 

address the open recommendation, including requiring staff to 

record actual jobs created rather than estimated Jobs created. 

>- An IG officials said it is too early to tell whether these actions are 

sufficient to fully address the recommendation. 

Page 29 

to monitor the IG's efforts to determine whether the 

addresses the recommendation. 

GAO~11~477R Economic Development Programs 
83 

.. 

Section 108 Program 

In 2007 OMS found that HUD did not track long-term 

outcome measures for its Section 108 program. 

progress: 

>- To date, the agency has no long-term performance outcome 

measures for this program. 

Next step: 

> GAO plans to determine what, if any, actions the agency 

to take to address this weakness. 

Page 15 

Page 30 GAO·1l·477R Economie Development Programs 
84 

SA's HUSZone Program 

GAO reported in June 2008 that SBA does not track outcome 

measures that are directly linked to the program's mission. 

progress: 

y Although SBA continues to agree that evaluating program 

outcomes is important, to date the agency has not yet 

appeared to make a meaningful resource commitment for 

such an evaluation. 

step: 

y GAO plans to evaluate any actions the agency takes to 

develop outcome measures. 

Page 16 

Page3! G-AO"U M477R Economic Development Prug'rams 
85 

",,,,,n,.,,,,,,, need to collect accurate and complete data on program 

and use the information to assess each program's 

• Additional work to assess progress in collaboration and evaluation could 

identify areas for improvement, consolidation, or elimination. Further, 

programs that are designed to target similar economic development activities, locations, ana applicants may not be adding unique value, and 

more analysis is needed by the agencies and Office of Management and 

Budget to aetermine the actual amount of any duplicative spending. 

• Increased attention and oversight by OMS and the Congress could help to ensure needed actions are taken. 

Page 17 

Page 32 GAO-ll~477R Economic Development Programs 
86 

for Analysis 

information contained in this analysis is based on 

>- results of prior GAO products, 

>- ongoing work following up on the status of recommendations 

from those products, and 

>- the preliminary results of GAO's ongoing evaluation of 

economic development programs at four federal agencies. 

Page 18 

Page 33 GAO~11~477n Economie Development Programs 
87 

• Small Business Administration: Additional Actions Are Needed to Certify and Monitor 

HUBZone Businesses and Assess Program Results, \2bO_:Qil,-Q4~, June 17,2008, 

• Rura! Economic Development: More Assurance Is Needed That Grant Funding Information Is Accurately Reported, £'Li'>Q,06-2i4, February 24, 2006, 

F""nrlm·ir Development Administration: Remediation Activities Account for a Small Perc~,ntflOe of Total Brownfield Grant Funding, 91\0-06-7, October 27, 2005, 

• ',EconomiC, 0"e, ,t'"elo, JP" ment,,' MU,lt,l,'P i,e" Federal Programs Fund Similar Economic Development ActivitiesGAQI.8C:;J;Q1QGD:OQ:22,Q, September 29, 2000, 

Page 19 

Page 34 GAO~11·477R Econoll'li<' Development Program§! 
88 

Young, Managing Director, Public Affairs, JlQungc1 @gao,go.Y 

512-4800, U,S, Government Accountability Office 

Street NW, Room 7149, Washington, D,C. 20548 

is a work of the U,S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in 

the. United States. The published product may be reproduced and distributed in 

without further permission from GAO. However, because this work 

may copyrighted images or other material, permisSion from the copyright 

holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce this material separately. 

Page 20 

Fage 35 GAO~11~477R Economic D~velQpment Pl'ogrrun6 
89 

Enclosure IV: Economic Development Programs Listed in Figure 1 

The following table lists the specific programs that can fund each economic activity, grouped by 

agency and activity type. The information also appears as interactive content in figure 1 in the body of 

the report when the report is viewed electronically. 

Economic ActIyltles Commerce HUD SBA USDA 

Entrepreneurial efforts Community Trade CDBGlEntltlement 8(a) Business Empowerment Zones 

progmms Adjustment Assistance Grants Development Program 

Grants lor Public CDBGlSpecial 70) Technical Woody Biomass 

Works and Economic Purpose/Insular Areas Assistance Utilization Grant Program 

Development Facilities 

Economic CDBGlStates Procurement 1890 Land Grant 

DBYeiopmanti Assistance to Small Institutions Rural 

Technical Assistance Businesses Entrepreneurial Outreach 

Program/Rural Business 

Entrepreneur 

Development 

InHlativeIBlSNET 

Economic Adjustment CDBG/Non-entnlement Small Business Small Business 

Asslstance CDBG Grants In Hawaii Investment Companies Innovation Research 

Research and coeGlSaction 108 7(a) Loan Program Value Added Producer 

Evaluation Program loan Guarantees Grants 

Global Climate Seclion 4 Capacity Surety Bond Guarantee Agriculture Innovation 

Change Mitigation Building for A"ordable Program Center 

Incentive Fund Housing and 

Community 

Developmant 

Minority Business Rural Innovation Fund SCORE Small SociallyEnterprise Centers Disadvantaged Producer 

(renamed Minority Grants 

Business Center for 

FY 2011 award) 

Native American CDBG Disaster Small Business Intermediary Re-Iending 

Business Enterprise Recovery Grants Development Centers Centers 

Minority Business IndianCDBG 504 Loan Program Rural Businass 

Opportunity Center Enterprise Grants 

Hispanic Serving Woman's BUsiness Rural Ccoperative 

Institutions ASSisting Centers Development Grants 

Communities 

Alaska Native/Nativa Veterans' BUsiness Rural Business 

Hawaiian Institutions Outreach Centers Opportunity Grants 

Assisting Communities 

CDBGlBrownfieids Microloan Program Rural Microentrepreneur 

Economic Development Assistance Program 

Initiative 

PRIME Biomass Research and 

Davelopment Initiative 

Competitive Grants 

Program 

New Markets Venture Business and Industry 

Capital Program Loans 

Page 96 GA()..U4m Eeonomie Development Programs 
90 

Economic ActlviHes Commerce 

Infrastructure programs Community Trade 

Adjustment Assistance 

Page 37 

Grants for Public 

Works and Economic 

Development Facilities 

Economic Adjustment 

Assistance 

Global Climate 

Change Mnigation 

Incentive Fund 

HUD 

CDBGlEntitlement 

Grants 

CDBGlSpeclal 

Purpose/Insular Areas 

CDBGlStates 

CDBG/Non-enmlement 

CDBG Grants in Hawaii 

CDBG/Brownfields 

Economic Deveklpment 

Innlatlve 

CDBGlSect!on 108 

Loan Guarantees 

Section 4 Capecity 

Building for Affordable 

Housing and 

Community 

Development 

Rural Innovation Fund 

CDBG Disaster 

Recovery Grants 

Indian CDBG 

Hispanic Serving 

Institutions Assisting 

Communities 

Alaska Native/Native 

Hawaiian Institutions 

Assisting Communities 

SBA 

7(a) Export Loan 

Guarantees 

HUBZone 

Small Business 

Technology Transfer 

Program 

Small Business 

Innovation Research 

Program 

Federal and State 

Technology Partnership 

Program 

USDA 

Surety Bond Guarantee Empowerment Zones 

Program 

Rural ElectrifICation 

Loans and Loan 

Guarantees 

Assistance to High 

Energy Cost Rural 

Communities 

Denali Commission 

Loans and Grants 

Stale Bulk Fuel Revolving 

Fund Grants 

Schools and RoadsGrants to State. 

Schools and RoadsGrants to Counties 

Community Facilities 

Loans & Grants 

Water and Waste 

Disposal Loans & Grants 

(Section 306C) 

Water and Waste 

Disposal Systems for 

Rural Communities 

Emergency Community 

Water Assistance Grants 

Technical Assistance and 

Training Grants 

Grant Program to 

Establish a Fund for 

Financing Water and 

Waste Water Projects 

Solid Waste Manegement 

Grants 

GAO·l1-47'7B. Eeonomlc Development 'Prognmw 
91 

Economic ActJvlU.s Commerce HUD SBA USDA 

Business and Industry 

loans 

Aural Business 

Enterprise Grants 

Rural Economic 

Development loans and 

Grants 

Rural Energy for America 

Program 

Plans and strategies Community Trade CDBGlEntitlament 6(a) Buslnass Empowerment Zones 

programs Adjustment Assistance Grants DevelOpment Program 

Economic CDBGlSpacial 7ij) Tachnical Woody BIomass 

DevelopmenV Support PurposeJ1nsular Areas Assistance Utilization Grant Program 

for Planning 

Organizations 

Economic CDBGlStates Procurement Intarmediary Re-Ianding 

DevelopmenV Assistance to Small Technical Assistance Businesses 

Economic Adjustment CDBGINon-entitiement Small Business Rural Business 

Assistance COBG Grants in Hawaii Investment Companies Enterprise Grants 

Research and CDBGlSaction 108 7(a) loan Program Rural Business 

Evaluation Program loan Guarantees Opportunity Grants 

Trade Adjustment Section 4 Capacity SCORE Rural Economic 

Assistance Building lor Affordable Development loans and 

Housing and Grants 

Community 

Development 

Global Climate Rurallnnovatlon Fund Sma!1 Business Rural Energy for America 

Change Mitigation Development Centers Program 

Incentive Fund 

CDBG Disester Veterans' Business 

Recovery Grants Outreach Centers 

IndianCDBG Microloan Progrem 

Hispanic Serving PRIME 

Institutions Assisting 

Communities 

Aisska Native/Native New Markets Venture 

Hawaiian Institutions Capital Program 

Assisting Communities 

Sustainable HUBZone Communities Regional 

Planning Grant 

Program 

c:ommunil)' Challenge Federal and State 
92 

Economic ActivHies Commerce HUD SBA USDA 

Global Climate CDBGJNon-entitiement 7(a) Export Loan Rural Business 

Change Mlffgatlon CDBG Grants in Hawaii Guarantees Enterprise Grants 

Incentive Fund 

CDBGlBrownflelds Rural Cooperative 

Economic Development Development Grants 

Initiative 

CDBGlSection 108 Rural Economic 

Loan Guarantees Development loans and 

Grants 

Secffon 4 capacity Biorefinery Assistance 

Building for Affordable Program 

Housing and 

Community 

Development 

Rural Innovation Fund 

COBG Disaster 

Recovery Grants 

Indian CDBG 

Hispanic Serving 

Institutions Assisting 

Communities 

Alaska Native/Native 

Hawaiian Institutions 

Assisting Communities 

New ma"'ets programs Community Trade COBGIEnUffement Small Business Empowerment Zones 

Adjustment Assistance Grants Investment CompanieS 

Grants for Public CDBGlSpecial SCORE WQO(jy Biomass 

Works and Economic Purpose/Insular Areas Utilization Grant Program 

Development Facllnles 

Economic CDBGlStates Small Business Biob .. ed Products and 

Development! Development Centers Bioenergy Program 

Technical Assistance 

Economic Adjustment CDBG/Non-entitlement Women's Business Biorefinery Assistance 

Assistance CDBG Grants In HawaII Centers Program 

Research and CDBGlSectlon 1 DB Microloan Program Rural Energy for America 

Evaluation Program Loan Guarantees Program 

Global Climate Sedion 4 Capacity 7(a) Export Loan Business and Industry 

Change M"lgatlon Building for Affordable Guarantees Loans 

Incentive Fund Housing and 

Community 

Development 

CDBG Disaster 

Recovery Grants 

Indian CDBG 

Hispanic Serving 

Institutions Assisting 

Communities 

Alaska NativelNative 

Hawaiian Institutions 

Assisting Communities 

Page 39 GAO-ll-477R Economic Development Progr8Dl8 
93 

Economic ActivHIes Commerce HUD SBA USDA 

Telecommunications Community Trade CDBGlEntiUement Small Business Empowerment Zones 

programs Adjustment Assistance Grants Technology Transfer 

Program 

Grants for Public CDBGlSpecial Small Business Distance Learning and 

Works and Economic Purpose/Insular Areas Innovation Research Telemadlc\ne Loans & 

