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

Christopher Chavez, Regional Communications Director

From the Desk of Mick Ringsak…. Region Eight RA

Administrator Barreto Offers His ‘Shared Vision’ to Agency’s Employees, Asks for Their Commitment to Lead the Way to Change

At a recent SBA management conference held in Washington DC, Administrator Hector Barreto talked about his vision of the future of our agency. He asked for the full
commitment of all agency employees as it related to proposed changes in the structure of the SBA. Mr. Barreto wants the SBA to become more relevant to the millions
of small firms that either don’t know who we are or don’t understand what we do or think it would be too much of a hassle to deal with us. This is critical because the SBA
is the government agency dedicated to helping America’s small business. The Administrator set-out several agency goals at the meeting.

To become America’s "home page for small business" – we want American small businesses to think of us first…to open our web page or call our 800 number or
visit our offices when they want to start or improve their small business.

To find new ways to both reach and position ourselves closer to our customers

To create an agency-wide internal culture of innovation and entreprenuership.

To fully integrate technology into all SBA operations.

To increase training, education, and information assistance to small businesses on a twenty-four hour a day, seven-day a week basis, while maximizing its
resource partner networks.

To become more innovative in helping more small firms have access to capital

Create the Office of Business Competitiveness to ensure that small firms continue to be competitive within both domestic and global marketplaces.

Help small businesses better compete in the federal contracting arena

The Administrator mentioned that there simply is no other option but for the SBA to change and transform. SBA has been America’s small business resource for 50 years
and, with a commitment and shared vision, we will be for another 50 years.

District Office Reports

Colorado – Sponsors needed for two important small business publications. The SBA has partnered with both the Denver Business Journal and the ColoradoBiz
Magazine to publish two great small business guides. In May 2003, the Denver Business Journal will once again publish our SBA Small Business Week insert. This
summer, ColoradoBiz Magazine will publish our 2002 edition of The Colorado Business Resource Guide. This guide is the statewide small business start-up kit for
Colorado. We need advertising sponsors for both publications. This is an excellent opportunity to show your support for the SBA and the small business community in
our state. The contact person at the Denver Business Journal is Brad Segura – call (303) 837-3500. The person to talk to at the Coloradobiz Magazine is Tamara Walker
– (303) 662-5240. Thank you for your support.

Montana – Rural Outreach on the Horizon. The SBA will once again conduct rural outreach workshops across Montana. District Office staff are hitting the road
visiting several rural cities including Hamilton, Browning, Ronan, and Roundup educating aspiring and existing business owners about SBA’s programs and services.
Various lenders, resource partners, and other economic development professionals from each area will be involved in this outreach effort. If you would like a similar
workshop to be held in your town, please contact the SBA’s Rena Carlson at (406) 441-1081.

North Dakota – National Congress of American Indians 2002 Mid-Year Session to be held in June. This session entitled "Creating Our Own Roads to
Success: Strategies & Skills to Achieve Tribal Economic Prosperity" will be held June 16 – 19th at the Radisson Inn in Bismarck. This National Conference will feature
concurrent training tracks to include "Finance – Where’s the Money"; "Finding Capital to Create a Business & Building the Financial Expertise to Maintain It"; "Marketing –
How to Attract Business and Keep it"; and "Marketing, Public Relations and Courting Your Target Market". For more information, call the National Congress of American
Indians at (202) 466-7767 or Brenda Hall Dvorak, United Tribes at (701) 255-3285 x 398.

South Dakota – Regulatory Fairness Board Hearing to be held in Sioux Falls on June 25th. The South Dakota District Office will host a Regulatory Fairness
Board Hearing on Tuesday, June 25th at the Orthopedic Institute, 810 East 23rd Street, Sioux Falls from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. SBA’s National Ombudsman, Michael
Barrerra, will conduct the hearing. The goal of this hearing is to receive public testimony regarding excessive regulatory enforcement actions by federal agencies.
Testimony is then included in the National Ombudsman’s annual report to Congress for the purpose of enacting change. All interested parties are invited to attend this
free event. For more information, contact the SBA’s Jan Camp at (605) 330-4243, Ext. 30 or visit http://www.sba.gov/ombudsman

Utah – SCORE Meeting to be held in June. The Utah SCORE statewide meeting will be held at the Yarrow Hotel at Park City, Utah. The Chapter Chair meeting will
be held on Monday, June 10th – with the actual conference to begin on Tuesday, June 11th continuing through Wednesday June 12th. This annual three-day event will be
entertaining as well as informative. Several guest speakers have been scheduled for this event including Will Bagley who will give a fresh perspective on Utah’s history.
For more information, please contact the SBA’s Loy Rasmuson at (801) 524-3207.

Wyoming – Juneteenth Celebration to be held June 15th in Cheyenne. During this event, the SBA will have an information booth with plenty of material on the
agency’s programs and services. This event will be held Saturday, June 15th from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm at Martin Luther King Park in Cheyenne. There will be tons of
entertainment and a T-ball tourney during this celebration. Various vendors will be selling ethnic foods and clothing. For more information, please call the SBA’s Debra
Farris at (307) 261-6500.

SBA STAR Program May Give Your Business A Boost!

SBA now has available a new temporary 7(a) loan program to assist small businesses adversely affected by the terrorist activities of Sept. 11. The new Supplemental
Terrorist Activity Relief (STAR) program is designed to provide greater access to financial assistance for America’s small businesses by temporarily reducing the cost of
7(a) loans. Through the STAR program, SBA can provide loan guaranties to small businesses in need of financial support beyond the assistance that SBA can provide
under the disaster loan program. One example of "adverse impact" is a disruption in business operations. Because so many small businesses in America experienced
disruptions in their business operations as a result of Sept. 11, SBA believes that a very large percentage of small business borrowers in areas throughout the country
may be eligible for the STAR program.Authority for the STAR program will expire on January 9, 2003, or when the available funding is expended, whichever occurs first.

For more information on this program, please email me at [email protected].