SBA Newsline Eight

Volume 9 – Issue 11 Contact: Chris Chavez ([email protected])
November 2003 Phone: (303) 844-0501/Fax 844-0506

SBA’s Monthly News Update
-Serving Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming-

Newsline Eight is circulated to our resource and lending partners by SBA’s Region Eight Office
721 19th Street, Suite 400, Denver, Colorado 80202.
Elton W. Ringsak, Regional Administrator
James R. Henderson, Regional Advocate
Christopher Chavez, Regional Communications Director

Regional Administrator Notes: by Mick Ringsak, Region VIII RA
New contract bundling rules to help small businesses compete on a level playing field. On March 19, 2002, the President unveiled a Small Business Agenda that proposed several substantive steps toward creating a dynamic environment where small businesses and entrepreneurs can flourish. One of those steps was to improve the access of small businesses to Federal contracting opportunities.
Specifically, the President called upon the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to prepare a strategy for unbundling contracts. Contract bundling is defined in Section 3(o) of the Small Business Act to mean the consolidation of two or more requirements for goods or services previously provided or performed under separate smaller contracts into a solicitation of offers for a single award contract that is “unlikely to be suitable for award to a small business concern.” 15 U.S.C. 632(o). In response to the President’s call for a strategy to unbundled contracts, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), within OMB, created an interagency working group to develop a plan for increasing contracting. The SBA has issued a final rule implementing the President’s plan to open more federal contracts to small businesses. The measures restrict the practice of bundling diverse contracts into packages so large and complex that they are unsuitable for small businesses. The rule lowers the dollar threshold on bundled contracts that must be reviewed and justified before being issued, and redefines bundling to include orders made through popular multiple-award contract vehicles such as the GSA Schedule. In the past, bundling reviews were required only for contracts worth $10 million or more. The new rule lowers the threshold to $2 million for most agencies; $5 million for NASA, the Department of Energy and the General Services Administration; and $7 million for the Department of Defense. The SBA also issued a proposed rule that provides guidance to procurement officers on how to judge whether a contractor has made a good-faith effort at meeting its subcontracting goals for small businesses. The rule authorizes agency officials to use the contractor’s past performance on subcontracting as an evaluation factor on future contracts. Then new rules were published on October 21st, and a copy can be found at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/.

Suggestions for events in your area. As we begin a new fiscal year, I would like to solicit your suggestions on training events for your area. I have received numerous calls on developing a workshop on federal grants, like the one held recently in Wyoming. If we have the resources in your state, SBA will make every effort to hold the training you need to make YOU successful! Contact Chris Chavez at 303-844-0501 with your suggestions.
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Advocacy Corner by Jim Henderson, Region VIII Advocate
Advocacy Researcher Debunks Conventional Wisdom about Business Failure.
Each year 550,000 businesses with employees establish new start-up firms. All their owners dream of becoming successful. But conventional wisdom says 80 percent will be history in two years. Now research from the Office of Advocacy challenges this widely accepted notion. Advocacy economist Brian Headd tackled the subject of defining business success. He used a unique U.S. Census Bureau database on business owners to compare businesses that had survived many years to businesses that had closed, but whose owners felt that the business was successful at closure. According to Headd’s research few factors in business — such as having no start-up capital or having a relatively young owner – could be shown to lead to true failure. More importantly he challenged the commonly held belief that failure is a very likely outcome for a new business. His most significant findings are that about half of new employer firms survive beyond four years and about a third of closed businesses were successful at closure. For more information you can find Brian Headd’s article entitled, “Redefining business Success: Distinguishing between Closure and Failure,” either in the August 2003 edition of Small Business Economics or at the following Census Bureau website http://148.129.75.160/paper.php?paper=101614.