Development Facilities Program GranlS 

Economic Adjustment CDBGlStates Rural Telephone Loans 

Assistance and Loan Guarantees 

CDBGINon-entitlement PubHc Televislon Station 

CDBG Grants in Hawaii Digital Transition Grants 

CDBGlBrownfieids COmmunity Connect 

Economic Development Program 

Initiative 

CDBGiSoction 108 Rural Broadband Access 

Loan GUarantees Leans and Lean 

Guarantees 

Seetion 4 Capacity Small Business 

Building for Affordable Innovation Research 

Housing and 

COmmunity 

Development 

CDBG Disaster Rural Economic 

Recovery Grants . Development Loans and 

Grants 

IndianCDBG 

Hispanic Serving 

Institutions Assisting 

COmmunities 

Alaska Natlve/Nalive 

Hawaiian Institutions 

Assisting Communities 

Business incubators Community Trade CDBG/Entitlemenl Empowerment Zones 

programs Adjustment Assistance Gmnts 

Grants ror Public CDBGlSpecial 1890 Land Grant 

Works and Economic Purpose/Insular Areas Instltutions Rural 

Development Facilities Entrepreneurial Outreach 

ProgramlRurat Business 

Entrepreneur 

Dev6.lopment 

InitiativeIBISNET 

Economic CDBG/Slato. Rural EconomiC 

Developmanti Development Loans and 

Technical Assistance Grants 

Economic Adjustment CDBGlNon-entillement Intermediary Rs-Iendlng 

Assistance CDSG Grants in Howali 

Global Climate CDBG/Brownflelds Business and Industry 

Change Mitigation Economic Development Loans 

Incentive Fund Initiative 

CDBGiSection lOS Rural Business 

Loan Guarantees Enterprise Grants 

GAO-ll-477R Economic De\>e1opsnent Progr&Iruil 
94 

Economic Activities Commerce HUD SBA USDA 

Section 4 capacity Rural Business 

Building for Affordable Opportunity Grants 

Housing and 

Community 

Development 

Rural Innovation Fund 

COBG Olssster 

Racovery Grants 

Indian COBG 

HispanJc Serving 

Institutions Assisting 

Communities 

Alaska NativalNative 

Hawaiian Institutions 

Assisting Communities 

Industrial parks programs Communfty Trade COBGIEntitiemenl Empowerment Zones 

Adjustment Assistance Grants 

Grants for Public COBGISpecial Rural Business 

Works and Economic Purpose/Insular Areas Opportunity Grants Development Facilities 

Economic COBGIStates Rural Economic 

Development! Development Loans and 

Technical Assislance Grants 

Economic Adjustment COBGINon-enlltiement Intenmedlary Re-Iendlng 

Assistance COBG Grants In Hawaii 

Global Climate COBG/Brownftelds Rural Business 

Change Mitigation Economic Development Enterprise Grants 

Incentive Fund Initiative 

COBGISection 108 

Loan Guarantees 

Section 4 Capacity 

Building for Affordable 

Housing and 

Community 

Development 

COBG Olssster 

Racovery Grants 

Indian COBG 

Hispanic Serving 

Institutions Assisting 

Communities 

Alaska Native/Native 

Hawaiian Institutions 

Assisting Communities 

Tourism programs Community Trade COBGIEntitiement Empowerment Zones 

Adjustment Assistance Grants 

Economic COBGISpecial Small Business DevelopmenV Purpose!lnsular Areas Innovatfon Research 

Technical Assistance 

Economic Adjustment COBGIStates Intermediary Rs-Iending 

AssIstance 

Page 41 GAO~l1-477ll Eeonomlc Development Programs 
95 

Economic Activities Commerce HUD 

Global Climate CDBGlNon-entitiement 

Change Mitigation CDBG Grants In HawaII 

Incentive Fund 

Grants for Public CDBGlSection 108 

Works and Economic Loan Guarantees 

Development Facilities 

Section 4 Capacity 

Building for AffoJdable 

Housing and 

Community 

Development 

CDBG Disaster 

Recovery Grants 

Indian CDBG 

Hispanic Serving 

Institutions Assisting 

Communities 

Alaska NativalNative 

Hawaiian Institutions 

Assisting Communities 

~; GAO 81'1l1l)'&I8 of jnformatlon 1torn Comtnart:8, HUO, SBA, and USDA, 

Page 42 

SBA USDA 

Business and Industry 

Loans 

GAO-U-477K Eeono:ml.e Development Programs 
Enclosure V: 80 Economic Development Programs 

Economic Activtdes 

Ftscal Year 2010 -"" ...... Enacted Plana and Commercial .......... IndusIriaI ............... 

- PrimaryT_ 

_ .... atIon·_ buIIdI .... Inc ....... 

- -- ...... JI1;IIltI8tS Telecammunk:aUons Towiam lhbadnnl 

-

........ 

_

Com ...... 

""""""",,T_ so X X X X X X X Not Specified 

- g

- """""""''-by .

Asslslanco 

Gram.forN.llic $158,930,000 x x X x x x X NotSpecified 

---- "

w __ 

-

..... 

.

EronomIc 

""'""""'"" F_ 

EronomIc $31,391,000 X Not Specified _and 

-

- .

--" PIaming economicaIy Ooganizalloos 

-

..... 

EronomIc $9.600.000 X X X X X X NolSpecified 

DeYeqJmenll 

-- 

..... 

.

T_ 

Asslslanco 

EronomIc $45,270,000 X X X X X x Not Specified 

- 

""'-

-

..... 

Asslslanco 

Research and $1.963,000 X X X Not Specified 

- 

_areas 

progmm 

T 

__ 

$18.987.000 X NolSpecified 

- 

Asslslanco """""""' ....... by 

GIobaICImm $25,000,000 X X X X X X X X Not Specified 

- 

Chango-

-- 

..... 

In:enllveFLnd 

MInoriIyBuolness $8,601,193 X Not Specified """,",and 

Entaoprise 

-- 

ee.-o... 

........ American $1.351.500 

"""""- Not Specified """'"'and BuoIness _ 

......... 

Entaoprise American """"" 

ee.-o... ............ 

MInoriIyBuolness $1.512.500 X Not Specified """'"'and 

Clppom>nlOy 

-- 

Cents< """""_ 

USDA 

--- $500,000 X X X X X X ...... Only 

...... 

- 

Zones 

Pag.43 Economie Developme
Economic ActMUee 

Fiscal Year 2010 

-- Enacted Piana and CommeRial ........... ....- ............... 

- _Targeted 

..... app'opriallon'slr1lfOgles ..... .,.. 

-

-

- ...... markets TetecommW'llcaUona Tourism Urban{ rural RecIpIent' A

Wooay_ $5.000.000 X X X ..... 

..... ,"''''".- -

_Gmnt ""'- -

Prog>am _ .. """ """"""""""'" NaIionaIForestsarxl 

-"- acIMIie:sonNaIIonaI 

1BOOlmdGrilfll: $0 X X 

..... "'" 

-

cunn"", 

_ ..... -""'" 

O<moach _comrnuni1los 

--

--

IntiaIM>'IlISNET 

D--"""""", $33.300.000.00 X 

..... "'" ..... 

- 

and TeIemedk:ine Loans&_ 

RuralT_ $0 X 

..... "'" T_ ...... 

Loans_Loan _ .. - Guanmes 

$4.500.000.00 X 

..... "'" """""""" T_ ...... 

-Di<I"" _ .. - 

T __ 

""""""'" $18,000,000.00 X ..... "'" 

-

..... 

Como<tProgmrn -,,- 

"""""""" 

..... 

-

$29.000.000.00 X Au"""", 

_IJSSIS 

_Loans"", _ .. - Loan 

R .... 

Guanmes 

$0 X 

..... "'" 

-""""01_ 

- -byellgille 

Loans ""'Loan 

-..:eo. 

Guanmes 

$17,500,000 X 

..... "'" 

--

-- 

Ene<gyCost wfthhlgh"""llY 

R .... -. 

Commi.mItIos 

DsroIl $0 X 

..... "'" ..... 

- 

loca1edilMaskawilh Loans""'_ hIgh"""llY-' 

S1ate Bulk Fuel $0 X 

_Fund ..... "'" --_ 

....... 

"""'" """"""'00 

122.000.000 X X X "'Spec;iIed 

-

SmaI"""""" 

Page« Economic Developme
Economic ActI'IlUBII 

Fiscal Vear 2010 

- Enacted ptana and ComrnetdaI B"""" kKI_ --

........ 

-

.......... T_ 

approprLaUon" strategies buIIdInga Inc""'" 

- -- ...... marbbI TaIacommUllcaUona Toudam IJrbaIW rural 

-

....... 

-

-..... SO X Not_ Resean:hinslltulJoos g

Resean:hand .

1--"""-

Grants Program. 

_and SO X AuoI""Y SchDoIs BOO entities g

... _- .

S1aIes 

_and SO X AuoI""Y 

---

Schools erw:I entities g

-""""'''' ... _- p

""""""" roods"'-" .....-oonIalrOng NationBIGmssIands 

andlardUtlllza1loJ1 

Com!nIrity $36,800,000 X ..... ""Y 

-

AuoIOOITlITUllIJes g

Facilities L.oons & 

"'-

WaterandWII5Ie $489.100,000 X ..... ""Y Q

OIsposaILoano& ...... urd1Ies -(- 3OOC) Watererw:lWasta SO X """'''''Y g

0Isp0saISys1ems "" ..... 

.......... $13,000,000 X AuoI""Y AuoIOOITlITUllIJes 

ConmrOy- withlowerw:l p

Assis1ance "'-

_1n<Dmo T_ ......... 

$19,500,000 X ..... ""Y A .... OOITlITUllIJes 

Assis1ance and 

T_"""'" 

Grant Program 10 $ 500,000 X ..... ""Y ..... 

EsIabIlsha Fund 

"" WlJIerardWssIB ........... W .... _ 

SoIdW_ $3,400,000 X ..... 0nIy RumlCOITWlll.I'Iiti 

- 

"'-

V ..... _ $19,400,000 X AuoI""Y -- 

Producer"""'" businesses 

Page" GAO-1l-477R Economic Developme
Economic AcUvtues 

FlecalYear2010 -,- Enacted Plana and Cornmerclid .UB ..... ......... --- - _T_ appropriaUon· fttr'ategkJ8 buildings - """'" ""'_ eli- matkaIs Telecammunlcallons Tourtsm Urbad I\I11II RecIpIent' 

-... $2,000,000 X -any Curertond 

Products and 

--

-

businesses located 

-

_ communities 

Agric:oJ1lxe 10 ""Spec;fied - 

'''''''''''''' Cents< 

- 

SmaI SocIally. $3,500,000 X ""Spec;fied SmaI,_ 

-- 

"'educe< _ """"" -- .... $8,500,000 X X X X X -any Curertond 

-' - 

busi1esses located i1 -."..".., ... 

......... and $52,900,000 X X X X -any C ...... and 

_Loans' ---" ...., communities 

-- $38,700.000 X X X X X -Only Curertand 

e-prise """",,' 

_small 

--" ...., communities 

- Coope<alMI $8,300,000 X X -any - 

- """""""'- 

GmnIS " ...., communities 

-- $2,500,000 X X X -any _businesses 

"""",,' 

_Economic 10 X X X X -Only """",,and 

-

LoansondClmnls 

-

businesses lOcated WI 

...., communities 

$245,000,000 X X NotSpec;fied Comrne<cIakcaIe 

Ass-.oo 

".",..., 

-"""""''''' $99,400,000 -any 

--

Smalbusinesses 

_Program' _ 

.. ...., 

communities 

Aural $9,000,000 X ....,any SmaI_ 

--

Ass-.oo 

".",..., 

Hijj) 

Commu>Iy 12,760,223,970 X X X X X u_any Lowond_ 

- -..- 

_GmnI 

(Coooy 

Page 46 Economic Developm
economic ACUV .... A_ ......... Fiacal Year 2010 Enacted Aan8 and CommerdaI ......... .- --

- • ...... T-"'<I 

8PProprlatlon'BInIIegIeo bUIldIngs Inc_ ...... , ............... ....... .rnarkafs Telecommunications Tourisl'l'l Utbarw'ruraI RecIpIent 

CI)9G,SpecIaI $6,930,000 X X X X X X X NoISpedIIed Lowond_ 

Puq>oseII"""" -- 

/was locaIed"AmorIcan 

Samoa, _ Guam. ......... 

_ond .... """"'- CDS_ 

$1.176.594.747 X X X X X A .... """ lcWond_ 

-- 

CDeG'Non- $5,791.797 X X X X X X ""'SpedIIed loW and modeiBle 

._COOG 

Grants 

COBGI 

in HawaiI 

$17,500,000 X X X X NoISpedIIed 

-...- 1ocaIed" 

"""' ....... 

HawaII 

- -""""""" 

EocroomM: 

-

---

"""""" ,-

COBGlSec<lon $6,000,000 X X X X X X X X NoISpedIIed Low and moderate 

l00lDon -- 

Guarantees 

-- $50,000,000 X X X X X X X NoISpedIIed l.CJW.in:>Jm>_ 

Cspadty BuidIng 

"'- _ond 

""""""'" 

-

$25,000,000 X X X X X loW and modemte 

F\Od in:::Ilme famIies and 

busklesses located ... -"""""""" $100,000.000 X X X X X X NoISpedIIed loW ard moderale 

"""""'YGr .... --

Iocatedinaroaround _ 

... 

taYeeltp8rienoada 

,_COOO $65,000,000 X X X X X X NotSpedlled indian ......... ..... 

