[House Hearing, 115 Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] SBA'S ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS: RESOURCES TO ASSIST SMALL BUSINESSES ======================================================================= HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON CONTRACTING AND WORKFORCE OF THE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION __________ HEARING HELD MARCH 30, 2017 __________ [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] Small Business Committee Document Number 115-013 Available via the GPO Website: www.fdsys.gov __________ U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 24-760 PDF WASHINGTON : 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office, http://bookstore.gpo.gov. For more information, contact the GPO Customer Contact Center, U.S. Government Publishing Office. Phone 202-512-1800, or 866-512-1800 (toll-free). E-mail, [email protected]. HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS STEVE CHABOT, Ohio, Chairman STEVE KING, Iowa BLAINE LUETKEMEYER, Missouri DAVE BRAT, Virginia AUMUA AMATA COLEMAN RADEWAGEN, American Samoa STEVE KNIGHT, California TRENT KELLY, Mississippi ROD BLUM, Iowa JAMES COMER, Kentucky JENNIFFER GONZALEZ-COLON, Puerto Rico DON BACON, Nebraska BRIAN FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas VACANT NYDIA VELAZQUEZ, New York, Ranking Member DWIGHT EVANS, Pennsylvania STEPHANIE MURPHY, Florida AL LAWSON, JR., Florida YVETTE CLARK, New York JUDY CHU, California ALMA ADAMS, North Carolina ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York BRAD SCHNEIDER, Illinois VACANT Kevin Fitzpatrick, Staff Director Jan Oliver, Deputy Staff Director and Chief Counsel Adam Minehardt, Minority Staff Director C O N T E N T S OPENING STATEMENTS Page Hon. Steve Knight................................................ 1 Hon. Stephanie Murphy............................................ 2 WITNESSES Mr. W. Kenneth Yancey, Jr., CEO, SCORE, Herndon, VA.............. 5 Ms. Antonella Pianalto, President and CEO, Association of Women's Business Centers, Washington, DC............................... 6 Mr. Charles Rowe, President & CEO, America's Small Business Development Centers, Burke, VA................................. 8 Mr. Joseph C. Sharpe, Jr., Director, National Veterans Employment & Education Division, The American Legion, Washington, DC...... 10 APPENDIX Prepared Statements: Mr. W. Kenneth Yancey, Jr., CEO, SCORE, Herndon, VA.......... 22 Ms. Antonella Pianalto, President and CEO, Association of Women's Business Centers, Washington, DC................... 35 Mr. Charles Rowe, President & CEO, America's Small Business Development Centers, Burke, VA............................. 45 Mr. Joseph C. Sharpe, Jr., Director, National Veterans Employment & Education Division, The American Legion, Washington, DC............................................. 55 Questions for the Record: None. Answers for the Record: None. Additional Material for the Record: None. SBA'S ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS: RESOURCES TO ASSIST SMALL BUSINESSES ---------- THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017 House of Representatives, Committee on Small Business, Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce, Washington, DC. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:01 a.m., in Room 2360, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Steve Knight [chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding. Present: Representatives Knight, Murphy, Evans, and Clarke. Chairman KNIGHT. Good morning. Thank you for coming to the Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce. We are--I will state this quickly--we will be voting today. And we are keeping an eye on the votes, but we are expecting, over the next probably 15, 20 minutes, they are going to start voting. And so I will normally take a recess about 5 minutes into the voting so everybody has enough time to walk down there and vote and do all those things. But we will get going. Entrepreneurship in our Nation is truly an aspect of the American Dream. It is about hard work, long hours, and sacrifices all in the name of creating the newest product, the newest service, or the next great American company. The risks are high, but the rewards can be even greater. From the startup company in my home district in California to the entrepreneurs and innovators all over the country, small businesses employ approximately half of all workers in the United States. When startups are creating jobs and growing, so does the United States economy. However, the Nation experienced a downturn after the financial crisis in the late 2000s, and we are only now beginning to see a recovery materialize. Unfortunately, despite recent business optimism, the challenges and obstacles confronting entrepreneurs are still daunting. Instead of focusing their time and energy on growing their endeavors and creating jobs, small businesses are faced with a reality filled with rules, regulations, and a constrained lending environment. Recent reports identify healthcare costs, regulatory compliance, and burdensome Tax Code as the top hurdles impacting the Nation's small businesses. Frequently short on time and wearing many hats within these new startups, entrepreneurs need guidance and assistance. This hearing today is about exploring the resources available to entrepreneurs, startups, and small businesses as they navigate a complex business ecosystem. We will hear about the technical assistance and experts' advice available to them through the Small Business Administration's entrepreneurial development programs. With approximately 29 million small businesses in the United States, the programs within the SBA must operate efficiently and swiftly as the entrepreneurs they seek to help. I am looking forward to hearing about the details of these programs: How do they help entrepreneurs? How do they assist startups traversing the regulatory environment? How can the programs be improved to better assist small businesses? And that is always our mission here, is to see what we can do. If it means streamlining, then that is what it means. If it means that programs are working and we can help them, that is what that means. But our mission, at least in my opinion, is always how we can help small businesses to achieve and do more and employ and do all of those things that we are hoping that small businesses can do on a daily basis. So I appreciate all of you being here today, and I look forward to your testimony. I now yield to Ranking Member Murphy for her opening comments. Mrs. MURPHY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The SBA administers a portfolio of Entrepreneurial Development programs, including Small Business Development Centers, Women's Business Centers, the Service Corps of Retired Executives or SCORE, and Veterans Business Outreach Programs. These initiatives provide aspiring entrepreneurs and existing businesses with invaluable counseling, training, technical assistance, and mentorship. Whether it is help creating a business plan, navigating the procurement process, marketing a new product, or identifying international trade opportunities, the SBA's entrepreneurial development programs provide an array of services to help small firms navigate regulatory obstacles, grow, and thrive. The agency's network of Small Business Development Centers, or SBDCs, is one such program. SBDCs operate in nearly 1,000 locations across the country and are located at colleges, universities, Chambers of Commerce, and local economic development corporations, allowing them to harness local community resources. In a single year, this initiative has helped more than 13,000 entrepreneurs launch new businesses, advise nearly 200,000 clients, provided training sessions for over 260,000 attendees, and helped clients obtain $4.6 billion in financing. Clearly, SBDCs are a vital part of our Nation's entrepreneurial system. The SBA has also undertaken efforts to connect younger entrepreneurs with more experienced business men and women through the SCORE program, an