District Office Reports

Colorado – “Start-Up Financing for Your Business” workshop to be held at the Boulder SBDC on November 12th, from 2pm to 5 pm. There are many financing options out there for small companies and, even veteran business owners can grow confused from the plethora of choices. This class will explore which types of financing are best suited to you and how to maximize your chances of getting the dollars you need. We’ll explore traditional bank loans, SBA-guaranteed loans, as well as non-bank alternatives. From micro lenders to angel investors, you’ll leave with a good idea of what options are available for your capital needs. Instructor Lewis Hagler is with the Colorado Enterprise Fund, and has over 12 years of experience in helping small businesses raise capital. You’ll also hear from an experienced small business banker as part of the class. For more information, contact the Boulder SBDC at (303) 442-1475.

Montana – SBDC Network Accreditation review scheduled for November. The ASBDC Accreditation Team will be conducting a review of the Montana Small Business Development Center Network November 10-13, 2003. SBDCs undergo this type of review every four years to ensure the centers are providing management, technical assistance and training as outlined in the cooperative agreement between the SBDCs, Montana Department of Commerce, and the SBA. The team will also evaluate the lead center to ensure the network is meeting the goals outlined by the ASBDC and SBA. This past fiscal year the ten SBDC sub-centers throughout Montana assisted almost 3,800 entrepreneurs! For more information, contact the SBA’s Montana District Office at 406-441-1081.

North Dakota – Selling to the federal government – with an emphasis on the Corps of Engineers — workshop to be held in December. Would you like to contract with the Army Corps of Engineers? Ever wondered how to register your business on Pro-Net? Where to find information on advertised solicitations, projected contract awards, bid results, bid abstracts, & award results? What are cost proposals, performance & payment bonds, modifications, change orders, or equitable adjustments? Learn this and more at a two day
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workshop presented by the SBA and the Corps of Engineers on December 4th and 5th, 8:00am – 5:00pm, at the University of Mary, 1351 Page Drive in Fargo. On day one, participants will learn about the Corps of Engineers method of contracting. On day two, participants will learn the basics of government contracting. There is a small charge for attending this workshop. For more information on this workshop, contact the SBA’s Linda Liebert-Hall at (701)235-1495.

South Dakota — QuickBooks training to be held in Sioux Falls. The Sioux Falls Small Business Development Center and the Sioux Falls Center for Women Business Institute will offer Advanced QuickBooks Training, Wednesday, November 26th, from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm in Sioux Falls (location to be determined). Cost for the training will be $20.00. Please contact the SBDC at (605) 367.5757 for location information and any questions you may have.
Utah– Congressman Chris Cannon to present a Small Business Development Conference in West Valley City. On November 17th, The Utah District Office will participate in Congressman Chris Cannon’s Small Business Development Conference. SBA district office staff will participate as panel members in the various breakout sessions. The breakout sessions cover topics such as “counseling and training”, “funding”, “government contracts”, and “the basics of exporting.” This conference will be held from 9:00 am – 12:30 pm at the E Center in West Valley City, Utah. It is open to the public. For more information, please contact the SBA’s Georgia Yoshida at (801) 524-3217.

Wyoming – Women in Business Expo to be held in Cody on the November 15th at the Cody Auditorium. Wyoming’s first lady, Nancy Freudenthal, will open this first-ever Women’s Expo then participate in this day-long event designed to assist women entrepreneurs gain a better understanding of starting and running a business. There will be display tables for vendors interested in displaying their goods or services. Several one-hour seminars will be presented during the day on a number of business related topics. For more information, please contact the SBA’s Deb Farris at (307) 261-6509.

An “Introduction to the U.S. Small Business Administration” is now available on the agency’s Web site in seven languages, downloadable in a PDF format in English, Spanish, Russian, French, Arabic, Chinese and Japanese. The overview will soon be translated into Serbo-Croatian and Vietnamese as well. An Introduction to the U.S. Small Business Administration is available on the SBA Web site at http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/international/overview.html and http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/overview.html.

Small Business Week Nominations Due to SBA by December 5th! Nominations for Small Business Person of the Year are due to the SBA by December 5th. The award categories have changed since last year. Many of the advocacy categories have been eliminated. Contact your local SBA Office at 1-800-776-9144 for details and nomination information.