-

""" 

-- 

_Se<vIv $6,250,000 X X X X X NotSpedlled 

-

Lowond_ 

'''''''''''''''' 

__ ond 

AsslstIng '"""'- 1ocaIed" """"' ....... 

--""""""'" ... ...-01_ 

education 

Page 47 GAO-I1-477R Economic Developme
Economic Actlvllle8 

Flacal Year 2D1D 

Agoneyiprogfam Enacted Plans and Comnat:IaI .- - - - I'11rIIaryTargoIOd ...... appropriation" 8traIegiet IxIIldIngo ,...- -,- ...... markalB Telecommunicatio Tourism Urban'ruraI -" A

........ $3,265,000 X X X X X X No! Spedfied Law ..... _ 

.

- flcome famUios and 

-

.... 

Jnstilution$ 

"IIng 

..... """"""'" 

by.-...... ... 

........... 

-

- $98,000,000 X Not Spedfied eomm""Y ..... 

RegIooaI-

--

--

""""- Commu1IIy $40,000,000 X No! Spedfied Comm<riy ..... p

-- 

Plamlng G'ant 

psBPI 

--

8(.) ......... $56,617,000 X X No! Spedfied Small ..... 

""""- p"""",,' --............ 

711)T_ $9,400,000 X X Not Spedfied 

SmaIl __ 

............ 

............ 

............ in8I8BSoflow 

-""'- 

""""""'..." """"flIoYmo 

p"""",",,,", $9,164,000 X X Not Spedfied SmaIl_ 

............ SmaIl " 

Busilossaa' 

-- 

CO!1IIa<fi>g 

Small ......... $24,262,000 X X X Not Spedfied 

--

SmaIl ............ 

JnvosIment 

7(8)""'" $96,090,000 X X X No! Spedfied 

-

Cunenl ..... 

Progmm' _ ..... 

SUretyBond $1.000,000 X X X No! Spedfied 

............ 

SmaIl ..... _ 

""""""'" 

SCORE 

Progmm 

$7,000,000 X X X Not Spedfied 

..... """""""" c..r ........ 

-

Small ......... $113.000,000 X X X Not Spedfied 

-

............ 

CInenI ..... 

--

"'--

- 

............ 

Page 48 Economic Developme
--'"'" 504""", 

p""""",' 

Women's 

Buslness eo-. 

V""""'" 

Businesses 

a.-eo-. 

-. -' PfUME 

--

'VenlUteGapial -' 7(a)ElIpOftLoan Guamntees' 

HUBZono 

SmaI Buslness 

T_ T ........ _ 

SmaI Buslness 

, ............ 

-

P""""", _....,sT_ 

--

p"""",,, 

_T_ 

Economic Activtuea 

Fl8cal Year 2010 

EnaGted Plans and Commerdal ........ ........ --

- PrimaryT_ appropriation" strategies 

$36,232,000 

$14,000.000 

$2,500,000 

$25,:)15,000 

$8.000.000 X 

$0 X $0 

$2.200,000 

$0 $0 

$2,000,000 X 

$8,238,641.707 

buildings ........... ...... ............... 

- marIIets Telacommunica1lona Tourtam I.Jrb;W' nnI _

X ""'- SmaI_ l

X 

""'- ....... 

-

Not_ e ...... ...., 

--

............ 

owned""" 

X X Not_ SmaI_ g

andnoHor-prolltd'lld 

""""""'" X ""'- SmaI_ "

owned" --

-... 

""'- SmaI_ iocaledlnareaswilh 

low iruxne or tigh 

unompIoymer4 

X X NoI_ SmaI_ 

Not_ -,,- for811eas1 SmaI_ 12 months 

Iocaledln 

-""""""*" 

..... 

X X ""'_ SmaIl bosInesses in 

tecI1noIogyX X ""'- - .......... 

""'_ SmaIl bushesses in tecI1noIogy- 

Not_ 

Small businesses il 

tecI1noIogylndustries 

....,-

-

.......... 

SouI:t:e: GAO analysis oIlnformallm from CommetI:e, HUD, SBA, and USDA. 

'According to agency oHicials.lhe programs Usled above that did not receive funding in fiscal year 2010 are stiU active programs. They are deno

the table. 

targeted recipient is Ule end user that the agencies are focused on serving. In some cases, the agencies provide the program doItars t

such as a nonprofit or local government that administers the funds to serve the primary targeted recipient 

"This prtl$Jfam funded the Recovery Act portion of the Water and Waste DisposaJ loans and Grants program. USDA considered it as a separat

Funds available for obligation through September 30.2010. 

page 49 GAO.1l-4.77R Et::onomlt:: Developme
dAccording to SBA officials, this program does not receive a specific line item appropriation. As a resuh, the specific program funding infonnatio

on results from Ule agency's cost allocation model. 

*In 2010. USDA officials provided us infonnation on the economic activities thai. each of their economic deveiopment programs can 

reported the jnfonnation in our March 2011 report (GAQ..11-318SP). In April 2011. they provided revised infonnatton for six of their programs th

tncorporated into this product. 

'SBA officials provided revised fiscal year 2010 funding figures for 18 01 Oleir 19 economic:: developmer"!! programs since their ortglnal.submissio

December 2010. 

Page 50 EroDomie Developm
104 

Enclosure VI: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 

GAO Contact 

William B. Shear (202) 512-8678 or ShearW@gao.gov. 

Staff Acknowledgments 

In addition to the contact named above, Andy Finkel (Assistant Director), Matthew 

Alemu, Aimee Elivert, Geoffrey King, Terence Lam, Triana McNeil, Marc Molino, Roberto 

Piiiero, and Jennifer Schwartz made key contributions to this report. 

(21101174) 

GAO·ll-4'17R Economic Dewlopment Program. 
105 

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copynghted images or other matenal, permlssion from the copyright holder may be 

necessary If you wish to reproduca this material seperately. 
106 

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107 

The \JVorld's leeding Chtef Executive Organtzation 

August 4, 2011 

Ami Sanchez, Counsel 

Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship 

United States Senate 

42ilA Russell 

Washington, DC 20510 

Dear Ami: 

On behalf of Vi stage International, I extend my thanks to you, Senator Landricu, Senator Snowe 

and members of the committee for allowing us to participate in the july 21st roundtable on 

Entrepreneurial Development I enjoyed meeting and exchanging ideas with so many 

dedicated people who are working on behalf of small business in America. You can expect 

Vistage to continue to playa strong role in helping small businesses grow, both through our 

own Vi stage groups across the country and as an active Startup America mentoring partner. 

I've induded a document that offers an overview of Vi stage for the record, and I'd like to restate 

my invitation to all the members of the committee to visit a Vi stage Group, either in 

Washington, DC or in their home states, at their earliest convenience. It's a wonderful 

opportunity for members to meet with 12-16 area CEOs, where they can not only listen to their 

concerns and ideas, but also lend their voice to all the good work the committee is doing in 

Washington on our members' behalf. 

When it comes to driving economic growth and creating jobs, all of us at Vi stage look forward to 

being p e solution in the months and years ahead, 
108 

I 

t 

• 
Introduction to Vistage ....................................................................... 

The Vistage Membership ........................................................... 8 The Vistage Programs and Assets ............................................ 1

Vistage CEO Confidence Index ................................................ 2

For internal use only. ©2011 VlStage international All rights reser
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Founded in 1957 as The Executive Committee ("TEC"), today Vi stage 

International is the world's largest for-profit membership organization of 

CEOs 

Headquartered in San Diego, CA, Vistage has 15,000 members (10,000 members in the U.S.) 

and operates in 15 countries (including China as of 201 0) 

Vistage provides continuous learning and development for CEOs and business 

owners/managers in a peer group setting, through one-to-one coaching, by access to experts 

and content, and through connectivity with the worldwide membership 

More than 650 Vistage Chairs (independent-contractor trained coaches) worldwide 

Approximately 800 Vistage Speakers (independent-contractor expert resources) worldwide 

For Internal use only, ©2011 V!stage InternationaL All rights rese
Vistage delivers to its members a unique blend of business resources and personal support to 

increase their effectiveness and enhance their lives 

Whatever their challenges - growth, profitability, new ideas, intensified competition, 

international expansion, effective leadership - Vistage's members reach better decisions and 

achieve better results because of the special relationship-based assistance provided by 

Vistage 

Vistage has perfected a unique, complementary blend of services and products 

Peer-group interaction and problem-solving meetings with other CEOs, acting as an "advisory board" 

applying the Chair-led Vistage process 

One-an-one sessions with carefully selected, highly trained and closely monitored coaches (Vistage Chairs) 

Interactive actionable seminars with experts on most subjects (Vistage Speakers) 

Proprietary best practice guides, how-to articles, whitepapers and pod casts 

Connectivity with the network of over 14,000 business leaders worldwide through member-only website, 

webinars, conferences and events 

At the core are the values of trust, caring, challenge and growth, The confidentiality and 

collegiality provided by Vistage improve the competitiveness, growth and value of its members' 

companies 

For lnternal ©201i Vistage International AB rights rese
Better company performance 

Generate new ideas I gain business insights 

More effective decisions 

Become more successful leaders 

Personal and professional growth 

Local and global networking 

Develop competitive advantages 

OUf Mission 

\i J S. "i

Our Values 

Trust i Catlng i Challenge! Growth 

Our Promise 

For internal use only. ©20-11 Vistage international. AU rights rese
15,000 Members in 15 countries (10,000 members in the U.S.) 

.. 

(UK. China and Mexico are subsidiaries; others are licensees) 

Argentina Australia 

Brazil 

Canada Chile China Germany 

Ireland Malaysia Mexico 

NewZeafand 

Singapore South Africa 

United Kingdom 

United States 

For internal use only ©2011 Vistage !ntematlonai All nghts res-e
115 

c. 
Vistage members' companies are established, revenue-generating and 

growing enterprises 

The average revenue of Vistage members' companies is $26 million 

More than 950 Vistage members' companies have sales over $50 million 

More than 300 Vistage members' companies have sales over $100 million 

2.6% 

As of J.;Jnuary 2011 Onyx Data 

<$1M 

$1M-$5M 

$5M-$50M $50M-$100M $100+M 

For internal use only Vistage International. A.1l rights 
Vistage members' companies represent nearly every industry 

Variety of industry sectors is critical to the members' experience 

Vistage is not overly concentrated in anyone sector 

2%, 

\ 

Service 37

Manufacturing 21 

Financial. Real Estate. Insurance 12

Wholesale Trade 11 

Construction 9

Retail Trade 5

Transportation. Communication 3

2

For mtemaJ use only Vist<'lge International All rights fese
Vistage members manage workforces of varying sizes 

The average number of employees in Vistage-member companies is 165 

23% have more than 100 employees 

47% have between 20-100 employees 

30% have less than 20 employees 

For mten131 use only. ©2011 

international rese
In the U.S., small to mid-sized enterprises comprise: 

75% of new job creation 

58% of private-sector workers 

99,7% of all U,S, employers 

38% of high tech employees 

90% of new business location growth 

For mternal use only Vistage internationaL All fights rese
Vistage members' companies outperformed Dun & Bradstreet's U.S. companies in 

average revenues 

Vistage CEO member companies who joined in 2006-2008 and were active members in Feb, 2010. CAGR for Vistage member companies calculated for period 

covering year prior to joining Vistage through 2009. CAGR for D&B U.S. companies based on 2005-2009 revenues, weighted to match Vistage company 

distribution per year during same period. All companies had >=$1M annual revenue, ;:.:=5 employees. Vistage: 1,265 companies. D&8: apx. 1M U.S. companies

For mternal use onlY Vistage International Ail rights rese
The Executive Sessions, the One-to-one Coaching Sessions and the Vistage Speake

Workshops provide high value to members 

Articles / Best Practices, Webinars and Member-Only Events were also rated as highly valuable by member

Executive sessions 8,6 

One¥to-one coaching sessions 

Vistage speaker workshops 

Articles and Best Practices on Vistage View 

Members-only events 

Source: 2009 Vistage Member Experience Survey 

... 

'.4 

Satisfaction Scale: 

1 =Extremely Dissatisfied 10=Extremely Satisfied 

10 

For internal use only. @2011 Vistage International. An rights rese
..vfsta(letiis helped me make the right decision to 

"W;ow and bring in very smart people and 

S:Wart These were key ingredients to 

growin!Jtfie company from $12 million to $350 million 

in just 10 years," 

-Brian Cescolini, CEO 

Universal Protection Service 

Santa Ana, Calif. 

