SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

“SBA Administrator Honors Nation’s Top Small Businesses.”  Small Business Administration Press Release, March 16, 2017. Retrieved from https://www.sba.gov.
Administrator Linda McMahon, the head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”), announced today this year’s Small Business Person of the Year winners from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. All of the winners have been invited to attend ceremonies in Washington, D.C on April 30 – May 1 where they will be honored with their individual award along with recognition of the three runners-up and the naming of the 2017 National Small Business Person of the Year. The winners can be found here.

“SBA Announces National Small Business Week.”  Small Business Administration Press Release, March 13, 2017. Retrieved from https://www.sba.gov.
SBA Administrator Linda McMahon announced that this year’s National Small Business Week will be held from April 30 – May 6, 2017. McMahon will start the week in Washington D.C., where she will recognize and award outstanding small business owners from around the country. She will then continue the week with small business events in New York City, Indianapolis, Dallas, and finish up in Fresno, California. Additionally, recognition and educational events throughout SBA’s 10 Regions and 68 Districts will be held throughout the week. More details can be found here.

Small Business Committee Examines SBA’s 7(a) Loan Program
On March 9, 2017, the House Small Business Committee’s Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight and Regulations examined the successes of the SBA’s 7(a) loan program, as well as potential opportunities to strengthen and improve the program. The 7(a) loan program is the SBA’s most common loan program, which made 64,000 loans in FY2015, totaling $24.1 billion. The hearing was the first in a series of hearings and actions the Small Business Committee will be taking this year to reform and protect the popular program which helps entrepreneurs access crucial early capital.

OTHER NEWS

“Hogan: Sick-leave Bills ‘Dead on Arrival’.” The Washington Post, March 15, 2017. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com. 
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican, rejected both versions of paid-sick-leave legislation advancing through the General Assembly, apparently because they require businesses with as few as 15 employees to offer the benefit and do not give employers tax credits or other incentives to lessen the financial blow. The bill approved last week in the House would require employers to give seven paid sick-leave days a year. The version that will be voted on by the Senate would require five paid sick days a year. Companies with fewer than 15 employees would have to provide five days of unpaid sick leave. Governor Hogan is pushing a different sick-leave bill that would require businesses with 50 or more employees to provide five paid sick days a year and would offer tax incentives to small businesses that agree to do so. The Governor’s measure has not moved out of committee.

“GAO Weighs in on the State of Federal Contracting.”  Government Executive, March 10, 2017. Retrieved from http://www.govexec.com.
Contractors working with major federal agencies delivered $438 billion in products and services in FY 2015, a 24 percent decrease from FY 2011, according to a wide-ranging roundup from the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”). The 66-page report, titled “Contracting Data Analysis: Assessment of Government-wide Trends,” said the drop-off occurred mostly at the Defense Department, which saw contracting go down by 31 percent in that timeframe. Services contracts have now risen to 60 percent of total government obligations — 50 percent of Pentagon awards and 80 percent of those let by civilian agencies — over the past five years, GAO said. Such services as professional and management support to information technology needs were used most by the Air Force and Army, while the top civilian agencies procuring services (worth at least $10 billion) were the departments of Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The full report can be read here.