expansive network of entrepreneurs, business leaders, and executives who volunteer as mentors to small firms both in person and online. SCORE has grown to become one of the federal government's largest volunteer business advisor and mentoring programs, with over 11,000 business professionals at over 320 chapters nationwide. By offering advice from real world professionals, SCORE is helping many business owners within all categories of the entrepreneurial community. Small businesses are as diverse as our nation, and the SBA has entrepreneurial development initiatives targeted at specific demographic groups. Women's Business Centers, or WBCs, are a critical initiative for female entrepreneurs. WBCs provide indepth counseling, training, and mentoring to small firms, resulting in substantial economic impact as measured by successful business startups, job creation and retention, and increased company revenues. Women business owners have used this program to develop business plans, obtain financing, and expand their operations. In Fiscal Year 2015, over 100 WBCs reached 130,000 clients and helped 700 new businesses get up and running. Even though female entrepreneurship is on the rise, there remain significant gaps between men and women-owned businesses. As more women turn to entrepreneurship as a career path, it is critical that this initiative remain in place to close these gaps. Finally, there are a range of SBA programs targeted at our veterans, most notably the Veterans Business Outreach Centers, which serve over 60,000 clients each year. The VBOC program, along with Boots to Business and other veteran-oriented initiatives, ensure that our servicemembers have the tools they need to go into business for themselves. With respect to each of these programs, it is vital that taxpayer resources are being used wisely and to maximum effect. That is why this Committee has long pushed for clearer metrics and accountability, especially among the newer pilot programs at SBA. However, the stated goal of eliminating duplication should not be used as an excuse to underinvest in entrepreneurial development. I was disappointed to see that the Administration's recent budget blueprint calls for a 5-percent reduction for SBA. It is my hope that this Congress will provide robust funding for SBA entrepreneurial development programs that have a proven track record of helping small businesses create jobs and stimulate economic growth. That is why Chairman Knight and I recently wrote a letter to the relevant Appropriations Subcommittee in support of these programs. Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy, and we should provide our entrepreneurs with the critical resources that they need to succeed. I look forward to hearing how these programs are helping meet that need and what we can do to improve them. I thank the witnesses for being here and for their insight, and I yield back. Chairman KNIGHT. Thank you very much. And if any other Committee members have a statement, we will take that in writing. We are going to go vote. So I am probably going to stop it right here before I get into everyone's comments. And I don't want to cut anyone off. So what I am going to do is allow members to go vote, and then we will start up as soon as votes are over and as soon as we can get back here. And then we can kind of have a good meeting all together. Okay. And we will reconvene, I would say, 5 or 10 minutes after votes. And we are in recess. [Recess.] Chairman KNIGHT. Okay. The Committee will reconvene. Thank you very much for your patience. I think we got through that fairly quickly. And we will go through to introductions. So today we have four witnesses. Our first witness is Kenneth Yancey. Mr. Yancey is the chief executive officer at SCORE, where he has directed the office for over two decades. Before taking on the leadership role at SCORE, he was the executive director at the National Business Association. With years of experience, Mr. Yancey can often be seen on national television networks and heard on national radio shows discussing topics focused on small businesses and entrepreneurship. And we thank you for being here. Ms. Antonella Pianalto. Our next witness is Ms. Antonella Pianalto. Ms. Pianalto is the president and chief executive officer of the Association of Women's Business Centers. Having spent years at American Express leading legislative, regulatory, public policy, and advocacy efforts, along with the Company's Small Business Saturday Initiative, she has years of experience of interacting and working with small businesses. She has also previously been a senior adviser to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, a Deputy Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel at the White House, and an Associate Administrator for Management and Administration at SBA. We thank you for being here. Third, I would like to introduce Mr. Tee Rowe. Our witness, Mr. Rowe, is the president and chief executive officer of America's SBDC, the resource partner for the Small Business Development Centers. He joined America's SBDC in 2009 after spending multiple years at the Small Business Administration, where he first served as the Assistant General Counsel for Legislation and Regulation and then as the Associate Administrator for Congressional and Legislative Affairs. Prior to his time at SBA, Mr. Rowe served the House Small Business Committee for numerous years. And we welcome you back. Now I would like to yield to the ranking member for her introduction to our final witness. Mrs. MURPHY. It is my pleasure to introduce Mr. Joseph Sharpe, Jr., the director of the Veterans Employment and Education Commission at the American Legion. Prior to being director, he served as the deputy director of the economic division, healthcare field representative, and assistant director of the Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission. In 1982, Mr. Sharpe entered the United States Army, where he served as a drug and alcohol counselor for the 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea. He was also appointed as the noncommissioned officer in charge of inpatient social work and psychiatry service at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Later, during his military service with the Army Reserve Sergeant First Class, Mr. Sharpe was deployed twice overseas and received a bronze star medal. Mr. Sharpe is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C., where he earned an M.A. in international relations and economics. He also has two graduate certificates in international business and trade and in healthcare management from Georgetown University. Mr. Sharpe also earned his B.A. in sociology from the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland. Welcome, Mr. Sharpe, and thank you for testifying today. Chairman KNIGHT. Thank you all for being here. So the way this works is you get 5 minutes or so. I am pretty lenient on that. But as the lights start to go in the order of a stoplight, then you will know where you are. So 5 minutes, and we will start with Mr. Yancey. STATEMENTS OF W. KENNETH YANCEY, JR., CEO, SCORE, HERNDON, VIRGINIA; ANTONELLA PIANALTO, PRESIDENT AND CEO, ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN'S BUSINESS CENTERS, WASHINGTON, D.C.; CHARLES ROWE, PRESIDENT & CEO, AMERICA'S SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS, BURKE, VIRGINIA; JOSEPH C. SHARPE, JR., DIRECTOR, NATIONAL VETERANS EMPLOYMENT & EDUCATION DIVISION, THE AMERICAN LEGION, WASHINGTON, D.C. STATEMENT OF W. KENNETH YANCEY, JR. Mr. YANCEY. Subcommittee Chairman Knight, Ranking Member Murphy, members of the Subcommittee, thank you for inviting me today and for the opportunity to offer testimony updating the Committee on SBA entrepreneurial development programs, and specifically SCORE. I would ask that my written testimony be read into the record, please. As an independent board-directed nonprofit, SCORE is the Nation's largest network of volunteer expert business mentors, with more than 10,000 volunteers across 300 chapters. We offer free and confidential mentoring and advice