Vistage member since 2001 

"When I purchased the company 11 years ago, we 

were a $3,5 million company with 22 employees, 

Today we're a $37 million company with more than 200 

employees, I appreciate my 10 years as a Vistage 

member, wondering if one would have been possible 

without the other." 

-Brian Braaten, President 

West Electric Group 

Colorado Springs, Co, 

Member since 2001 

"Thanks to Vistage, I've weathered two recessions, 

I was actually prepared for the second one because 

Vistage Speakers had predicted it. As a result, we 

were still profitable, had positive cash flow, and made 

capital investments on the upswing," 

-Susan Cirocki, President 

Arrow Sheet Metal Products Company 

Denver, Colo, 

Member since 2003 

For intemal use only ©2011 Vistage International All rights rese
123 

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The Vistage experience comprises a unique bundle of services (the "four-legged Vistage 

ladder") that reinforce each other and cause Vistage members to become better leaders 

make better decisions and achieve better results. 

1. Advisory Board of peers from other industries, led by 

a Vistage Chair who applies the Vistage issue-resolution process 

2. One-to-one coaching session with the Vistage Chair 

who both questions the member's assumptions and holds the member 

accountable to actually do what the member has resolved to do 

3. Interactive, intimate and practical workshops with expert Speakers 

every subject that's relevant to optimizing an executive's performance a

manager and a leader 

4. Online and in-person content from, and connectivity with, 

the international network of Vistage members and Vistage itself 

For internal use only Vis!age !nternatlonal All fights rese
Vistage members meet monthly for an entire day to learn, share ideas and resolve issues that th

face in their businesses, all following the Vistage process 

Groups consist of up to 16 members from non-competing industries, are facilitated and led by a Vistage Chair, and 

to confidentiality 

A carefully selected, trained and monitored independent contractor, the Vistage Chair plays several key roles includ

executive coach, facilitator, confidant and mentor 

Vi stage groups are visited by Vistage expert Speakers who conduct interactive, actionable workshops on almost ev

relevant subject 

Vistage has over 650 Chairs worldwide (including 370 Chairs in U.S.) 

The Chair ensures that the group functions smoothly and that members receive full value for their investment 

The Chair meets individually with each member for two hours once a month to explore issues and opportunities in g

depth by challenging assumptions 

The Chair holds members accountable for their plans and actions needed to help them grow their companies and 

themselves as leaders 

Chairs are mostly ex-CEOs or senior executives; more than 120 new Chairs will be trained and selected by Vistage 

U.S. in 2011 

Average Chair tenure is more than 8 years; Chairs' income potential «$100K >$300K) depends on number of gro

members 

Chairs are motivated by both the financial opportunity and the professional satisfaction provided by Vistage (deeper 

purpose of giving back, sharing experiences, helping those who influence so many others) 

For internal use only Vistage !nternatkmal AJI rights reser
126 
127 
Vistage members access Vistage's proprietary Content and Connect with Vistage's 

membership network 

Hundreds of Vistage-developed, proprietary best practice guides, articles, whitepapers, webinars and 

pod casts on finance, marketing, management and personnel topics and virtually every other business sub

all with a distinctly practical focus 

Opportunities to connect with, learn from and establish relationships with the network of Vistage members 

locally, nationally and globally 

FRIDAYS WITH VISTAGE 

Local 

Vistage Member Content 

Vislage Webinars for 

Vislage members and 

their staffs 

VlSfage Ubrary 

• White Papers • Best Practices 

• Articles • Pod casts 

VISTAG£ 

Knowledge Centeri;;"l 

VistageStore.com 

Online Store for 

leading Business 

Executives 

Member Content Forums 

Ask . Ask VlSlage 

VISTAGE • Industry Connect 

• VlStage Buzz BIog 

Vistage Member Connectivity 

National Global 

Vlstage International All nghts reser
129 

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The Vistage CEO Confidence Index is the nation's largest and most comprehensive re

of the opinions and projections of small-to-medium-sized business CEOs about the U.

economy 

The survey, which began in 2003, is conducted quarterly and typically includes betwee

1,600 and 2,000 CEO respondents from across the country 

The results are analyzed by University of Michigan's Dr. Richard Curtin, who also 

oversees the U.S. Consumer Sentiment Index 

Dr. Curtin has determined that since 2003, the Vistage CEO Confidence Index has no

only provided a reliable snapshot of CEO confidence, but also serves as a reliable 

harbinger for changes in GDP and Employment 

For internal use only Vlstage International All rights reserved 23 
The Vistage CEO Confidence Index, a quarterly 

survey of CEO members across the U.S., has 

proven to be a reliable two-to-three quarter 

predictor of GOP and employment levels. 

The results of the Vistage CEO Confidence Index 

are extensively covered by the media as a foremost 

barometer of SME CEOs' confidence in the economy 

and their own businesses. 

National News Syndication 

Read more about the quarterly Vistage CEO Confidence Index here: 

http://WHW.vistage.com/media/confidence-index/pdffFlierConflndex_ Q41 O.pdf 

Local 

CEO C-Onfidenco 

2009·2010 

2009 2009 2010 2010 2010 2010 

03 04 01 02 Q3 Q4 

Vistage CEO Rafael Pastor 

interviewed on CNBC 

only. ©20i j Vistage lnternaHonaL All fights reser
The Vistage Confidence Index was 92.9 in the 02 2011 survey, substantially below the 

105.2 posted in 01, erasing all the gains recorded since 93.7 was registered in 01 2010. 

CEO Confidence Index 

2010-2011 

106.3 105.2 

2010 2010 2010 2010 2011 2011 

01 02 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 

Date of Survey 

120 

100 

80 

60 

40 

Highlights 

'37% of GEOs reported that the national economy 

had improved, down from 63% in 01. 

'53% of GEOs expected flat or declining prices 

for their products or services. 

'52% of GEOs are holding back on permanent hires. '66% of GEOs plan to increase wages over the 

next 12 months. 

'49% of GEOs are worried about their firm's data 

security. 

'68% of GEOs expected sales revenue growth 

in the next 12 months. 

-50% of GEOs expected increased profits in the next 

12 months. 

Vistage lnternaljonai All rights 
133 ,I , Ii I 

Overview 

ASBDC Accreditation Review 

Instructions for Preparing 

The Self-Study Guide 2009 

The purpose of the self-study is (1) to provide the accreditation review team with needed information about an SBDC's network of centers, (2) to provide summary evidence whether the 

SBDC meets the ASBDC accreditation standards, and (3) to identify and share tools and "best 

practices". The accreditation review team will use the self-study guide to make initial, provisional judgments about the SBDC's quality of operations and compliance with the accreditation 

standards and to design their approach to the accreditation review. During the onsite portion of 

the accreditation review, the team will assess and validate the information in the self-study guide. 

Prior to writing the self-study guide, the SBDC's leadership should have begun the process of 

incorporating the ASBDC accreditation standards into its operation. This requires not just familiarity with the standards, but in-depth understanding of them. Sources of information about 

the accreditation standards include New Lead center Directors Training and ASBDC Accreditation Standards workshops held at the Annual ASBDC Fall Conference each fall, the ASBDC 

Accreditation Mentor Program (see Lead center Directors page on the ASBDC website), the 

Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence and in some lead 

centers quality programs affiliated with the Baldrige National Quality Program. 

Instructions 

The format of the self-study guide has been developed (I) to promote greater understanding 

within the SBDC of the ASBDC accreditation standards by establishing linkages between standards and between the concepts of approach, deployment. and measurements. (2) to be a useful 

self-examination [00\ for the SBDC, and (3) to create for the review team a more comprehensive 

and coherent story about the SBDC. 

SBDCs must use the following format of the self study guide in preparing its self-study. 

SBDCs must provide its self-study guide and exhibit documentation to each member of the assigned accreditation team and the ASBDC national office at least 30 days before the start of the 

accreditation review. 

SBDCs should use the accreditation standards preceding each section (bold type) and the comments below each section (italics type) to frame responses. SBDCs should not attempt to respond 

to the instructions without first understanding the standards to which it applies. 
134 

Self-Study Guide Instructions 2009 Asso(:iation of 

Business 

Development Centers, 

The self-study guide is composed of two sections: (I) the SBDC's narrati ve response and (2) the 

exhibits that provide evidence to support the narrative response, The narrative responses should 

respond to the prescribed instructions of the self-study guide and be included as a single document representing the entire SBDC network, 

The narrative section of the self-study guide should not exceed fifty pages and may be considerably fewer pages, In some cases, a narrative response may require supporting documentation 

in the form of exhibits, Key exhibits may include strategic planning documents, client needs assessments, organizational charts, key measures and results or other similar documents, 

SBDCs may provide the self study and key exhibits in printed, hardcopy forulat but are strongly 

encouraged to provide all materials on a CD-Rom for the review team, Where key exhibits are 

necessary, the review team recommends linking the exhibit to the narrative source, For reference 

purposes, an index of attached exhibits is preferred, Other exhibits that are bulky or do not lend 

themselves to being placed on a CD-ROM should be available at the lead center. 

Questions regarding a review or preparation of the self-study should be directed to the review 

team leader. 

Organizational Profile 

Objective: To orient the accreditation review team with the structure, key personnel and background of the SBDC network, 

P,l Organizational Description 

Provide the SBDC's vision, mission, and values, 

Provide a brief history of the SBDC (e,g, what year did the SBDCs host begin the 

program?), 

• Provide the number of centers, host(s) and locations, Briefly describe the quality of 

facilities, 

• Describe the SBDC's workforce (e,g" whether staff is employed or contracted, etc,), 

• Provide a copy of the SBDC's organizational chart, 

• Provide the name, title, email address and telephone numbers for the following individuals: 

o The individual to whom the SBDC lead center director reports 

o The chief administrator of the host organization, 

• Provide a summary of the SBDC's funding, including match, 

Describe significant changes in the organizational structure that have occurred since 

the last review, 

• Describe the SBDC's key customer and stakeholder groups and market segments, 

("Key" means generally the most important but no more than three to five,) 

• What special programs does the SBDC operate, if any? 

2 
135 

Self-Study Guide Instructions 2009 

• Describe other factors that are important to understanding and evaluating the SBDC 

program (e.g., size and/or population of service area, distribution of population, geography, university or lead center-based program, whether or not service centers are 

contracted, etc.). 

P.2 Organizational Challenges 

What are the SBDC's major competitive challenges? 

What are the SBDC's key business, operational and human resource strategic challenges? 

• What are the SBDC's key strategic challenges associated with organizational sustainability? 

1.0 LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES 

Objective: Create an environment in which the lead center director, and other program 

leaders routinely address organizational values, ethical behavior and performance expectations. 

1.1 Senior Leadership 

The SBDC leadership system creates an environment in which a lead center 

director and other program leaders routinely guide and sustain the SBDC or· 

ganization, communicate with the workforce and encourage high performance, 

organizational values and ethical behavior. 

SBDC leaders must systematically: 

• Set direction, 

Address current and future opportunities, 

• Communicate and deploy performance expectations, and 

• Review performance to understand the health of the organization and to 

enable translation of performance findings into priorities for improvement 

and innovation. 

Approach: 

How do senior leaders create a sustainable organization and build understanding 

of short and long-term factors that affect the SBDC's organization and marketplace? 

• Describe the vision of the senior leaders of the SBDC and how it reflects a determination of key customer/stakeholder needs balanced with an assessment of 

the SBDC's resources. 

3 
136 

Self-Study Guide Instructions 2009 Association 

Small Business 

De,veiotlm;,mt Centers, 

• Describe or illustrate how senior leaders routinely guide decision-making within 

the SBDC organization. 

• How does the process of decision-making reinforce and align with the values 

and expectations of senior leadership and of the SBDC? 

• Describe how senior leaders inform and obtain feedback from workforce, What 

actions do the SBDC's senior leaders take to ensure that the workforce is empowered and motivated to be innovative and to achieve high performance? 

• How do senior leaders routinely monitor performance results to drive continuous 

improvement? 

Deployment: 

• To what extent are the approaches implemented (not-deployed, early stage, 

partially or fully deployed)? 

• Provide evidence through description and/or exhibits where available. This 

information can be integrated with the discussions under approaches. 

1.2 Role of Senior Leadership 

SBDe senior leaders must align the SBDe with key stakeholders and support 

organizations. Where the SBDe has common interests with the national SBDe 

Program, SBDe senior leaders must cooperate in order to further common interests. 

SBDe senior leaders must operate in compliance with: 

• Federal laws and regulations, and 

• The Notice of Award and Program Announcement. 

The SBDe must have systems in place that ensure sound fiscal, contractual and 

operational management of it programs and must have control of the SBDe's 

budget. 

