Download or read book Oversight of the Small Business Administration s Small Business Development Center Program written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Small Business and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Oversight on the Small Business Administration s Small Business Development Center Program written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Small Business and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Oversight on the Small Business Administration s Small Business Development Center Program written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Small Business and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Oversight of the Small Business Administration s Entrepreneurial Development Programs written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Small Business. Subcommittee on Workforce, Empowerment, and Government Programs and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Oversight of the Small Business Administration s Small Business Development Center Program written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Small Business and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Small Business Administration written by United States. Government Accountability Office and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Women's Business Center (WBC) Program provides training and counseling services to women entrepreneurs, especially those who are socially and economically disadvantaged. In fiscal year 2007, the Small Business Administration (SBA) funded awards to 99 WBCs. However, Congress and WBCs expressed concerns about the uncertain nature of the program's funding structure. Concerns have also been raised about whether the WBC and two other SBA programs, the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and SCORE programs, duplicate services. This report addresses (1) uncertainties associated with the funding process for WBCs; (2) SBA's oversight of the WBC program; and (3) actions that SBA and WBCs have taken to avoid duplication among the WBC, SBDC, and SCORE programs. GAO reviewed policies, procedures, examinations, and studies related to the funding, oversight, and services of WBCs and interviewed SBA, WBC, SBDC, and SCORE officials. Until 2007, SBA funded WBCs for up to 10 years, at which time it was expected that they would become self-sustaining. Specifically, since 1997, SBA has made annual awards to WBCs for up to 5 years. Because of concerns that WBCs could not sustain operations without continued SBA funding, in 1999, Congress created a pilot program to extend funding an additional 5 years. Due to continued uncertainty about WBCs' ability to sustain operations without SBA funding, in May 2007, Congress passed legislation authorizing renewable 3-year awards to WBCs that "graduated" from the program after 10 years and to current program participants. Like the current awards, the 3-year awards are competitive. SBA is revising its award process and plans to provide the 3-year awards in fiscal year 2008. Though SBA has oversight procedures in place to monitor WBCs' performance and use of federal funds, GAO found indications that staff shortages from the agency's downsizing and ineffective communication was hindering SBA's oversight efforts. SBA relies extensively on district office staff to oversee WBCs, but these staff members have other agency responsibilities and may not have the needed expertise to conduct some WBC oversight procedures. SBA provides annual training and has taken steps to adjust its oversight procedures to adapt to staffing changes, but concerns remain. Some WBCs also cited problems with communication, and one study reported that 54 percent of 52 WBCs responding to its survey said that SBA could improve its communication with the centers. Ineffective communication led to confusion among some WBCs about how to meet program requirements. Under the terms of the WBC award, SBA requires WBCs to coordinate with local SBDCs and SCORE chapters. However, GAO found that SBA provided limited guidance or information on successful coordination. Most of the WBCs that GAO spoke with explained that in some situations they referred clients to an SBDC or SCORE counselor, and some WBCs took steps to more actively coordinate with local SBDCs and SCORE chapters to avoid duplication and leverage resources. Still, some WBCs said that coordinating services was difficult, as the programs have similar performance measures and could end up competing for clients. Such concerns thwart coordination efforts and could increase the risk of duplication in some geographic areas

Download or read book Oversight of the Small Business Administration s Small Business Development Center Program written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Subcommittee on Education, Training, and Employment and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Oversight of SBA s Non credit Programs written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Small Business and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Oversight on the Small Business Administration s Small Business Development Center Program written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Small Business and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Oversight of SBA s Management Assistance Programs written by United States. Congress. Senate. Select Committee on Small Business. Subcommittee on Government Regulation and Paperwork and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Oversight of the Small Business Administration s Small Business Development Center Program written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Small Business and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Oversight of Small Business Administration Development Company Loan 501 502 Programs written by United States. Congress. Senate. Select Committee on Small Business and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Small Business Administration s Small Business Development Center Program written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Small Business and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 732 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Future of Small Business written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Small Business. Subcommittee on Government Programs and Oversight and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Small Business Administration s Small Business Development Center Program written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Small Business and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 738 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Small Business Development Center Act written by United States. Congress. Senate. Select Committee on Small Business and published by . This book was released on 1977 with total page 644 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Small Business Administration written by William B. Shear and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Small Business Administration (SBA) provides training and counseling services to women entrepreneurs through the Women's Business Center (WBC) program. With approximately $12 million in fiscal year 2007, SBA funded awards to 99 WBCs. However, Congress and WBCs have expressed concerns about the uncertain nature of the program's funding structure. Concerns have also been raised about the possibility that the WBC and two other SBA programs, the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and SCORE programs, are duplicating each other's efforts. This testimony discusses preliminary views on (1) uncertainties associated with the funding process for WBCs; (2) SBA's oversight of the WBC program; and (3) actions that SBA and WBCs have taken to avoid duplication among the WBC, SBDC, and SCORE programs. GAO reviewed policies, procedures, examinations, and studies related to the funding, oversight, and services of WBCs and interviewed SBA, WBC, SBDC, and SCORE officials. Until 2007, WBCs were funded on a temporary basis for up to 10 years, at which time it was expected that the centers would become self-sustaining. Beginning in 1997, SBA made annual awards to WBCs for up to 5 years. Because of concerns that WBCs could not sustain their operations without continued SBA funding, in 1999, Congress created a pilot program to extend funding an additional 5 years. Due to continued uncertainty about WBCs' ability to sustain operations without SBA funding, in May 2007, Congress passed legislation authorizing renewable 3-year awards to WBCs that "graduated" from the program after 10 years, as well as to current program participants. Like the current awards, the 3-year awards are competitive, and more centers may be applying for limited dollars. SBA is currently revising its award process to incorporate the new program changes. Though SBA has oversight procedures in place to monitor WBCs' performance and use of federal funds, staff shortages from the agency's downsizing and limited communication may hinder SBA's oversight efforts. SBA relies extensively on district office technical representatives (DOTRs) to oversee WBCs, but these staff members also have other job responsibilities and may not have the needed expertise to conduct some oversight procedures. SBA provides annual training and has taken steps to adjust its oversight procedures to adapt to staffing changes, but concerns remain. Some WBCs also cited communication problems, and one study reported that 54 percent of 52 WBCs responding to the study's survey said that SBA could improve its communication with the centers. For example, some WBCs told us that SBA did not provide sufficient feedback on their performance. Under the terms of the WBC award, the centers are required to coordinate with local SBDCs and SCORE chapters. SBA officials told us that they expected district offices to ensure that the programs did not duplicate each other. However, based on our preliminary review, we found that SBA provided limited guidance on how to successfully carry out coordination efforts. Most of the WBCs that we spoke with explained that in some situations they referred clients to an SBDC or SCORE counselor, and some WBCs also took steps to more actively coordinate with local SBDCs and SCORE chapters to avoid duplication and leverage resources. However, some WBCs told us that coordinating services was difficult, as the programs were each measured by the number of clients served and could end up competing for clients. Such concerns thwart coordination efforts and could increase the risk of duplication in some geographic areas