to current and aspiring small-business owners, as well as low-cost or no-cost educational workshops. In 2010, SCORE made the decision to become data-driven. Since then, SCORE has developed measurement capability with a focus on quality and service metrics. We have developed systems and software that allow us to run all aspects of our operations in a more businesslike manner. Today, I will share just a few of the statistics that we use to measure our success, our impact, and our value to small- business owners and to the American economy. In 2016, SCORE helped clients create 54,000 new jobs--new businesses, excuse me, and add 79,000 new jobs. During 2016, during fiscal year 2016's SCORE's clients stayed in business. Ninety-six percent of SCORE's clients who were operational for more than a year when they came to SCORE remained in business in 2017. SCORE is the most efficient, most effective business formation and job-creation engine funded by the Federal Government. Our cost to create a job is estimated at $133; our cost to create a business, $194. In 2016 alone, SCORE clients returned an estimated $46 in new tax revenue to the Treasury for every dollar appropriated to SCORE. Last year, SCORE volunteers donated 2.2 million hours and provided 542,000 total chapter services, nearly a 9-percent increase over the previous year. SCORE's client satisfaction metrics have steadily improved over the last 6 years. SCORE's 2016 client engagement and impact survey showed that 83 percent of clients are likely to recommend SCORE. SCORE's 10,000 volunteer mentors represent approximately 300,000 years of business experience and provide the practical knowledge and long-term emotional support that clients need to thrive in the small-business arena. SCORE recruits more than 3,000 new volunteers annually. In 2016, 12 percent of our new volunteers were former clients. All new volunteers participate in extensive training and are certified in SCORE's mentoring methodology. Diversity is a core value at SCORE. SCORE is working with diverse organizations to attract new clients and volunteers from underrepresented communities. Organizations include the National Urban League, African American Mayors Association, Immigrant Business, Veterans Business Network, the Latino Coalition, and the U.S. Black Chambers. Fifty-eight percent of SCORE's clients were women last year; 35 percent were minorities; and 11 percent were veterans. On the volunteer side, 27 percent of SCORE volunteers are minorities; 20 percent are women, compared to 17 percent in 2015. The average volunteer age has decreased from 72, in 2012, to 67, in 2015, reflecting SCORE's increased efforts to recruit active as well as retired entrepreneurs. As SCORE plans for the future, we continue to provide innovative solutions to meet our clients' needs. Last year, SCORE produced two virtual conferences that helped more than 2,500 attendees. Participants learned from speakers in a virtual environment, met sponsors and mentors, networked with each other in real time, and asked questions via live chat. Ninety-seven percent of the attendees of both conferences reported that the conference helped them. SCORE also successfully piloted video mentoring with support from the Kauffman Foundation. The program connects mentors and clients using services such as Skype to provide remote face-to-face experience for entrepreneurs. Video mentoring clients showed the highest level of client engagement in SCORE, reporting client satisfaction of 4.3 out of 5. Based on SCORE's demonstrated impact, we respectfully request support for a $13 million appropriation for SCORE in fiscal year 2018. This represents a $2.5 million increase. SCORE is scalable. With a relatively small investment, we can provide even greater value to the Federal taxpayer and to our Nation's economy. Thank you again for your long support of SCORE and for allowing us to testify. I will be happy to answer questions at the appropriate time. Chairman KNIGHT. Very good. And, Ms. Pianalto, you are now recognized for 5 minutes. STATEMENT OF ANTONELLA PIANALTO Ms. PIANALTO. Thank you. Chair KNIGHT, Ranking Member Murphy, and distinguished members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. My name is Antonella Pianalto, and I serve as the president and CEO of the Association of Women's Business Centers, or AWBC. We support Women's Business Centers, or WBCs, by providing training, programming, and advocacy to improve their services to women entrepreneurs. As the advocate for this critical program, it is an honor to be here today. The Women's Business Center Program is a public-private partnership with more than 25 years of success in providing training, counseling, mentoring, and access to capital to women entrepreneurs. The WBC program was created by Congress as part of H.R. 5050, the Women's Business Ownership Act of 1988. The bill noted that women as a group are subjected to discrimination in entrepreneurial endeavors due to their gender. Congress sought to remedy this with the creation of the WBC program. WBCs are the only resource partners mandated to serve socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. The program has increased from four demonstration sites to a network of 113 grants, leveraged to more than 150 locations in 48 States and territories. Unfortunately, resources for the program have not grown in parallel, and the more than 50 percent increase in centers over the last 15 years has been matched by only a 25-percent increase in funding. Nonetheless, WBCs have continued with their mission. In the last decade, WBCs have served more than 2 million women entrepreneurs leading to the creation and expansion of tens of thousands of new businesses and jobs. In 2016, our centers reached more than 145,000 clients and conducted over 93,000 hours of counseling and over 15,000 training sessions. Nearly half of the WBCs are direct lenders and, in 2015, assisted with nearly $429 million in capital infusion and, last year, helped to secure nearly $40 million in government contracts. In 2015, 96 percent of clients reported revenue growth totaling $658 million, creating nearly 25,000 jobs. WBCs make a concerted effort to reach underserved populations. Forty-five percent of clients in 2016 were minorities, and a recent survey found that 64 percent of clients were economically disadvantaged. The majority of WBCs provide programming in two or more languages, and overall services are provided in more than 35 languages. Finally, the WBC program has been a good investment of taxpayer dollars. Federal dollars are matched more than three to one, surpassing the required match. For every invested dollar, the program returns $46 to the economy. As the program has grown in size and influence, some have expressed the opinion that WBCs duplicate services provided by other resources. I would like to address that. What makes WBCs unique is the depth and breadth of our services. Women come to WBCs because we address four critical areas: competence, confidence, capital, and connection. Women view their local WBC as a trusted advisor and partner for the lifetime of their company. Clients consistently say that they come to the WBCs not just for the business education but for the supportive environment that helps build self- efficacy and confidence in their ability to succeed. Evaluation data indicate that women who receive business assistance from WBC programs build larger businesses, create more jobs, and have a significantly higher survival rate than the national average. For example, Chair Knight, Women's Economic Ventures, which serves the Simi Valley, developed the Thrive in Five program. Clients participating in this 5-year program show median sales of $400,000 and have created an average of five jobs. Moreover, 95 percent of the clients who were in poverty at intake have moved out of poverty. More examples from dozens of centers are included in my written testimony. The program does need modernizations. Since the early years of the program, the grant amount from SBA has decreased as much as 15 percent. Similarly, while the networks of centers