Approach: 

Describe how SBDC senior leaders support the common interests and participate 

in the governance of the national SBDC Program. 

• Describe how SBDC leaders set performance expectations and maintain accountability for performance, 

• What network structures are in place to ensure compliance with federal laws. 

regulations, and program requirements? 

• What network structures are in place to demonstrate control and ensure sound 

fiscal, contractual and operational management of the SBDC's programs and 

budget? 

4 
137 

Self-Study Guide Instructions 2009 

Deployment: 

• To what extent are the approaches implemented (not-deployed, early stage, partially or fully deployed)? 

• Provide evidence through description andlor exhibits where available. This information can be integrated with the discussions under approaches. 

5 
138 

Association of Self-Study Guide Instructions 2009 Small Business 

Deveiol'llrne.nt Centers. 

What the accreditation team looks}!)r: 

The following apply to all accreditation processes: 

• Process-based approaches well ordered, repeatable, and produce data and infonnation so that learning is possible. 

• Approaches key to the operation of the organization, systematic, well defined, appropriate. and effective. 

• Deployment of the approaches, their actions and their concepts at all appropriate 

levels in the SBDC organization. Ideally. learning and integration are present 

with innovation that improves performance results. 

• Alignment of the approaches consistent with plans. processes, in/onnation, resource decisions, actions, results. and analyses to support key organizational 

goals. 

A leadership system addressing values, performance expectations and client and 

stakeholder needs and effectively communicates to all appropriate workforce, 

partners and stakeholders. 

A leadership system that guides and aligns an SBDC by: 

• Engaging senior leaders, key stakeholders. and partners in developing short and 

long-tenn organizational strategy. 

• Creating multiple channels of communication olinformation and feedback from 

leadership to all parts of the organization, stakeholders, and partners. 

• Creating a culture ol innovation that encourages new and improved methods of 

doing business. 

• Developing multiple channels to evaluate the effectiveness of the leadership system and to identify opportunities.ior improvement. 

• Reviewing results regularly pertaining to key organizational measures and using 

such reviews to set and prioritize improvement options. 

• Fonnalizing a process for allocating resources to support plans and improvement 

priorities. 

• Establishing a management structure that provides clear lines afauthority, responsibility and communication and fosters strong organizational relationships. 

2.0 STRATEGIC PLANNING 

Objectives: Implement a well-defined process to establish long-tenn strategy and shortterm action plans/or greater impact. Align the organization in pursuit of its long-term 

strategy. The strategic planning process may vary based upon the needs. size and conditions within the SBDC lead center or region. 

6 
139 

Association of Self-Study Guide Instructions 2009 Small Business 

De'vel'DplneI1t Centers, 

2.1 Strategy Development Process 

• SBDC must have an established process for development of strategy and 

strategic objectives, including how to address SBDC strategic challenges. 

• Strategic planning must demonstrate a systematic approach to collecting and 

analyzing relevant data and information to identify and integrate the key factors and associated metrics important to the SBDC's future success (i.e. focus 

on enhancing client success and expanding impact). 

• SBDC must have a planning process that identifies key strategic objectives, 

timetables for accomplishment and the most important goals for the strategic 

objectives. 

Approach: 

• Describe the SBDC's strategic planning model. Include the individuals involved 

at each level of the process. 

• Describe the process the SBDC uses to obtain feedback and updates for the planning process. 

• Provide documentation for the most recently updated strategies. 

Deployment: 

• To what extent are the approaches implemented (not-deployed, early stage, partially or fully deployed)? 

• Provide evidence through description and/or exhibits where available. This information can be integrated with the discussions under approaches. 

What the team looks for in this section: 

• What systematic process the SBDC uses to make strategic decisions. 

• How the SBDC gathers, analyzes, reviews. and uses customer and stakeholder, 

market, operational. organizational and employee data. 

• Evidence that the SBDC has allocated resources effectively to achieve its strategy 

and implement its action plans. 

• Evidence that, key stakeholders, as appropriate. and staffparticipate in the strategic planning process and are provided opportunities for comments and feedback. ("Key" means generally the most important but no more than three to five.) 

• Evidence all staff at all levels of the organization understand how their individual 

work contributes to the organization achieving its goals and fulfilling its plans. 

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2.2 Strategy Deployment 

A defined process must be in place that: 

o Converts strategic objectives into action, 

o Modifies action if circumstances require a shift, 

o Defines changes in products and services, 

o Defines key performance measures and indicators for tracking progress, 

o Defines requirements in financial and key human resource planning. 

Approach: 

Describe the process for assuring deployment and alignment of the strategies 

throughout the SBDe. Normally, this would include actions, responsibility, timelines, resource allocation, perronnance measurements, monitoring, feedback. and 

learning improvement. 

Deployment: 

• To what extent are the approaches implemented (not-deployed, early stage. partially or fully deployed)? 

• Provide evidence through description and/or exhibits where available. This infonnation can be integrated with the discussions under approaches. 

What the accreditation team looks for: 

• The extent to which strategies and strategic objectives are implemented. 

• A method to establish aclion plans at each level of the SBDC so that it is aligned 

in pursuit of its strategy, including measures, targets, schedules and resource allocation. 

• The mechanisms to monitor performance measurements and actions and to solicit 

feedback. 

• An understanding throughout the organization of how individuals contribute to 

achieving organizutionai goals and strategies. 

3.0 CUSTOMER AND STAKEHOLDER FOCUS 

Objective: Identify and segment customers, markets and key stakeholders; determine requirements, expectations and preferences for each; build relationships; and determine satisfaction. 

3.1 Knowledge of Customers and Stakeholders Needs and Expectations 

SBDC should demonstrate it has a systematic process or processes to determine 

requirements, eXpectations, and preferences of customers, stakeholders and 

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Self-Study Guide Instructions 2009 

Development Centers. 

markets to ensure the continuing relevance of SBDC products and services and 

the development of new SBDC business opportunities. 

Approach 

• Describe the SBDC's systematic processes for obtaining knowledge of the needs 

and expectations of customers, the small business community and market opportunities. 

• Describe the process for analyzing the data obtained and determining its relevance 

to the SBDC. 

• Describe the process for reviewing the above approaches and modifying them as 

necessary. 

• How are customer groups and market segments determined? 

• How are priorities established for customer groups and market segments? 

Deployment: 

• To what extent are the approaches implemented (not-deployed, early stage, partially or fully deployed)? 

• Provide evidence through description and/or exhibits where available. This information can be integrated with the discussions under approaches. 

3.2 Management of Customers and Key Stakeholders Satisfaction and Relationship 

3.2(a) Relationships 

SBDC must have deployed systematic processes for building relationships to acquire customers and key stakeholders. 

SBDC must have deployed systematic processes that drive continuous 

improvement for: 

• Managing satisfaction and 

• Managing feedback and complaints. 

Approach: 

Based on the target or key customers desired, describe how such customers 

are acquired and relationships nurtured. 

• Include systematic process on how satisfaction is managed ~Uld 

• Include how feedback and complaints are used to drive continuous improvement. 

Based on the target or key stakeholders desired. describe how such stakeholder relationships are nurtured. 

• Include systematic process on how satisfaction is managed and 

• Include how feedback and complaints are used to drive continuous improvement. 

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Self-Study Guide Instructions 2009 

Deployment: 

• To what extent are the approaches implemented (not-deployed, early stage, partially or fully deployed)? 

Provide evidence through description and/or exhibits where available. This information can be integrated with the discussions under approaches. 

3.2(b) Satisfaction Determination 

SBDC must have in place systematic approaches to determining customer and stakeholder satisfaction and dissatisfaction. 

• Methodology should ensure that the measurement captures actionable 

information for use in exceeding customers' and stakeholders' expectations. 

• Evidence should be available regarding how customer and stakeholder satisfaction and dissatisfaction information is used for improvement. 

Approach: 

• Describe the methodology, including how the SBDC addresses the differences where appropriate among key customer segments, regarding satisfaction. 

Explain how satisfaction data is analyzed and used for improvement or 

new strategies. 

Deployment: 

• To what extent are the approaches implemented (not-deployed, early stage, partially or fully deployed)? 

• Provide evidence through description andlor exhibits where available. This information can be integrated with the discussions under approaches. 

3.3 Marketing and Promotional Programs. 

For marketing and promotional programs, the requirements for designing, 

managing, and improving the programs must include: 

• A clear integration of strategy, image and a common brand or logo for the 

SBDC that conveys the SBDC image and identity as a cohesive SBDC network. 

Information, materials and signage must convey the identity of a cohesive 

SBDC network. 

Facilities need to be professional in appearance, adequate for the delivery of 

services, and provide for confidentiality for counseling when offered. 

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Self-Study Guide Instructions 2009 

Approach: 

• Describe how the SBDC projects a network image and how it supports integration 

of strategy. image and a common brand or logo. 

Deployment: 

• To what extent are the approaches implemented (not-deployed. early stage, partially or fully deployed)? 

• Provide evidence through description and/or exhibits where available. This information can be integrated with the discussions under approaches. 

What the accreditation team looks for: 

• While needs assessments and analysis need not be a formal research effort. nor 

must they be network wide, they should be designed to collect data in a systematic 

process that: 

o Includes multiple listeninl? posts, 

o Determines key customer/stakeholder requirements, and 

o Determines product/service features of most importance to key customer and 

stakeholders. 

• Data is analyzed and used in the development of strategy. 

• Evidence indicating that the SBDC has been proactive in selecting particular 

markets or customer types. 

• Degree to which key customerl5takeholder requirements have been identified for 

each market segment the SBDC serves. 

• Reliability of data, information, and research collected. 

Information the SBDC gathers on key customer/stakeholder needs and drivers of 

satisfaction; how both internal and external information are analyzed to draw 

conclusions for necessary actions steps. 

SBDC must demonstrate it is providing adequate and consistent information on 

services and impact to customers and stakeholders. 

• SBDC must show a network strategy to gather and use customer sati.lfaction data 

to drive improvement in key products and services. 

Internal and external documentation and materials clearly indicating a state-wide 

branding strategy. 

The team will review: 

• Assessment processes and associated documentation. 

• The utilization of information obtained and decisions made from assessments 

in the development of work systems and strategies. 

How infbrmationfrom key stakeholders was considered in strategic development. 

Evidence that a host brings resources to the SBDe in the forms of educational, financial or political capital. 

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Self-Study Guide Instructions 2009 

4.0 INFORMATION AND ANALYSIS SYSTEM 

Objective: Create a performance management system to permit an understanding of overall organizational daily performance in operations. Category 4 is the focal point for the 

alignment of the SBDC organization's operations with its strategic objectives. 

4.1 Development and Implementation of a Performance System 

SBDC must demonstrate how the organization measures, analyzes, aligns, reviews, and improves its performance data and information at all levels and in 

all parts of the SBDC program. 

Approach 

• Describe SBDC"s performance system, including how the SBDC selects, collects, analyzes, and uses data. The performance system data or metrics must 

align to support organization-wide goals and support daily action, decisionmaking and innovation. 

• What are the SBDC"s key performance measures? These metrics should be in 

alignment with the key strategic objectives. 

• How does the SBDC use this data to support decision-making and performance 

improvement? 

• How does the SBDC validate data in key performance measures to ensure quality? 

• How does the SBDC ensure the continued availability of data and information, 

including hardware and software systems, in the event of an emergency (e.g .. a 

disaster plan)? 

How does the SBDC manage the performance system technology? 

How does the SBDC communicate and make information available consistently 

throughout the organization and to stakeholders and partners? 

Deployment: 

• To what extent are the approaches implemented (not-deployed, early stage, partially or fully deployed)? 

• Provide evidence through description and/or exhibits where available. This information can be integrated with the discussions under approaches. 

4.2 Measurement of Economic Impact 

The SBDC must participate in the periodic national SBDC impact surveys. 

Additionally, developing lead center economic impact studies is encouraged. 

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Association of Self-Study Guide Instructions 2009 Small Business 

Development Centers, 

Approach 

Does the SBDC participate in the national SBDC impact survey when conducted? 

Does the SBDC conduct a state economic impact study? How often? What methodology? 

Deployment: 

• To what extent ate the approaches implemented (not-deployed, early stage, pattially or fully deployed)? 

• Provide evidence through description and/or exhibits where available. This information can be integrated with the discussions under approaches. 

What the accreditation team looks for: 

• Evidence the data is aggregated, analyzed and used to understand performance. 

determine cause and effect relationships. and establish improvement actions. 

• A clearly defined set of measures that reflect overall performance of the organization in areas critical to the success of the program. 

Well-defined and consistent methods to collect data pertaining to those measures. 

Results analysis permitting an understanding of organizational performance and 

identification of improvement priorities for program management within alignment of the strategic objectives. 

