Tag: small business

SMALL BUSINESS ADVOCATE’S ADVISORY GROUP MEETING NOTES | Marty Keller

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SMALL BUSINESS ADVOCATE’S ADVISORY GROUP
MEETING NOTES
West Sacramento, California
January 25, 2011

2011 Small Business Priorities.

After a very useful and spirited discussion, those in attendance decided on the following priorities for the Small Business Advocate and the Small Business network to work on in the coming year. They are divided into those issues which have or will have specific legislation, and those that are general and involve many different initiatives. I also include those issues put forward by the group that received lower consideration, but that the group still believed were important.

1. Legislative Priorities:

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Links to FedConnect and Federal Grants Sources

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This is a little old, but still valuable…

Important Application Information for New Small Business Funding

Earlier today, our office sent you an email regarding yesterday’s announcement for $30 million in funding from the Recovery Act and FY 2010 budget appropriations which will be made available to qualified small businesses to support the commercialization of promising new technologies.

Qualified small businesses can submit applications through Grants.gov to be considered for award. Use the Grants.gov “Basic Search” feature to search for the Xlerator program. Questions relating to the content of the FOA must be submitted through the FedConnect portal at www.fedconnect.net. While there is not a direct link to the SBIR Phase III FOA, applicants can search for it by typing “DE-FOA-0000397” in the search box under the reference number search.

View Grants.gov here: http://www07.grants.gov/search/basic.do
View FedConnect here: https://www.fedconnect.net/FedConnect/PublicPages/PublicSearch/Public_Opportunities.aspx

Please note that only DOE Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I and Phase II grantees from FY 2005 to FY 2009 are eligible to apply to this U.S. Department of Energy Phase III Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA).

For additional information please review the attached FOA for the DOE FY2010 Phase III Xlerator Program for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Electricity Delivery, Energy Reliability, Fossil Energy, and Nuclear Energy.

Small Business Dashboard | U.S. Department of Energy – Office of Economic Impact and Diversity

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Transparency, Accuracy, and the Small Business Dashboard

With small businesses creating two out of every three net new jobs, holding more patents than the largest corporations and universities combined, and employing half of all working Americans, we can’t afford to ignore opportunities to improve and advance federal contracting opportunities to small businesses.

Today President Obama’s Interagency Task Force on Federal Contracting Opportunities for Small Businesses put forward thirteen recommendations to:

  • Develop clearer and more comprehensive small business contracting policies;
  • Provide for a better workforce and hold agencies accountable for meeting small business goals; and
  • Leverage technology to enhance transparency, increase federal procurement accessibility for small businesses, and improve data quality.

Transparency, Accuracy, and the Small Business Dashboard

Read the Executive Summary here.

Small business contracting goals, started in 1978, help agencies map out the percentage of annual prime contract spending that should be awarded to small businesses every year. The thirteen recommendations that the Interagency Task Force put forward today will address the gap between the annual government-wide goal for contracting and the actual annual prime contract spending. While the Department of Energy received an “A” grade for FY 2009 achievement from the Small Business Administration, we are fully committed to improving government-wide small business contracting.

The brand-new Small Business Dashboard is a reflection of this commitment. On the Small Business Dashboard visitors can see government-wide goaling information, design their own data feeds from small business data, perform detailed searches on government contractors, view top types of contracts used and states by vendor locations, and learn more about the contracts at each Federal agency.

Visit the Small Business Dashboard here.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization is looking forward to working with the Task Force as we implement the recommendations put forward today and evaluate progress. We hope resources like the Small Business Dashboard prove useful to your small business, and we welcome the opportunity to continue talking with you.

Do Something: Let’s Hear It for the Little Guys | Fast Company

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We’re obsessed with leadership. Bookstores have entire sections devoted to leadership. Corporations spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on leadership retreats. At some universities, you can even major in leadership. Venture-capital money flows like water into the hands of founders who are labeled “visionary” and “at the vanguard.” And what’s sexier these days than the words “I started my own blah blah blah”?

Read Article.

California’s Contracting with Small Business and Disabled Vets Exceeds State Goals

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California state agencies in two of the last three years exceeded goals for contracting with small businesses and set a record for contracts with firms owned by disabled veterans, the Department of General Services announced today, releasing reports for the 2007/08 and 2008/09 fiscal years .
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California Recovery Task Force Launches Interactive Web Portal

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Press Release

For Immediate Release:  03/23/2010

Contact: Aaron McLear/Eric Alborg
916-445-5880

California Recovery Task Force Launches Interactive Web Portal

In an effort to provide unprecedented transparency of stimulus spending in California, the California Recovery Task Force has launched an interactive Web Portal (www.recovery.ca.gov) that tracks the more than $85 billion in cash and tax benefits expected overall for Californians.

“Tracking stimulus money has further underscored the need to break through the silos of government at the federal, state and local levels,” said Senior Advisor to the Governor and California Recovery Task Force Director Herb K. Schultz.  “Our Web Portal will continue to evolve in order to provide the most transparent picture of government spending in U.S. history.”

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Report to the President – SBA Small Business Financing Forum

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The opening remarks of this report contains the following brilliant observation:

With financial institutions tightening lending standards in this recent economic crisis, the small businesses that depend on them for credit have been hit particularly hard.

Ya think? Without the ability to sell stock or bonds to raise capital, small businesses have to turn to banks. Banks are required to meet tough new standards and for the most part, keep the loans they write on their balance sheets. To maintain their required ratios, most banks have withdrawn credit from those least able to survive it, small business. A perfect storm.
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