span the country, too many communities do not have access to the unique services provided by WBCs. In addition to allowing for the expansion of existing centers, new centers are needed in geographies unaddressed by the program. Finally, the program continues to suffer from burdensome requirements. For example, up until 2015, OMB regulations forbade WBC directors from fundraising while on the job, even though they were required to match the Federal funds. The challenges the program faces have legislative solutions. The AWBC is tremendously grateful to Chair Knight's recent introduction of H.R. 1680 and to Representative Lawson for cosponsoring. We endorse it wholeheartedly. The AWBC supports the recently introduced H.R. 1774 sponsored by Ranking Member Velazquez and cosponsored by Chair Chabot. Many of this Subcommittee's members have cosponsored similar legislation in the past, and for that, we are grateful. The legislation strengthens centers in three ways: It increases the program authorization to $21.75 million, modernizes grant levels to $185,000, and streamlines certain administrative requirements. In addition to reauthorization, the upward trajectory of the program is deserving of more Federal funds. While not the purview of this Subcommittee, we have requested $21.75 million for fiscal year 2018. In the formation of the WBC program, Congress determined that barriers warranted the creation of a network of centers to assist women entrepreneurs. Those challenges persist, as must the commitment of the new Congress to advancing policies that foster women's business ownership. We appreciate this Committee's dedication to the modernization of SBA's resource partners and your willingness to hear from us. The WBC program is a proven and effective public-private partnership and fills a growing need for the distinct population we serve. Thank you for the opportunity to testify, and I am happy to answer any questions. Chairman KNIGHT. Thank you very much. And we will go to Mr. Rowe. STATEMENT OF CHARLES ROWE Mr. ROWE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Murphy, members of the Subcommittee. My name is Tee Rowe, president of America's SBDC representing the 63 SBDC networks, their nearly 1,000 centers, and over 4,500 professional staff. SBDCs are primarily hosted by colleges and universities and have a mandate to cover the entire State they operate in. Our host institutions and partners contribute matching funds to exceed the Federal funding by some $20 million every year. SBDC funding is allocated as a result of the statewide mandate on a population basis with a minimum funding level for smaller States. We serve small businesses at all stages: About 60 percent are existing businesses; 40 percent are startups; 45 percent of SBDC clients are women; 38 percent are minorities; and 10 percent are veterans. Last year, the SBDC served over 192,000 counseling clients and delivered over 1.2 million hours of counseling. The majority of our advisers have business degrees and past entrepreneurial experience; many, in fact, have been serial entrepreneurs. SBDC services are not monolithic. They are basic services that SBDCs offer: business planning, marketing, et cetera. But it is the specialized offerings that make SBDCs different. Our accreditation process requires SBDCs to survey the needs of small-business community and tailor their services accordingly. In essence, SBDCs are 63 laboratories dedicated to small- business growth. I can't list everything they offer, but I would like to share some of the specialized services. Intensive entrepreneurship. These programs offer weeks of training and counseling and are geared to businesses with high- growth potential. They aren't limited to a certain size of type of business, and SBDCs often find that certain startup businesses can benefit a lot from intensive training. Incubators and accelerators. SBDCs support and host incubators and accelerators all across the country, just to name a few: Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Colorado, Arizona, California, and the list goes on. I googled it, and I got shocked by how much my guys are doing. And with an SBDC, an incubator client receives not just the peer mentoring but engagement with a highly trained adviser and that higher education is a critical component in today's economy. Export assistance. Under the JOBS Act a few years ago, SBDCs expanded their capacity, certified more export counselors than were required by the act, and retained those staff when the funding lapsed. We now have over 640 export counselors and many are NASBITE-certified global business professionals. We also offer training in export regulations, shipping compliance, and the like, and we are working in Latin America and the Caribbean to help those countries develop their own Small Business Development Center networks. Veterans assistance. SBDCs have assisted hundreds of thousands of veterans. In 2015 and 2016, SBDCs counseled and trained over 60,000 veterans. Several of our States have specialized programs. New York has a comprehensive veterans program that includes an online training program with coursework and live SBDC advising at the same time. A sample of the impact from that at the Watertown SBDC--and that is a small one--they assisted 884 veterans in the last 4 years resulting in 31 business starts and 197 new jobs. And we also work proudly with SBA to carry out the Boots to Business program, which is a great first step for vets interested in small business. Disaster assistance. SBDCs are an integral part of SBA's disaster assistance effort. We set up the business recovery centers and help staff them in support of SBA. But we also do more than that, and an example of SBDC innovation and disaster is the Florida SBDC's app ``Disaster,'' which features resources to help small businesses prepare for and recover from disasters, and you can download that off of Google Play for free. Finally, procurement assistance. SBDCs offer assistance in certifications, searching for contract opportunities, and bid proposal compliance. We have got a longstanding relationship with the Procurement Technical Assistance Centers. Many PTACs are actually part of or colocate with SBDCs, leveraging all of our infrastructure. And the results, well, in 2015, our most recent impact survey, SBDCs helped their clients access $4.7 billion in capital. The long-term clients alone created over 100,000 jobs that year and $6.8 billion in sales. That generated $607 million in revenue for States and the Federal Government, about $2.50 for every dollar spent on the program, and that is just the long-term clients who are a third of the total clientele. Now, SBDCs don't exist in a vacuum. We work with SCORE, Women's Business Centers, and VBOCs every day. We share space. We refer clients. And we believe that SBA has the best toolbox of entrepreneurial assistance around. This hearing couldn't be better timed, in my opinion. The new Administrator has an opportunity to assess our programs and work with us to maximize their effectiveness. We need to evaluate our goals, metrics, and data systems to see if we are providing the best assistance possible and work toward that goal. Again, thank you very much for inviting me to testify. I look forward to your questions. Chairman KNIGHT. Thank you very much, Mr. Rowe. And, Mr. Sharpe, you are now recognized for 5 minutes. STATEMENT OF JOSEPH C. SHARPE, JR. Mr. SHARPE. Thank you. Chairman Knight, Ranking Member Murphy, and members of the Subcommittee, on behalf of the National Commander, Charles E. Schmidt, and the American Legion, we thank you for the opportunity to present American Legion's views on the Small Business Administration's entrepreneurial development programs. The American Legion views small business as the backbone of the American economy. It is the mobilizing force behind America's past economic growth and has given the United States a competitive advantage in the global market. Small-business development will continue to be a major factor in our Nation's economic national security well-being as we move further into