5.0 STAFFING AND HUMAN RESOURCE UTILIZATION 

Objective: Design work systems that encourage workforce learning and motivation and enable the workforce to develop and utilize theirfull potential in alignment with the SBDC's 

overall objectives and action plans. The SBDC's efforts must build and maintain a work environment and workforce support climate conducive to innovation. performance excellence, 

and to personal and organizational growth. Create and manage human resource systems to 

achieve high performance. Establish key workforce practices and a support climate that enables personal growth, organizational growth and performance excellence. 

5.1 Work Systems 

The SBDC must have work systems, organizational structure and staffing patterns based on analysis of key needs and strategies of the SBDC. This structure 

must align with the SBDC's strategic objectives and be designed to enable the 

workforce to achieve high performance while providing an opportunity to develop its full potential. (Compensation, career progression and related workforce practices enable organizations to achieve high performance.) 

Approach: 

How does the SBDC recruit, hire, and retain new personnel to ensure alignment 

with the SBDC's strategic objectives? 

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Self-Study Guide Instructions 2009 

Development Centers, 

• Describe how the SBDC efficiently and effectively organizes and manages its 

work system to include organizational structure, staffing patterns and resource allocations, 

• Describe how the work system aligns with the SBDe's strategic objectives and 

action plans, 

• Describe how the work system enables the SBDC's workforce to develop professionally and support workforce practices, resulting in a high performing motivated organization. 

Deployment: 

To what extent are the approaches implemented (not-deployed, early stage, partially or fully deployed)? 

Provide evidence through description and/or exhibits where available. This information can be integrated with the discussions under approaches. 

VVhat the team looks for: 

• Evidence that the organizational structure, key positions, and staffing patterns 

have been analyzed and are in alignment with the SBDC '.I' strategic objectives. 

• Evidence of the effectiveness of the work system and its impact on the organization '.I' pe~formance and achievement of the organization '.I' goals and objectives. 

Evidence that the work system provides opportunity for communication among 

workforce and that managemenllistens to workforce, considers their suggestions. 

and empowers them to implement improvements. 

• Evidence that the compensation systems are appropriate for the organizational 

structure and staffing patterns. 

• Evidence that continuous improvement is achieved through the alignment ofprofessional development offerings and workforce training is driven by SBDC strategic objectives. 

5.1.1 Key Positions 

Objective: Key positions demonstrate appropriate business or administrative experience, knowledge and abilities to direct, coordinate and manage a multifaceted and multilocation organization. Key positions must have ability and skills to coordinate and manage a human resource system, establish and maintain collaborative relationships and unden·tand business practices and management methods. Key positions and responsibilities, capacity, and salaries must be consistent with 13 CFR 130.460(f)( 1). 

Lead Center Director and Associate/Assistant Director 

The lead center director and associate/assistant director(s) should have at a minimum a master's degree in business or other directly related field or a bachelor's degree with sufficient and progressively responsible experience or have appropriate 

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Self-Study Guide Instructions 2009 Association of 

Business 

Development Centers, 

busiuess or administrative experience that demonstrates the knowledge and abilities 

required to: 

Direct, coordinate and manage a multi-faceted, multi-location organization; 

Direct, coordinate and manage human and administrative resources; 

Understand the full range of business practices and business management methods; and 

Demonstrate skills in establishing and maintaining effective support and working relationships with a variety of public and private stakeholder partners that 

are needed for alignment with strategic objectives. 

The salary of the SBDC lead center director or associate/assistant director(s) should 

at a minimum be equivalent to the annualized average salary of a full professor or 

associate professor, respectively, in the institution hosting the SBDC or parallel positions in the agency/organization hosting the SBDC. Where the host is not affiliated with a college, the salaries of the director or associate/assistant director(s) 

should be comparable to the college of business, college of engineering or equivalent. 

Approach: 

In general, what is the academic and experience level of the SBDC's key director 

positions (e.g .. lead center director, associate/assistant director(s), and service 

center director(s))? 

• In general, how do the salaries of the lead center director and associate/assistant 

director(s) compare to host institution equivalent positions and related salaries as 

stated in the standard? 

Deployment: 

• To what extent are the approaches implemented (not-deployed, early stage, partially or fully deployed)? 

Provide evidence through description and/or exhibits where available. This infonnation can be integrated with the discussions under approaches. 

What the team looks for: 

Evidence that the lead center/regional director and other key positions are qualified to fill their respective positions. 

• Evidence that the key positions are adequate in number and appropriately structured to effectively manage the SBDC program. 

That key employee's salaries are consistent with the size of the organization and 

other equivalent positions in the SBDC network. 

5.2 Workforce Learning and Growth 

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Self-Study Guide Instructions 2009 

Development Centers. 

Objectives: Provide a method for determining the professional development needs of 

the workforce that supports the achievement of the SBDC's strategic objectives and 

contributes to the organization 's peiformance. Provide on-going professional development and training for the workforce that builds its knowledge, skills and capabilities: contributes to achievement of action plans, organizational effectiveness, and career progression: that supports key organizational needs related to the orientation of 

new members of the workforce, ethical business practices, management, and leadership; and that addresses key needs associated with organizational peiformance and 

improvement and changing business and technology environment. Provide an assessment and evaluation process that seeks input and feedback from the entire workforce regarding training needs and evaluation ofprofessional development offerings. 

Workforce education and training must support the achievement ofthe SBDC's 

strategic objectives, including the enhancement of workforce knowledge, skills, 

and enhancing leadership capabilities that contribute to high performance. 

The SBDC must have a systematic, implemented, professional development 

program tied to its strategic objectives. The program must include: 

• A method of determining the educational needs of the workforce, 

• On-going workforce education and professional development, 

• A structured training/orientation program for new members of the workforce and 

• An assessment system, including opportunities for feedback, to determine 

effectiveness of the educational offerings and make changes when warranted. 

Approach: Address the processes that support the bullet-points in the standard. 

Deployment: 

• To what extent are the approaches implemented (not-deployed, early stage, partially or fully deployed)? 

• Provide evidence through description andior exhibits where available. This infonnation can be integrated with the discussions under approaches. 

What the team looks for: 

Evidence that education and training is linked TO the strategic objectives and the 

associated action plans. 

• Leadership support and funding to support the professional development strategy. 

• Policies and procedures in place TO address orientation for new members of the 

workforce and other key organizational topics. 

• Documented results of the professional development activities and summaries of 

the evaluations and feedback from the workforce that participated. 

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Self-Study Guide Instructions 2009 

5.3 Workforce Environment and Motivation 

Objectives: Explore ways to improve workplace health, safety, security and ergonomici in a proactive way and workplace preparedness for disasters or emergencies. 

Determine specific factors that affect the workforce:'" well-being, satisfaction and motivation by developing formal or informal assessment methods to determine workforce 

satisfaction, well-being, and needs. 

Maintain a work environment and a workforce support climate that contributes 

to the well-being, satisfaction, and motivation of all personnel: 

• That ensures and improves workplace health, safety, security, and ergonomics. 

• That ensures workplace preparedness for disaster or emergencies. 

• That determines the key factors that affect workforce well-being, satisfaction 

and motivation. 

• That supports workforce via services, benefits and policies. 

Approach: 

• How does the SBDC maintain an open culture, provide a supportive climate and 

motivating work environment conducive to workforce satisfaction and well 

being? 

• How does the SBDC identify health, safety, security, diversity and ergonomics 

issues throughout the organization and promote open communications 7 

• Describe how the SBDC prepares and plans for disaster and emergency. 

• How does the SBDC detenlline factors that affect workforce satisfaction, wellbeing and motivation? 

Deployment: 

• To what extent are the approaches implemented (not-deployed, early stage, partially or fully deployed)? 

• Provide evidence through description and/or exhibits where available. This infonnation can be integrated with the discussions under approaches. 

What the team looks for: 

• Evidence of an open workplace environment. 

• A proactive approach by the SBDC towards workplace health, safety. security, diversity, and ergonomics and towards disaster preparedness. 

• Identijication o.f factors affecting workforce sati~faction, well-being. and motivation with dedication to continuous improvement in those areas. 

6.0 PROGRAM DELIVERY AND MANAGEMENT 

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Self-Study Guide Instructions 2009 

Objective: The SBDC's key work processes are the processes that involve the majority of 

the organization's workforce and produce customer and stakeholder value. These key 

work processes are the SBDC's most important productlservice design and the most important delivelY, business, and support processes. 

6.1 Key SBDC Services 

Key services most important to the SBDC's strategy and operations must have 

systematic well managed key processes for design and delivery: 

• Definition: Define the key services, how they are delivered, and how they 

link to the strategic objectives . 

• Key Requirements: Identify the key requirements of key services based upon 

input from customers and stakeholders and upon assessment of organizational needs. 

Measurements: Establish performance measures that reflect the key 

requirements of these services. Include: 

• Evaluating key quality and quantity of service. 

• Analyzing the impact of the service. 

• Providing customer feedback loops. 

Monitoring and Improving 

• Monitoring: Establish methods for monitoring performance of the delivery system associated with this process and actions to be taken when 

indicators are present establishing that key services as defined are not 

being delivered in a manner that meets requirements. 

• Improving: Establish methods for evaluating the quality of key services 

and actions to be taken to improve this service when indicators are present that key services, even when properly delivered, are not meeting all 

requirements. 

Approach: 

• Define the key services, how they are delivered and how they link to strategic objectives and operational strategies. ("Key" means generally the most important 

but no more than three to five.) 

• Based upon the SBDe's strategic planning process. describe the desired target 

customers, their key requirements. and how the SBDe's services/products address 

those requirements 

• Describe how the SBDe implements, manages, evaluates, and improves delivery 

processes. 

• Provide policies and/or describe systems designed to improve performance and 

assure both quality and timely service delivery. 

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Self-Study Guide Instructions 2009 Smail 

• 

Development Centers. 

Describe how the SBDC assures the confidentiality of client information, controls 

conflict of interest, and ensures the fulfillment of ethical and other professional 

standards of conduct. 

• Discuss how the SBDC's measures are selected and: 

o Evaluate the quality, impact, and quantity of key services, 

o Evaluate level of customer satisfaction in meeting the key customer requirements, 

o Ensure quality narrative descriptions of counseling. 

Deployment: 

• To what extent are the approaches implemented (not-deployed, early stage, partially or fully deployed)? 

• Provide evidence through description and/or exhibits where available. This information can be integrated with the discussions under approaches. 

Learning: How are refinements and innovations to processes, as the result of organizationallearning, shared with other relevant work units, improving processes in your 

organization? 

What the accreditation team looks for: 

Where the key services include delivery of counseling (required in the Program 

Announcement), narrative descriptions of counseling sessions are reviewed as a 

key performance indicator and a level (if professionalism: 

• A description of what occurred in the session. 

• An identification and analysis of the problem or opportunity. 

• Actions taken, recommendations made, follow-up, and next step, if any. 

The purpose in writing professional narrative descriptions includes thefollowing: 

• The process of writing narrative descriptions is an important part (if the consulting process. for in writing the narrative. the counselor takes the time to 

assimilate and organize what occurred in the session, which is importantfor 

planning and understanding the on-going case and maintaining focus on 

problem-solving. 

Narrative descriptions are evidence (d'professional services being delivered 

by a counselor and are key to establishing accountability. 

Narrative descriptions are a means to provide other counselors a means to 

familiarize themselves with a case, when necessary (e.g., when doing team 

consulting). 

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Self-Study Guide Instructions 2009 

6.2 Accreditation of Technology Programs 

If the SBDC is applying for an original accreditation or reaccreditation of a 

technology program, it must develop its technology program so as to meet the 

Guidelines for SBDCs seeking Technology Accreditation and/or Designation as a 

Small Business and Technology Development Center (see Appendix A of the 

Accreditation Standards and separate Technology self study). 

7.0 RESULTS 

Objective: Utilize a system for documenting, analyzing, and reporting work performance 

and economic outcomes to drive continuous improvement. 

For the SBDC to improve quality and performance, the SBDC must utilize a system in 

place to document its work performance and outcomes in order to drive continuous 

quality improvement. This should include an ability to report on the performance 

measurement elements set forth in Standards 1 through 6. It must also include an 

ability to report on common data and results. ("Common data" refers here to data 

collected and utilized by more than one and often all SBDCs.) 

Approach: 

• Results are the outputs and outcomes in achieving the requirements in items 7.1 

7.5. Address each item below. Use graphs and tables where appropriate. Items 

7.1 through 7.5 should address the following four factors used to evaluate results: 

o The current level of performance. Describe how leaders ensure performance 

results align with established performance objectives. 

o The rate (i.e., the slope of trend data) and breadth (i.e., the extent of deployment) of the performance improvements. Describe how SBDC leaders analyze and manage data to ensure performance is managed within the SBDC organization to support the achievement of established objectives. 

o The perfonnance relative to appropriate comparisons and/or benchmarks. 

o The linkage of outcome measurements (often through segmentation) such as 

key customer, product and service, market, process, with action plan performance requirements identified in Categories J- 6. 

