What is the Us Small Business Administration
A Home Business Article Contributed by Elizabeth Fox-Wise
The Us Small Business Administration
Most Americans, and especially small business owners, have heard of an agency called the US Small Business Administration (SBA) but many do not know what this agency is or does.
The US Small Business Administration is an independent agency, of the United States government, that serves to protect the interests of all small businesses and ensure that all small business has access to a chance at a fair share of government contracts and other government small business programs.
As an independent agency of the United States government, it was created by an act of Congress and is independent of the executive departments.
Overview and History of the Us Small Business Administration
The Small Business Administration was officially established in 1953, but the philosophy and mission or this agency began to take shape years earlier several preceding agencies, mainly in response to the pressures caused by the Great Depression and World War II.
The Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC), which was created by President Herbert Hoover in 1932 to help the financial crisis known as the Great Depression, was the Small Business Administrations grandparent. The RFC was a federal loan program for all businesses which were hurt by the Depression, both large and small.
Concern for small business got even more paramount during World War II, when big business increased production in response to wartime defense contracts and small business was left unable to compete. To help small business join large business in war production and provide them financial backing, Congress created the Smaller War Plants Corporation (SWPC) in 1942. The SWPC provided direct loans to small business and encouraged banks to make credit available to small business.
In the Small Business Act of July 30, 1953, Congress created the Small Business Administration. The function of the SBA was to "aid, counsel, assist and protect, insofar as is possible, the interests of small business concerns." The charter also said that the SBA would ensure small business a "fair proportion" of government contracts and sales of surplus property.
By 1954, Small Business Administration was already making direct small business loans and guaranteeing bank loans to small business.
What Can the Us Small Business Administration Do for Your Small Business Today?
Over the past fifty years, the US Small Business Administration has grown in terms of the total amount of assistance they provide and the variety of programs which are tailored to encourage small business in all areas.
The Small Business Administration's programs currently include assistance with the procurement of financial and federal contracts, small business management assistance, and specialized assistance to women, minorities and armed forces veterans.
20 million small businesses have received help from a Small Business Administration program since the founding in 1953. The SBA is the government's most effective tool for economic development. The SBA's current small business loan program containing over 200, 000 loans worth more than $40 billion makes it the largest single financial backer of U.S. small business in the nation.