the 21st century. We know that giving veterans the resources they need to start businesses will assist in stimulating the Nation's economic recovery. Veterans, when compared to their civilian counterparts, are more likely to start a business and are generally more successful in creating lasting small businesses. Therefore, encouraging and supporting veterans is the first step to recovering from a near 40-year low in entrepreneurship in the United States. Consequently, the American Legion supports increased funding for SBA's Office of Veterans Business Development. Its mission is to provide enhanced outreach, specific community- based assistance to veterans and self-employed members of the Reserve and National Guard. The veteran community's demand for self-employment resources is outpacing the 20 VBOCs SBA currently funds. With additional funding, the VBOCs could expand their presence to all 50 States and Puerto Rico while expanding their role in outreach to local State and government entities to advocate for veteran-owned small businesses in the local marketplace. One example that I would like to bring to your attention is what is currently occurring here in the District of Columbia. The historic Walter Reed Army Medical Center closed a few years ago. The property was purchased by the U.S. State Department and the District of Columbia for a mere $26 million. As of today, the District of Columbia has hiring quotas for District residents but nothing for veterans. It has small- business requirements to include special recognition for women and minorities, small-business owners, but again, nothing for veterans. Advocacy on the local level by a VBOC's staff could have alerted city officials to the need to include and notify some of the 9,000 small veteran businesses in the District of Columbia of opportunities such as Walter Reed and others. Shifting points, the first step to opening a small business is having access to capital. Even when the economy is strong, access to capital is one of the largest impediments facing any small business, hindering wishful and flourishing entrepreneurs. One of the leading barriers to small-business financing is requiring debt to be secured by the equity and fixed assets. Most veterans leaving military service lack the kind of equity necessary for traditional bank loans. After all, we all know we joined the military not to get rich but rather for the service of the Nation. One solution to aid veterans is to reintroduce legislation, such as the Senate bill 1870, the Veterans Entrepreneurial Transition Act of 2016, or the VET Act. If passed, this commonsense bill would create a 3-year pilot program that would allow veterans and servicemembers to turn their GI Bill education benefits into financial capital to start a veteran- owned business. It is ideas like this that drive our economy forward, and it is veterans who will lead the way. In conclusion, the mission of the American Legion's National Veterans Employment and Education Commission is to take actions that affect the economic well-being of veterans. Small businesses continue to be a primary job generator and a major trainer for American employees. The American Legion reiterates that the Small Business Administration Office of Veterans Business Development should be the lead agency to ensure that all veterans are provided with self-employment development assistance. Chairman Knight, Ranking Member Murphy, and distinguished members of the Committee, thank you for allowing the American Legion to present our views on this very important issue. I look forward to answering any questions you may have. Thank you. Chairman KNIGHT. Thank you very much for all the testimony. And I am going to go into a couple questions here. I will take 5 minutes, and we will go down the line, and if we want to do a second round, we can certainly do that. A couple questions just came to mind, Ms. Pianalto. What we have tried to work on in the last year and a half or 2 years--I have been here just over 2 years now--is access to capital, and how we can make sure that women-owned businesses, disadvantaged owned businesses, veteran-owned businesses are getting access to capital, just kind of leveling out the playing field so that they--when they go in, that there is that ability. So can you give us some ideas of what you do and where we can go as a Committee? Again, I am speaking for myself, but I think that the Committee would be very good on this that--if we can aspire to more access to capital and making sure that women-owned businesses have that, then they are going to flourish. Ms. PIANALTO. Thank you for the question. Two things come to mind, and I will reiterate what I mentioned in my testimony. Almost half of the Women's Business Centers are microlenders. They are either CDFI or SBA microlenders. So, you know, focus on that is still very important. And we do have a concern that the CDFI in the current proposal, the administration's proposal, that program is zeroed out, and that would be devastating to the community. But the other thing just goes back to just education. And I think what is important is having the ability to help women through that process of what--where are the available lenders, especially on the smaller scale, and then helping them through that process for the more--you know, the businesses that are able to go to a financial institution. I am sure you know the statistic of only 4 percent of commercial business loans go to women-owned businesses, 4 percent. So it is a problem. Chairman KNIGHT. And we appreciate that. You know, a lot of these--I have worked with SBDC many times, and a lot of it is getting the people to the group, getting them to understand that there is help for you, but you have got to go there. Now that the World Baseball Classic is over, maybe people will go to WBC more, and it will be higher on the Google list. But it is the truth that there is a lot of help out there, and there is a lot of government help that people just don't know. A lot of our job is to make sure that they have that access to either going to WBC, SBDC, or their VBOC or whatever. And so I am going to go to you, Mr. Sharpe. We have two VBOCs in California, and one is in the north, and one is in the south, and we have a big State. And I am sure that Mrs. Murphy would have a similar--she has got a big State too; that it is tough for our veterans, unless they are going to go online, unless they are going to do a virtual thing, which I appreciate Mr. Yancey telling us about the virtual conferences. But the VBOCs are either in Sacramento or in Carlsbad, and that is--about a 9-hour drive in between those two, is very difficult. So how can we make it so veterans have more access, maybe not building more VBOCs but having more access to being able to go in and get their help that they need on being an entrepreneur and expanding their business? Mr. SHARPE. Thank you for that question. When the American Legion first wrote the GI Bill back in the 1940s, the GI Bill was never meant to sit in a classroom. It was always for gainful employment. So we have always felt like those veterans that choose to start a business should be able to use their benefits to start a business. I think that is one of the first steps that we need to take to assist veterans. California and Florida are huge States. We have been very concerned with the veteran population in both States. That is why we really push SBA to put a second VBOC in California. And there needs to be more public/private partnerships in those two States also to assist those veterans. We do believe that more VBOCs are necessary, and the reason why we believe that is basically what happened here in the District of Columbia with the Walter Reed Medical Center. When we attended one of the meetings with the developers, there seems to be a lack of concern with the military. Walter Reed has been around for 102 years. It was the flagship for the Army. It served thousands of veterans. There is a deep sentiment with veterans with that institution, and to not be considered to be part of the redevelopment is an issue that we see