• Include the key measurements, a brief analysis, and how the data is used to 

change behavior or modify the direction of the SBDC network vis-a-vis the strategic plan and/or action plan. 

Deployment: 

To what extent are the approaches implemented (not-deployed, early stage, partially or fully deployed)? 

• Provide evidence through description and/or exhibits where available. This information can be integrated with the discussions under approaches. 

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Self-Study Guide Instructions 2009 

7.1 SBDC Service Results and Outcomes 

Identify and summarize the SBOes key service performance results. 

• What are the SBOe's current level and trends in key measures or indicators of 

service performance? 

• Key measures or indicators should include those mandated by funding sources. 

7.2 Customer-Focused Results and Outcomes 

• Identify and summarize the organization's key customer results and trends. including customer satisfaction. 

• What are the SBOe's current level and trends in key measures or indicators of 

service performance? 

• How well does it meet what the customer wants? 

7.3 Market Results and Outcomes 

Summarize the SBOe's market place performance results by key customer Of 

market segments as identified in the SBOe's strategy. 

7.4 Human Resource Results and Outcomes 

• Summarize the organization's key workforce results, including employee learning, development, diversity and satisfaction. 

7.5 Organizational Effectiveness Results and Outcomes 

• Summarize the SBOe's return on investment in the form ofresults or other key 

measures as appropriate. 

• Summarize performance data including mandated perfonnance measurements 

from funding sources. 

• Summarize any other key operations performance results that contribute to the 

improvement of SBOe effectiveness. 

• Summarize any other results for key measures or indicators of accomplishment of 

the SBOe's strategies and action planning. 

Revised August 15, 2006, October 5, 2006, January 6 - 8, 2007, and January 18-24, 2007. 

Approved by the Accreditation Committee March 4, 2007. 

Updated January 3, 2008 

Updated March 4, 2009 

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ASBDC ACCREDITATION STANDARDS 

2010 

1.0 LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES 

Objective: Create an environment in which the lead center director and other program 

leaders routinely address organizational values, ethical behavior and performance expectations. 

1.1 Senior Leadership 

The SBDC leadership system creates an environment in which a lead center 

director and other program leaders routinely guide and sustain the SBDC organization, communicate with the workforce and encourage high performance, 

organizational values and ethical behavior. 

SBDC leaders must systematically: 

Set direction 

Address current and future opportunities, 

• Communicate and deploy performance expectations, and 

Review performance to understand the health of the organization and to 

enable translation of performance findings into priorities for improvement 

and innovation. 

1.2 Role of Senior Leadership 

SBDC senior leaders must align the SBDC with key stakeholders and support 

organizations. Where the SBDC has common interests with the national SBDC 

Program, SBDC senior leaders must cooperate in order to further common interests. 

SBDC senior leaders must operate in compliance with: 

Federal laws and regulations, and 

• The Notice of Award and Program Announcement. 

The SBDC must have systems in place that ensure sound fiscal, contractual and 

operational management of it programs and must have control of the SBDCs 

budget. 
155 

Accreditation Standards 2010 

2.0 STRATEGIC PLANNING 

Objectives: Implement a well-defined process to establish long-term strategy and shortterm action plans for greater impact. Align the organization in pursuit of its long-term 

strategy. The strategic planning process may vary based upon the need~, size and conditions within the SBDC lead center or region. 

2.1 Strategy Development Process 

• SHDC must have an established process for development of strategy and 

strategic objectives, including how to address SHDC strategic challenges. 

Strategic planning must demonstrate a systematic approach to collecting and 

analyzing relevant data and information to identify and integrate the key factors and associated metrics important to the SHDC's future success (i.e. focus 

on enhancing client success and expanding impact). 

• SHDC must have a planning process that identifies key strategic objectives, 

timetables for accomplishment and the most important goals for the strategic 

objectives. 

2.2 Strategy Deployment 

A defined process must be in place that: 

Converts strategic objectives into action, 

• Modifies action if circumstances require a shift, 

Defines changes in products and services, 

Defines key performance measures and indicators for tracking progress, 

• Defines requirements in financial and key human resource planning. 

3.0 CUSTOMER AND STAKEHOLDER FOCUS 

Objective: Identify and segment customers. markets and key stakeholders; determine requirements. expectations and preferences for each; build relationships; and determine sati·~faction. 

3.1 Knowledge of Customers and Stakeholders Needs and Expectations 

SHDC should demonstrate it has a systematic process or processes to determine 

requirements, expectations, and preferences of customers, stakeholders and 

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Accreditation Standards 2010 

markets to ensure the continuing relevance ofSBDC products and services and 

the development of new SBDC business opportunities. 

3.2 Management of Customers and Key Stakeholders Satisfaction and Relationship 

3.2(a) Relationships 

SBDC must have deployed systematic processes for building relationships to acquire customers and key stakeholders. 

SBDC must have deployed systematic processes that drive continuous 

improvement for: 

Managing satisfaction and 

Managing feedback and complaints. 

3.2(b) Satisfaction Determination 

SBDC must have in place systematic approaches to determine customer 

and stakeholder satisfaction and dissatisfaction. 

• Methodology should ensure that the measurement captures actionable 

information for use in exceeding customers' and stakeholders' expectations. 

• Evidence should be available regarding how customer and stakeholder satisfaction and dissatisfaction information is used for improvement. 

3.3 Marketing and Promotional Programs. 

For marketing and promotional programs, the requirements for designing, 

managing, and improving the programs must include: 

A clear integration of strategy, image and a common brand or logo for the 

SBDC that conveys the SBDC image and identity as a cohesive SBDC network. 

Information, materials and sign age must convey the identity of a cohesive 

SBDC network. 

Facilities need to be professional in appearance, adequate for the delivery of 

services, and provide for confidentiality for counseling when offered. 

4.0 INFORMATION AND ANALYSIS SYSTEM 

Objective: Create a performance management system to permit an understanding of overall organizational daily performance in operations. Category 4 is the focal point for the 

alignment of the SBDC organization's operations with its strategic objectives. 

4.1 Development and Implementation ofa Performance System 

3 
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Accreditation Standards 2010 

SBDC must demonstrate how the organization measures, analyzes, aligns, reviews, and improves its performance data and information at all levels and in 

all parts of the SBDC program. 

4.2 Measurement of Economic Impact 

The SBDC must participate in the periodic national SBDC impact surveys. 

Additionally, developing lead center economic impact studies is encouraged. 

5.0 STAFFING AND HUMAN RESOURCE UTILIZATION 

Objective: Design work systems that encourage workforce learning and motivation and 

enable the workjiJrce to develop and utilize their full potential in alignment with the 

SBDC's overall objectives and action plans, The SBDC's efforts must build and maintain 

a work environment and workforce support climate conducive to innovation, performance 

excellence, and to personal and organizational growth. Create and manage human resource systems to achieve high peliormance, Establish key workjiJrce practices and a 

support climate that enables personal &:rrowth, organizational growth and performance excellence, 

5.1 Work Systems 

The SBDC must have work systems, organizational structure and staffing patterns based on analysis of key needs and strategies of the SBDC. This structure 

must align with the SBDC's strategic objectives and be designed to enable the 

workforce to achieve high performance while providing an opportunity to develop its full potential. (Compensation, career progression and related workforce 

practices enable organizations to achieve high performance.) 

5.1.1 Key Positions 

Objective: Key positions demonstrate appropriate business or administrative experience, knowledge and abilities to direct, coordinate and manage a multifaceted and 

multi-location organization. Key positions must have ability and skills to coordinate 

and manage a human resource system, establish and maintain collaborative relationships and understand business practices and management methods, Key positions 

and responsibilities, capacity, and salaries must be consistent with 13 CFR 

130.460(f)W 

Lead Center Director and Associate/Assistant Director 

4 
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Accreditation Standards 2010 

The lead center director and associate/assistant director(s) should have at a minimum a master's degree in business or other directly related field or a bachelor's degree with sufficient and progressively responsible experience or have appropriate 

business or administrative experience that demonstrates the knowledge and abilities 

required to: 

Direct, coordinate and manage a multi-faceted, multi-location organization; 

• Direct, coordinate and manage human and administrative resources; 

Understand the full range of business practices and business management methods; and 

Demonstrate skills in establishing and maintaining effective support and working relationships with a variety of public and private stakeholder partners that 

are needed for alignment with strategic objectives. 

The salary of the SBDC lead center director or associate/assistant director(s) should 

at a minimum be equivalent to the annualized average salary of a full professor or 

associate professor, respectively, in the institution hosting the SBDC or parallel positions in the agency/organization hosting the SBDC. When the university host is 

not affiliated with a college, the salaries of the director or associate/assistant director(s) should be comparable to the college of business, college of engineering or 

equivalent. 

5.2 Workforce Learning and Growth 

Objectives: Provide a methodfor determining the prclfessional development needs oj' 

the workforce that supports the achievement of the SBDC 's strategic objectives and 

contributes to the organization ',I' performance, Provide on-going professional development and training for the work/orce that builds its knowledge, skills and capabilities: contributes to achievement of action plans, organizational effectiveness, and career progression: that supports key organizational needs related to the orientation of 

new members of the worTgorce, ethical business practices, management, and leadership; and that addresses key needs associated with organizational performance and 

improvement and changing business and technology environment. Provide an assessment and evaluation process that seeks input andfeedbackfi'om the entire workforce regarding training needs and evaluation of profesSional development offerings. 

Workforce education and training must support the achievement of the SBDC's 

strategic objectives, including the enhancement of workforce knowledge, skills, 

and enhancing leadership capabilities that contribute to high performance. 

The SBDC must have a systematic, implemented, professional development 

program tied to its strategic objectives. The program must include: 

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Accreditation Standards 20 J 0 III Assc)f::iatj,em 

i i Devl:llol)!nent 

• A method of determining the educational needs of the workforce, 

• On-going workforce education and professional development, 

A structured training/orientation program for new members of the workforce and 

An assessment system, including opportunities for feedback, to determine 

effectiveness of the educational offerings and make changes when warranted. 

5.3 Workforce Environment and Motivation 

Objectives: Explore ways to improve workplace health, safety. security and ergonomics in a proactive way and workplace preparednessfor disasters or emergencies. 

Determine specific factors that affect the workfi!rces' well-being, satisjclction and motivation by developingformal or infi!rmal assessment methods to determine workfCirce 

satisfaction, well-being, and needs. 

Maintain a work environment and a workforce support climate that contributes 

to the well-being, satisfaction, and motivation of all personnel: 

That ensures and improves workplace health, safety, security, and 

ergonomics 

That ensu res workplace preparedness for disaster or emergencies 

That determines the key factors that affect workforce well-being, satisfaction 

and motivation 

That supports workforce via services, benefits and policies. 

6.0 PROGRAM DELIVERY AND MANAGEMENT 

Objective: The SBDC 's key work processes are the processes that involve the majority 0/ 

the organization's workfiirce and produce customer and stakeholder value. These key 

work processes are the SBDC 's most important product/service design and the most important delivery, business, and supporl processes. 

6.1 Key SBDC Services 

Key services most important to the SBDC's strategy and operations must have 

systematic well managed ke)' processes for design and delivery: 

• Definition: Define the key service(s), how they are delivered, and how they 

link to the strategic ob,jectives . 

• Key Requirements: Identify the key requirements of key services based 

upon input from customers and stakeholders and upon assessment of organizational needs. 

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Accreditation Standards 2010 

Measurements: Establish performance measures that reflect the key 

requirements ofthis service. Include: 

Evaluating key quality and quantity of service. 

Analyzing the impact of the service. 

Providing customer feedback loops. 

Monitoring and Improving 

• Monitoring: Establish methods for monitoring performance of the delivery system associated with this process, and actions to be taken when 

indicators are present establishing that key services as defined are not 

being delivered in a manner that meets requirements. 

• Improving: Establish methods for evaluating the quality of key services 

and actions to be taken to improve this service when indicators are 

present that key services, even when properly delivered, are not meeting 

all requirements. 

6.2 Accreditation of Technology Programs 

If the SBDC is applying for accreditation of a technology program, it must develop its technology program so as to meet the Guidelines for SBDCs seeking 

Technology Accreditation and/or Designation as a Small Business and Technology Development Center (see Appendix A of this document). 

7.0 RESULTS 

Objective: Utilize a system for documenting, analyzing, and reporting work pe~formance 

and economic outcomes to drive continuous improvement. 

