The U.S. Small Business Administration, along with President Obama, federal agencies, and private partners recognized National Small Business Week, May 12-16. During this time the true engines of the U.S. economy were celebrated: small businesses.
With five eventful days of panel discussions, webinars, and networking opportunities, National Small Business Week (NSBW) kicked off at Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco and ended with awards ceremonies honoring the accomplishments of state and national small businesses in Washington, DC.
Speaking at NSBW events during the week, Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet declared that “it is time to celebrate the risk-takers who make the wheels of the economy turn.” She added that America’s 28 million small businesses employ half of the private sector workforce and create nearly 2 out of every 3 jobs in our economy.
These small businesses are not only supported by the SBA, but by other federal agencies as well:
- NASA has increased its prime awards to small businesses by $100 million each consecutive year over the last four years.
- The Department of Commerce awarded approximately 40 percent of all its contracts to small businesses last year, totaling $3 billion.
- The Treasury Department shows its support for small business growth and innovation through its Small Business Lending Fund and the State Small Business Credit Initiative.
Although, National Small Business Week has come to a close we are still celebrating and supporting small businesses across the nation. If you missed any of last week’s events you can watch the recorded sessions here.
Via: The Industry Word