across the country. That is why we believe the VBOCs are so important because you have veterans helping veterans. Chairman KNIGHT. And I appreciate that. I appreciate you bringing up the VET Act. We would like to look at that more extensively. When I got out of the service 30 years ago and then went into college, that is what it was there for: to go into college. I think you have seen some changes over the years, that we would like people, if you are going to go and get your certification to be a welder, if you are going to go into a setting that is going to go into a job, then that is a good use of a GI Bill. College is not for everyone, and some people want to do other things in the automotive industry or whatever it is. In my district, there is a lot of aerospace. There is no doubt about that. And we want people to be able to transfer into something they want to do, and that might not mean a 4-year degree. Mr. SHARPE. Exactly. Chairman KNIGHT. And so I think that that is a good use of the money that we are trying to get our veterans into employment. So I have taken a little extra time. So everyone will be up to that. And I will go to the ranking member, Mrs. Murphy. Mrs. MURPHY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You know, my first question is for Ms. Pianalto. Part of the mission of the WBC is to expand into economically distressed areas. Could you explain how you make the decision for what areas you place a WBC and also the same question for the rest of the panel? Ms. PIANALTO. Thank you for that question. So, first of all, it is the SBA that makes the decisions on where the WBCs are placed, and it is a grant proposal process. So the SBA, if they determine there are funds available to open new centers, then they will issue a request for proposal, and they will identify States where they think there are gaps in Women's Business Centers. And then they hope that an organization will submit a proposal that will be, you know, acceptable and then they have to make the determination. Last year, there were three new centers granted a grant. They don't yet know based on the funding what will be available this year. But it is more of a process of, will there be an organization in a particular State that will qualify for a grant rather than identifying where the needs are and proactively looking at what we might be able to do from a community to establish a center there? So it is not an ideal process. Mr. YANCEY. We look at two different ways to have this started: First, we are requested by a community to come in and bring a chapter. And we would look at the community, look at need, look at resources that were already available. Is there an SBDC? Is there a Women's Business Center? How effective are they at serving the need? Does it make sense? And then we would look to an anchor organization to help us find local volunteer leadership that we could then build on with our chapters in the vicinity and support from our office. When we haven't been requested, we will look at areas where we believe that there is a need, again, based on knowledge and understanding of the market, resources that are already available, and then we will send somebody out to develop community partnerships and support. Obviously, our success is really based on finding a nucleus of volunteer leaders in a community and supporting them to grow, providing them with the tools and the materials and the marketing initiatives and our own support, both presence and dollars, if required, to help them get started. Last year, we opened 11 new chapters, and those--it is the first year that we have opened chapters in quite some time. Mr. ROWE. When SBDCs--as I said earlier, we have a statewide mandate. So we are trying to cover, say, the entire State of Texas or Florida or Georgia. We will try and place-- much in the same situation that Ken's in--where we can find a partner, a host institution. Now, for example, in Mississippi, we were having some problems, but we wanted to get coverage in the delta. And we worked out an agreement with Jackson State, which is a Historically Black College and University there. But what we find sometimes is we get conflicting messages from SBA. In our Houston regional SBDC, we had an agreement with a Historically Black College and University, and we started getting pressure because they weren't meeting the goals that SBA wanted out of the center. And our director for the region was: ``Well, I am not going to just pull out and abandon that area. We will work to get it up. But you just can't leave it and go.'' So, for SBDCs, it is always a question of finding the right partners and then getting as much resources as we can into those areas. I will say that rural areas are the hardest thing for us because we have got so much area to cover. We have the mandate, and we want to do it, and honestly, rural America needs more help, frankly, than the suburbs do. Mr. SHARPE. I agree with what everyone else has had to say. That is also a concern for us as well. One issue, again, is, you know, trying to reach our veterans. The American Legion is in, you know, all States and in various territories, and right now, we are really concerned with places like Puerto Rico. Our department there, we have an unemployment rate between 16 and 25 percent. We have been doing a lot of job fairs there, but we would like to also do some business development workshops. The economy is in crisis. We are doing a job fair May 18. We have about 65 companies that are coming. About 400 servicemembers usually attend National Guard, reservists. But the command just told us the other day that one out of four reservists is unemployed. And if they are employed, we are finding that many of them are underemployed, and that is including our rural areas. So that is why we feel so strongly that business development is the key to bringing our economy back. Mrs. MURPHY. Great. Thank you. And I see that I am out of time. So I yield back. Chairman KNIGHT. Thank you very much. And we will go to Mr. Evans for his questions. Mr. EVANS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I too would like to thank the panel and what you have offered today. The question I would like to start out with: Could each of you give one or two items on your congressional wish list that you think would immediately help small businesses? Ms. PIANALTO. Increased funding. That--I mean, obviously, if we had more funds available for the centers and the various resource partners, that would certainly go a long way. I think another--perhaps another point is SBA being--working with us a little bit more in terms of programming but also even metrics. Congresswoman Murphy mentioned clearer metrics earlier. That is a serious issue for SBA and the partners having to work with them. I will just note one item as an example in the Committee's memo. We are listed as creating more than 750 small businesses throughout the Nation. That metric is only on the Women's Business Center counseling clients, which are only 15 percent of our clients. SBA doesn't measure--doesn't do metrics on our training clients, which are 85 percent of what we do. So I think some work there needs to be done. Mr. YANCEY. It is very easy to support the need for funding. Programs like ours to expand and grow and serve, as we all want them to, do require some level of investment and we will all work hard to match that investment with private sector dollars so that we can be effective. Someone mentioned a little bit earlier access to capital, and I will divide that into access to capital and access to debt. Startup small businesses don't have access to capital, often don't have access to debt. And Mr. Sharpe mentioned in the veteran community how those that are separating don't have the collateral or the equity that is required, and that is not uncommon among many startup businesses. The opportunity to make that more available through the MicroLoan Program and other similar programs, I think, is very important. The idea of making debt more widely available for small businesses, our banks are doing better but still not fulfilling