For the SBDC to improve quality and performance, the SBDC must utilize a system in 

place to document its work performance and outcomes in order to drive continuous 

quality improvement. This should include an ability to report on the performance 

measurement elements set forth in Standards 1 through 6. It must also include an 

ability to report on common data and results. ("Common data" refers here to data 

collected and utilized by more than one and often all SBDCs.) 

7,1 SBDC Service Results and Outcomes 

• Identify and summarize the SBOCs key service performance results. 

What are the SBOC's current level and trends in key measures or indicators of 

service performance? 

7.2 Customer-Focused Results and Outcomes 

7 
161 

Accreditation Standards 2010 As~;ociiati()n of 

Business 

Development Centers, 

Identify and summarize the organization's key customer results and trends, including customer satisfaction and how SBDCs meet key customers needs and expectations. 

7.3 Market Results and Outcomes 

Summarize the SBDC's market place performance results by key customer or 

market segments as identified in the SBDC's strategy. 

7.4 Human Resource Results and Outcomes 

Summarize the organization's key workforce results, including employee learning, development, diversity and satisfaction. 

7.5 Organizational Effectiveness Results and Outcomes 

Summarize the SBDC's return on investment in the form of results or other key 

measures as appropriate. 

• Summarize performance data including mandated performance measurements 

from funding sources. 

Summarize any other key operations performance results that contribute to the 

improvement of SBDC effectiveness. 

Summarize any other results for key measures or indicators of accomplishment of 

the SBDC's strategies and action planning. 

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Accreditation Standards 2010 

ASBDC TECHNOLOGY ACCREDITATION STANDARDS 

2010 

6.2.1 Competency nesignation 

Only state/region-wide competency designations will be considered. SBnCs 

seeking or continuing this designation must fuUy describe how their technology specialty program capabilities will be fully integrated or currently integrated into the state/region SBnC network service delivery system. 

6.2.2 Technology Plan 

SBncs seeking or continuing the technology competency designation must 

prepare a brief written plan for their technology initiative. This should demonstrate how the technology role of the SBnC fits within the SBnC's overall 

strategy and set strategic goals, objectives and action plans for a three-year 

period. 

6.2.3 Level of Commitment 

The level of staff, budget and other resources committed to the SBnC's technology initiative may vary depending on the size of the SBnC (budget) and 

the focus and scope of its planned technology initiative. 

At a minimum, the SBnC existing programs must demonstrate or new 

applicants propose a substantive technology role in its state/region, including direct counseling, training, marketing and outreach activities 

state/region wide. 

One full-time professional staff member must be designated with lead responsibility for the technology initiative. Added staff and resource partners should be identified and consistent and aligned with the budget and 

tbe state/region-wide plan. 

6.2.4 Budget 

The annual budget support committed to the technology initiative must be 

clearly identified. Also, identify any plan to leverage additional funding for 

the initiative. 

6.2.5 Core Competencies 

The SBnc must demonstrate that it has or will acquire and/or access core 

competencies in the following areas: 

• Technology Transfer, Commercialization 

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Accreditation Standards 2010 

Research and Development Funding 

Intellectual Property Issues 

Technology Networking/Resource Identification 

• Alternative Financing (Equity) 

6.2.6 Partners 

The SBDC must identifY the key technology oriented partners to be engaged 

in the initiative, including university resources, trade associations, federal 

labs, other technology organizations, and private sector firms and 

professionals. 

6.2.7 Scope of Work 

A detailed annual work plan for the technology initiative is required and 

must include specific deliverables for counseling cases and hours, training, 

other projects and services, networking and marketing and promotional activities. The work plan must align with the overall SBDC strategic objectives 

and provide for state/region-wide implementation of the technology initiative. 

6.2.8 Performance Outcomes 

The SBDC must identify the key performance measures, outcomes and results expected for its technology initiative. 

6.2.9 Staff Training 

The staff of the SBDC involved in the technology initiative is strongly encouraged to participate in the ASBDC's Technology training opportunities 

and must actively pursue professional development opportunities in the identified technology core competency areas. 

6.2.10 Reporting 

SBDCs must provide detailed reports on their technology initiatives as a part 

of their semi-annual reporting to SBA; copies oftheir technology activity reports must be provided to the ASBDC (for national reporting/marketing 

purposes). 

Revised Draft December 2000 

Adopted March 5,2001 

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164 

Accreditation Standards 2010 

Revised January 2002 

Revised and approve by committee on July 16,2002 

Adopted September 22, 2002 

Revised December 4, 2002 

Revised March 2003 

Revised July 2003 

Adopted September 2003 

Revised January, 2007 

Adopted March 2007 

Updated January 3, 2008 

Updated March 4, 2009 

Updated February 18,2010 

Ii 
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166 

August 4, 2011 

The Honorable Mary Landrieu 

Chair, Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

431 Dirksen Senate Omce Building 

Washington, DC 20510 

Dear Senator Landricn: 

The University of Northern Iowa is pleased to have the opportunity to provide comments for the j'ecOtu 

and the Committee's consideration all the Roundtable au Eutrepreueul'ial Development - Obstacles aud 

Opportunities for 811pp0I1ing, Sustaining and Growing America's Entrepreneurs held 011 July 21, 20 I J. 

An enormous amount of reseal' ell and tield work has been conducted over the past decade concerning 

entrepreneurial development. Since 2000, several key services have been identitied and critically acknowledged 

as crucial to emrepl'\meurial success ill the United States. These include; I) access to a diverse pOlttblio of 

capital, 2) complex technical assistance and business intelligence, 3) sociaJ, professional and industry networks, 

and 4) supportive community infrastructure and culture. Federal policy has appropriately focused upon the 

creation or expansion of many programs and services in these core areas, but service delivery methods including 

how entrepreneurs access resources, customization of services and evaluation tools have largely remained the 

Same as ill past decades. The committee is asked to consider the opportunities technology portends in 

transforming the way entrepreneurs arC engaged and served and the resulting enhanced economic impact it 

promises. MyEntre.Net, a program developed by the University ofN0l1hern Iowa (UNJ) and offered through 

our Regional Business Center (\"W)"Juyc.']!I~.lJ"t), demonstrates how new technology·centered entrepreneurship 

engagement models can be highly effective, p.,ticulariy as they relate to women and rural entrcprcnenrs, 

TIle U.S. economy is undergoing" fundamental tl'ansfo!'lnation, moving fmlll an economy rooted HI 

Illanufacturing to one driven by information technology and led by entrepreneurial activity. These emerging 

entrepreneurs a .. " re-working the business models of every known indush'Y on the planet, from automotive 

supply chain processe, to health care services and food production to renewable energy. Public sector programs 

can and should f'oHmv the private sector example and likewise utilize emerging technologies to improve how 

entrepreneurs are engaged and receive services. New teChnologies offer a.n opportunity to attmct more 

entrepreneurs to services, individuaHy customize those services and offer delivety in such a way to be more 

relevant and useful to the entrepreneur resulting in life~Jong, cost-effective interactions between entrepreneurs 

and those who serve them. 

There are a number of teChnology driven reSOUl'ces and public-sector I,rograms making strides in this 

area, including the Kauffman Foundation~s U.S. Sourcelink program, an online gateway to link entrepreneurs 

with the various providers of capital, technical assistance and networking they need in • single, interactive 

website. The Lowe Foundation'S 'National Economic Gardening Institute' ofters highly customil.cd business 

intelligence and technical assistance to emerging innovatOl~ in part, through an online p0l1al. 

In Iowa, more than 10,000 enh-epl'eneul's and service providers are engaged in a business community 

called MyEntre.Net, where services are created, delivered, evaluated and sustained over the business lile of 

pal'licipating entrepreneurs online. 

University of Northern Iowa Regional Business Center/My Entre. Net 

8120 Jennings Dr., Suite 13 

Cedar Fails, IA 50613 
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Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

Page 2 

August 4, 2011 

The web site provides instant access and referrals to programs, organizations and individuals through 

proprietalY software called Connections. Connections is a statewide comprehensive database of capital and 

other technical assistance resourceS on a county-by-county basis (2,700 in all) that can readily be searched by 

dozens of criteria including gender-focus, type of capital, industry or even the individual's name or organization 

that provides the capital or services. Links to SBA programs are included on the web site. 

In addition, MyEntre.Net offers live, educational workshops online, featuring prominent business 

expelts bi-monthly. A libralY of web ina l' arcbives featuring more than 150 previous webinars is available on 

demand at any time. Direct access to business capital among stalt-ups is encouraged through an online contest 

called Dream Big Grow Here, featuring $5,000 grants to entrepreneurs who upload their business ideas and 

[ecru it friends, family and customers to vote for them online. More recently, H'ee market research, business 

intelligence and other complex services have been introduced, attracting large numbers of growth oriented 

existing companies into tile online community. 

Online technologies such as those at MyEntre.Nct also offer an important and timely method to evaluate 

ncw pm grams and services. Regular queries capture immediate feedback on the effectiveness of each resource 

at MyEntre.Net, and semi-annual surveys track the economic impact of member entrepreneurs as they start o[ 

grow their businesses. The most recent MyEntre.Net statewide survey was completed in January 2011. In that 

survey, business owners indicated their greatest current needs involved access to capital at normal business 

telms, and targeted technical assistance to help bolster sales and bring them fully out of the economic downturn. 

This information, shared witb service providers in the state, resulted in an array of new resources including 

several workshops and webinars. Nearly 25% of the respondents added a full time job in 2010, and 36% 

indicated they planned to addjobs in 2011, providing needed insight into the pace of the economic recovel)' in 

the state. Other key findings in Iowa include: 

~al1i!ltJ; While the small business community is vel)' slowly emerging from the Iccession, sales are still 

flat but appear' to be stabilizing. Half of the repolting small business owners are planning for lIew 

capital investment during 2011. Nearly one in four small business owners identified financing and 

interest rates as a major concern. Due to the challenges of acquiring new capital to grow their business, 

respondents reported that hiring will continue to be slow. 

Technical Assistance and Training: Iowa small business owners reported a need to improve sales 

volume through increased marketing and advertising efforts. About one-third of responding business 

owners repOlted needing assistance with management issues; one-quarter expressed a need for 

assistance with tax issues. Collectively, 27% of responding business owners identified needs associated 

with web development arId technology issues. 

Technology driveuresources are emerging as critically impoltant in reaching women and rural 

entrepreneurs--two populations where access to services and effective best practices remain elusive. III spite of 

owning nearly one third of all American companies, women-owned businesses only account for 6% of the 

country's jobs and 4% of business revenues, a figure largely unchanged since 1997. Like many states, Iowa 

suffers too, from a serious lack of women-owned companies generating more than one million in sales revenuea national phenomena so pervasive it has been coined the 'missing middle'. Customizing core entrepreneurial 

services to meet the specific needs of women entrepreneurs, and eliminating obstacles (such as cost) to 

accessing these services, is critical to improving opporttmities for this key demographic. Maintaining funding 
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Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

Page 3 

August 4, 20! I 

for Women Business Centers and the development ormore technology driven resources like MyEntreNet will 

help ellsme that these women can do more than cycle in and out of the business start-np experience. Rural 

America, too, st!'\lggl"s with access to services and resources--geographic isolation has kept the comparative 

rates of rural entrepreneurial development very low as compared to urban entrepreneurs. Technology offers the 

ability to transcend those barriers by cOllnecting those far flung innovators with the services and resources they 

need instantly, with an array of customized services identical to those experienced by thek urban counterparts. 

A substantial propOItion of tile cmrent Iowa MyEntre.Net membership is both lema Ie and ruraL 

Building upon the best practices developed since 2003, the University ofNOIthem Iowa intends to scale, 

then share, MyEntre.Net outside of Iowa beginning in tile fall of2011. This expansion is made possible by a 

direct federal appropriation from the SBA in FY 20]0. MyEntre.Net offers a mode! for forward-directed public 

policy and for state, regional and local service providers to replicate. These are extraordinarily challenging 

times for our economy. The importance of entrepreneurship and innovation to stimulate economic vitality 

canllot be understated. Technology offers us an opportunity to transform service delivery to American 

entrepreneurs and touch targeted entrepreneur populations effectively, no matter where they live, who they are 

or what they need in order to succeed. 

As the committee proceeds with its work, we e!lcom'age it to focus on the needs of21" cenllllY 

entrepreneurs in light of existing federal policy, practice and programs, and, to consider the extraordinary 

oPP0l1nnities associated with technology in the identification, engagement and delivery of services to American 

entrepreneurs in the coming decade, particularly among women and rural innovators where entrepreneurship 

levels lag. 

We would be pleased to meet with you and members oflhe committee to discuss further these 

comments, as well as to respond to questions and provide additional informalion. 

Sincerely,