Today we are closer to achieving that goal. Administrator Alvarez announced the agency s new women s business centers before the more than 400 women business owners and corporate leaders attending the annual meeting of the National Association of Women Business Owners in Atlanta this week. The centers are located in rural, urban and suburban areas, and direct much of their training and counseling assistance toward socially and economically disadvantaged women. They offer many innovative programs, including financial management, marketing and technical assistance, procurement training, mentoring and Internet training. The centers also provide specialized programs that address issues facing displaced workers and rural home-based entrepreneurs.
Some locations offer training and mentoring in several languages.
For additional information on the programs available at each new site, refer to the attached list and contact the organizations directly. The U.S. Small Business Administration, established in 1953, provides financial, technical and management assistance to help Americans start, run, and grow their businesses. Last year, the SBA offered management and technical assistance to more than one million small business owners. America s 24 million small businesses employ more than 50 percent of the private workforce, generate more than half of the nation s gross domestic product, and are the principal source of new jobs in the U.S. economy.