that need completely. Credit cards aren't a great option but used too often to the detriment of the small businesses. And I think that encouraging community lenders to be more involved and to be more accessible and more willing to support those small businesses is pretty critical these days. Mr. ROWE. Well, you know, I will certainly echo what Antonella said. What I would really like to dive in on for a second is I think the biggest problem we have sometimes is focus. We know where the problems are. We can look at studies from organizations like the economic innovation group, and they can show us the counties that are having trouble with small- business formation and job growth, et cetera. But what we don't always end up with is a coordinated strategy to utilize all of the resources we have to focus on assisting those areas, whether they are rural counties or inner city communities. And that, in a certain way, is kind of a tragic waste. We are all producing great results, but sometimes we are getting pushed to produce results so much that you tend to focus where you can get results rather than focusing on where you really need to offer help. Mr. SHARPE. For the American Legion, of course, we would like to see more VBOCs, and we would like to see them, besides giving veterans training, but be more involved in advocacy. They need to be engaged with the local market. If we had one in the District of Columbia, they would have known of all the huge projects that are taking place here, which is not happening most places. I think that would really change the dynamics of economic development. If they were more engaged with what is happening in the local area and being able to advocate to those businesses that they are serving, these are opportunities for you. And, of course, access to capital and being able to use your GI Bill for capital. Mr. EVANS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back the balance of my time. Chairman KNIGHT. Thank you very much. And we will go to Ms. Clarke for her questions. Ms. CLARKE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I thank our ranking member, Mrs. Murphy, our panelists for your expert testimony this morning, and a pleasant good morning to everyone. As everyone on this Subcommittee knows, small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy. They allow hardworking women and men across this Nation to harness their entrepreneurial spirit for the benefit of themselves, their families, and our country. Indeed, the 28 million small businesses in the United States account for 54 percent of all U.S. sales. This would not be possible if it were not for the hard work and dedication of the women and men at the Small Business Administration. And at the heart of the SBA lies its entrepreneurial development programs. These programs include Small Business Development Centers, the Service Corps of Retired Executives, the Women's Development Centers, and the Office of Veteran Business Development. Each of these offices play an important part in ensuring that the promise of small-business ownership remains open to hardworking Americans across our country. However, this is not to say that their functioning could not be improved. I remain concerned that we do not have sufficient metrics to judge the performance of SBA programs and remain interested in learning how we can make the SBA as efficient as possible. And so my first question goes to Mr. Yancey. I commend the improvement your program has seen in increasing the racial and gender diversity of both clients and volunteers. However, the gender diversity of volunteers remains low, at just 20.3 percent. Could you please describe the efforts you have made to recruit volunteers from different backgrounds and what you are planning to do to improve this number? Mr. YANCEY. Yes, ma'am. Thank you very much for a very important question. Several things are happening for us as we work to improve the diversity of both our volunteer corps as well as our clients. I think one of the most important and one of the most effective processes that we have found is to work with and partner with other organizations who represent some of these underserved communities: our partnership with the National Urban League, the opportunity to do webinars in conjunction with the urban league that are promoted to their members as well as to our clients, both organizations having the opportunity to refer clients back and forth, resulting in new volunteers and new clients for both of us. The same thing with the African American Mayors Association and the same thing with the Latino Coalition--and our friend representing the Latino Coalition, Mr. Gutierrez, is back here--those are good opportunities for us to attract both clients as well as volunteers. The other thing on the volunteer corps, I mentioned that we were--in 2016, 12 percent of our new volunteers are former clients. Our client base is diverse, and it makes sense for us to be reaching out to a group of people who have benefited from the program previously. And in so doing, we are also improving the diversity of the program. In 2016, 30 percent of our new volunteers were women, which is obviously higher than the percent now, the same way with minority volunteers. So we are making progress. Quite frankly, it is not fast enough for me or our board or anybody else, and we are open to suggestion. We are open to additional referrals, support, and appreciate you continuing to push on this important topic. Ms. CLARKE. Well, I thank you for the update. Mr. Rowe, one of the critical programs SBDCs provide is disaster recovery and preparedness assistance. Could you please describe some of the specific services you provide in this area? And let me just sort of preface this also by saying thank you, because I come from Brooklyn, New York, and in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, the SBDCs were really a lifeline. Mr. ROWE. Well, thank you, ma'am. One of the biggest efforts we make is helping the SBA identify the locations to set up their business recovery centers and then focusing our efforts on staffing those centers and helping the small businesses get organized and get through the process. I am sure all of the members on the Committee know that about 90 percent of the disaster loans are actually home loans. Only 10 percent are business loans, but that 10 percent tends to take about four times as long. Doing a disaster home loan is actually pretty simple; it is like doing a second mortgage. Doing a business loan is actually often incredibly complicated. So we spend a great deal of time with small businesses that have been affected, helping them through all that paperwork, and sometimes it is a huge forensic issue. You know, it is reconstructing your sales figures, et cetera, which is why we put a lot of effort into disaster preparedness. Now, in the case of Superstorm Sandy, I don't think as many folks were expecting it as might expect it in, say, Florida, when you are going to get a hurricane. But we are constantly pushing on the disaster preparedness front because disasters aren't just, you know, a natural occurrence. You could have a fire and wipe yourself out. Ms. CLARKE. Thank you. I yield back, Mr. Chairman. I thank you for your indulgence. Chairman KNIGHT. Thank you very much. And I am going to go to the ranking member. If members have another round of questions, we can go through these. And I am going to go to the ranking member, and I will bat cleanup after everyone is done. Mrs. MURPHY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, the administration's recently released budget blueprint suggests reducing the SBA's budget by 5 percent. And while it didn't specifically name any of the programs for consolidation, it suggested that the programs should be consolidated if they are duplicative. Could you describe the impact of such a consolidation on the services that you provide to clients? And this is for all of the members. Mr. YANCEY. These programs are quite different beyond just who we serve. The way the grants operate, the back end, the partnership, service-to-the-community