Saturday, January 17, 2009

What Does President-Elect Obama’s SBA pick mean to you?

If you know me personally - you know that I am a bit of a political junkie and pretty well known for my policy "wonkishness". As we all approach this inaugural week with its history, ceremony and pomp - I am thinking, "What now? What (if anything) will an Obama administration mean for small business?"

I think we received a pretty good signal that the importance of the US Department of Commerce would be elevated in an Obama administration with the selection of Governor Richardson as its new Secretary. But now that Gov. Richardson has withdrawn, we must look to the new appointment for Commerce Secretary and to some others that Obama tapped for business leadership positions.



In late December the President-elect nominated a venture capitalist to head-up the Small Business Administration. Obama tapped Karen Gordon Mills, president of MMP Group, a private equity investment firm in Brunswick, Maine, to lead the SBA.

Several business media sites have asked small business experts and advocates for their thoughts on the Mills appointment:
"Hopefully, as a Harvard Business School graduate, Ms. Mills will demand more accountability from SBA programs.
"This department has been more fluff than action and according to our surveys has not served small businesses well. By this we mean that 47 percent of respondents said they had not been successful in obtaining help or viable options from the SBA in the past.
"For the average, successful small business, the SBA offers little in the way of viable information or support. The hoped-for emphasis of the Obama administration on the middle class, in which most small business managers fit, may change this lack of focus and follow-through." -- Donald Mazzella, publisher of Small Business Digest.


“We look forward to working together with Administrator Mills. In these difficult economic times, it is more important than ever for the SBA to refine, restructure and implement programs that will help America’s small business owners do what they do best – grow their businesses and create jobs, and thus help guide America out of this economic downturn.

"We hope that the administrator will begin to focus the agency’s efforts toward our established businesses, helping them with the technical assistance they need to grow, rather than focusing on starting businesses. Since 2001, the SBA has undergone a 27 percent budget cut, hampering it from providing the very programs that will help our economy the most.
"Her challenges are our challenges, and working together we can make a difference.”-- Barbara Kasoff, President and Co-Founder of Women Impacting Public Policy



“President-elect Obama's decision to name an SBA administrator so early in the transition is a good sign for small businesses. This appointment shows that his economic team recognizes the key role that small firms play in job creation and the need to take quick steps to revitalize the agency's role in spurring growth."
“Through budgets cuts and mismanagement during the last eight years, the SBA has become nothing more than a shell of the agency it used to be. Reversing this course is essential, and I look forward to working with the new administrator to accomplish this during the next four years."-- Nydia M. Velázquez, D-N.Y. House Small Business Committee Chairwoman

“Advantages: In general venture capitalists help small companies grow, and that bodes well for her.
"She is not a career politician. By nature the Small Business Administration exists to assist small businesses, and not all politicians can relate to the small business owner.
"Obama likes ‘green energy,’ and by picking Mills she may have a good understanding of the nuances of this field.
"Venture capitalists by very nature are risk takers, and it is an extremely competitive business. This administration may need to take some risks to help this very important component of the economy.
"Disadvantage: Most small businesses are ‘mom and pop’ and will never get venture capital nor want it. She may have a hard time relating to these truly ‘small’ businesses.”-- Scott Testa, a consultant who teaches marketing at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia

So, What do you think of the SBA and Obama's choice?

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