III 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 243 

Celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Small Business Development Centers 

of the United States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 5, 2015 

Mr. VITTER (for himself, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. ENZI, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. RISCH, 

Mr. PETERS, Ms. AYOTTE, and Mr. GARDNER) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business and 

Entrepreneurship 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2015 

Committee discharged; considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Small Business 

Development Centers of the United States. 

Whereas America’s Small Business Development Center (referred to in this preamble as ‘‘SBDC’’) network will celebrate the 35th anniversary of the SBDC network at a 

conference to be held September 8 through 11, 2015, in 

San Francisco, California; 

Whereas the conference will be held— 

(1) to continue the professional development of employees of SBDCs; and 

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SRES 243 ATS 

(2) to commemorate the educational and technical 

assistance offered by SBDCs to small businesses across 

the United States; 

Whereas for 35 years, SBDCs have been among the preeminent organizations in the United States for providing 

business advice, 1-on-1 counseling, and in-depth training 

to small businesses; 

Whereas, during the 35 years before the date of approval of 

this resolution, the SBDC network has grown from 9 

fledgling centers to a nationwide network of 63 State and 

regional centers with more than 4,200 business advisors 

providing free counseling at nearly 1,000 individual locations; 

Whereas the SBDC network has worked for 35 years with 

the Small Business Administration, institutions of higher 

education, State governments, Congress, and others, to 

significantly enhance the economic health and strength of 

small businesses in the United States; 

Whereas SBDCs— 

(1) have assisted more than 22,500,000 small businesses during the 35 years before the date of approval of 

this resolution; and 

(2) continue to aid and support hundreds of thousands of small businesses annually; 

Whereas 28 percent of all SBDC clients are minorities, 44 

percent of SBDC clients are women, and 9 percent of all 

SBDC clients are veterans; 

Whereas SBDCs provide over 1,250,000 hours of counseling 

to small businesses and invest over $140,000,000 annually in supporting small business; 

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Whereas, since 2012, SBDCs have helped small businesses 

create over 750,000 jobs, add $67,500,000,000 in sales 

and attract over $38,000,000,000 in capital; 

Whereas, since the inception of SBDCs, SBDCs have continued to redefine and transform the services offered by 

SBDCs, including training and advising, and have taken 

on new missions, in order to ensure that small businesses 

have relevant and significant assistance in all economic 

conditions; and 

Whereas Congress continues to support SBDCs and the role 

of SBDCs in assisting small businesses and building the 

economic success of the United States: Now, therefore, be 

it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) celebrates the 35th anniversary of Amer3 ica’s Small Business Development Center network; 

4 and 

5 (2) expresses appreciation for— 

6 (A) the steadfast partnership between 

7 America’s Small Business Development Center 

8 network and the Small Business Administra9 tion; and 

10 (B) the work of America’s Small Business 

11 Development Center network in ensuring qual12 ity assistance to small business and access for 

13 all to the American dream. 

Æ 

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