approach, we have never felt that consolidation of entrepreneurial development programs would be a healthy process. In fact, I believe that often our best work is done in conjunction with our colleagues at the Small Business Development Centers or the Women's Business Centers or the veterans centers, where we might come in and provide very specific expertise around a business. If you had a high-end restaurant and I had a restauranteur that had a fine-dining restaurant, we might be able to provide specific information that could be useful. Putting them all together would, I think, create an administrative challenge that is well beyond the challenges that we face individually. And the cost would not be less than what you find with the programs administering themselves. Ms. PIANALTO. I would just absolutely agree with Ken. We do serve different needs, and we do work very closely together. And some of that is--you know, depends on the individuals in all of our organizations as well as with the district office of SBA. So there could always be improvement with coordination, but we all serve very different purposes, and I do not think consolidation would be helpful at all. Mr. ROWE. My concern with the whole concept of consolidation is, if you are seeking efficiency, that is one thing, but never make the mistake of thinking that small business is some monolithic thing. They are all different. It is like the little placard my sister-in-law has at the house: ``You are unique, just like everybody else.'' There are 28 million, 29 million small businesses in the United States. We probably touch, in the course of the year at SBDCs, a little under 1 million in various ways. That leaves 27 million, and I don't think that Ken and Antonella or the VBOCs got to the other 27 million. You know, the problem, again, in my mind is, are we making sure we are all working together and thinking about what we are trying to achieve. You know, it is great to talk about efficiency. Sometimes you have to think about the economy, though, as kind of a big sloppy machine too. Mr. SHARPE. I agree with everything else that has been said. But the mission of the American Legion is to ensure that veterans, when they leave the military, that they and their families are gainfully employed and economically independent and they are also able to contribute to their communities. We have been a big supporter of the Veterans Business Development Office in SBA, and the part of that that we like the most is that the VBOCs are beholden to that office. So anytime we have issues with veteran entrepreneurship in any part of the country, we can always go to that office, get stats, find out what is happening, be able to contact those VBOCs directly. It's like a holistic approach to small business for us, and that also helps our mission in ensuring the veterans are taken care of. Mrs. MURPHY. Thank you. Chairman KNIGHT. And I will jump in real quick. There is a couple things that I am sure is on everyone's mind. Budget is always something that we look at. I would hope that we are looking at making sure that everything that is happening now is funded before we expand. And I think that is probably the best way you can do, especially when you are talking about government, and sometimes government is a weird animal to work with and finite dollars and all of those things. But we want to make sure that the programs that are working today are fully funded so that people know, okay, I know there is SCORE here. I know there is SBDC or WBC or VBOC here. I know that, and I am happy. The second part is working together. I think that, whether you are a veteran in Los Angeles and you say, ``Golly, my closest VBOC is, you know, 230 miles away,'' that is not okay, but they still have other resources that they can go to. They can go to their SBDC. They can go to their WBC. And they can go to SCORE and say, ``I need help.'' And, conversely, people can work throughout. So I like the fact that it is working together, and I like the fact that you do have different kind of resources that everyone brings together. Mr. Sharpe, did you have something? Oh, I thought you pressed your button. Mr. SHARPE. No, no. Chairman KNIGHT. And I think that that has kind of got to be the mission, especially when we go into budgets, because it is one of the reasons I don't sit on Appropriations, because I don't want to deal with that stuff. I want to deal with policy and what is good for America. And sometimes Appropriations are, ``Yes, this is good for America; we just don't have the dollars to do it.'' And I would rather not be the bad guy on that. So I am going to go to Mr. Evans for his second round. Mr. EVANS. Mr. Chairman, I will yield. I don't have any other questions. Thank you. Chairman KNIGHT. Thank you very much. And Ms. Clarke. Ms. CLARKE. Thank you once again, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Pianalto, in your testimony, you mentioned that WBCs would be the appropriate body to provide third-party certification for women-owned business. Could you please describe some of the issues in the current certification system and how moving certification to WBCs would alleviate that? Ms. PIANALTO. Thank you for that question. And I will just clarify---- Ms. CLARKE. I am sorry, Ms. I am sorry. Excuse me. Ms. PIANALTO. Pardon? Ms. CLARKE. I just wanted to make sure I got the gender correct there. Ms. PIANALTO. So the current structure is that women can be self-certified through the SBA, or they can go to four third- party certifiers. The 2015 NDAA eliminated the self- certification process, and SBA is working through the rulemaking on that right now. What we are suggesting is that, not that the WBCs take that over, but that you expand the availability of third-party certifiers. And we feel the WBCs, some of which--we have four WBCs who are regional partners of one of the third-party certifiers right now, and many of the WBCs are also helping with that self--the certification process. But we think the WBCs--it makes perfect sense for them to be--play a greater role in the certification process. Ms. CLARKE. So just to get a better sense, do you think it is important that women have access to programs like WBCs that specifically focus on increasing female entrepreneurship? And with those relationships with the third-party certifiers, do you see that as being sort of a network that would expand access? Ms. PIANALTO. We think that the current list--available certifiers needs to be expanded. And we think the WBCs play-- would be able to play a great role in that. Ms. CLARKE. Very well. I thank you. And I yield back, Mr. Chairman. Chairman KNIGHT. Thank you very much, Ms. Clarke. And I appreciate all the members for coming today. Of course, the ranking member is always here. Ms. Clarke and Mr. Evans, thank you very much for attending. And I want to thank the panel for their expert sharings of what it is to be an SBA and what it is to help small businesses and the entrepreneurial attitude today. I believe it is important to hear directly from the groups and organizations offering their expert advice to entrepreneurs all across the Nation. These programs are extremely important to millions of small businesses trying to grow and create jobs. With a burdensome business environment, you assist risk-taking entrepreneurs as they charge ahead. As this Subcommittee looks to enhance the workforce for our Nation's small businesses and the resources available to them, we will use this conversation moving forward, and we will continue to advance bills working and advancing WBCs and bills of that nature to try and help your work with our small businesses. Much like the guidance you provide to small businesses on a regular basis, we thank you for the advice you have provided us today. I ask unanimous consent that members have 5 legislative days to submit statements and supporting materials for the record. Without objection, this hearing is now adjourned. [Whereupon, at 11:48 a.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.] A P P E N D I X [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] [all]