“The virtual summit will acknowledge small businesses from across the country for their resilience, ingenuity, and creativity. It will also recognize SBA partners for their involvement in entrepreneurial development, disaster recovery, government contracting, financial development, and overall support for small businesses and entrepreneurship.” 

This year’s theme, Building a Better America through Entrepreneurship, celebrates the resiliency and tenacity of America’s entrepreneurs who are doing their part to power our nation’s historic economic comeback,” said Guzman.

 Highlights

The free, four-day virtual summit, will honor the nation’s 32.5 million small businesses for their perseverance, said Guzman. “It will feature access to: critical federal resources, educational workshops, and networking to help our nation’s entrepreneurs pivot and grow in the face of any challenge, seize new opportunities, and make sure the dream of starting a small business is in reach for every American. ”

The 2022 Small Business Persons of the Year award winners from each state, including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, will be honored. The SBA will also announce the 2022 National Small Business Person of the Year from among the state winners represented.

Details on National Small Business Week event registration and speaker information will be announced later and posted on www.sba.gov/NSBW.     

In addition, National Small Business Week recognitions and educational sessions will occur throughout each of the SBA’s 10 regions and 68 district offices.    

About National Small Business Week

For more than 51 years, the President of the United States has issued a proclamation announcing National Small Business Week, which recognizes the critical contributions of America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners.  More than half of Americans either own or work for a small business, and they create about two out of every three new jobs in the U.S. each year.  As part of National Small Business Week, the U.S. Small Business Administration takes the opportunity to highlight the impact of outstanding entrepreneurs, small business owners, and others from all 50 states and U.S. territories. Every day, they’re working to grow small businesses, create 21st century jobs, drive innovation, and increase America’s global competitiveness

Image: SBA

For more than 50 years, the U.S. Small Business Administration has celebrated National Small Business Week which recognizes the critical contributions of America’s small business owners.

This year’s Small Business Week will recognize the small businesses that have navigated the coronavirus pandemic while supporting their employees and communities.

This year is unlike the half-century that has come before. American small businesses continue to play a central role in building a strong country, prepared for any obstacles in the future.

More than half of Americans either own or work for a small business nearly two out of every three new jobs in the U.S. each year.

The SBA takes the opportunity to highlight the impact of small business owners, and others who support small businesses from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and U.S. territories.

Virtual summit

Meet other business owners and get expert advice at this free 3-day summit.

National Small Business Week 3-Day Virtual Summit, hosted by the U.S. Small Business Administration, is happening Monday, September 13 – Wednesday, September 15, 2021 from 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET.

This year’s free event will spotlight the resilience of America’s entrepreneurs and the renewal of the small business economy as they build back better from the economic crisis brought on by a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic.

Register here

Note | While we are fans of the SBA, SmallBusiness.com is not affiliated with the US Small Business Administration.

The SBA also announced four additional changes to open the PPP to more underserved small businesses.

According to the White House, the enhanced PPP will…

• Allow sole proprietors, independent contractors, and self-employed individuals to receive more financial support by revising the PPP’s funding formula for these categories of applicants

• Eliminate an exclusionary restriction on PPP access for small business
owners with prior non-fraud felony convictions, consistent with a
bipartisan congressional proposal

• Eliminate PPP access restrictions on small business owners who have
struggled to make student loan payments by eliminating student loan debt
delinquency being a disqualifier to participating in the PPP

• Ensure access for non-citizen small business owners who are lawful U.S. residents by clarifying that they may use Individual Taxpayer Identification
Number (ITIN) to apply for the PPP.

According to the President, 400,000 small businesses have closed during the pandemic, and “millions more are hanging by a thread.”

Biden noted that 98% of small businesses fit into this category. By temporarily limiting the approval process to them, the goal is to get more money to ventures that have a harder time accessing capital than their larger counterparts do. 

Links to information prepared by the SBA

• Coronavirus relief options
• Biden Administration takes steps to promote equitable access to SBA relief
• Coronavirus recovery information in languages other than English
• Guidance for businesses and employers
• Local assistance
• Additional SBA resources

GettyImages

First Draw PPP Loans

An SBA loan that helps businesses keep their workforce employed during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.
Learn more

Second Draw PPP Loans

Eligible businesses may apply for a Second Draw PPP loan.
Learn more

PPP Loan Forgiveness

Borrowers may be eligible for loan forgiveness.
Learn more

PPP Lender Information

Information and resources for lenders participating in the Paycheck Protection Program.
Learn more

PPP Data

Data and reports related to the Paycheck Protection Program.
Learn more

Apply for the Paycheck Protection Program

Find an eligible lender to apply for the Paycheck Protection Program.
FIND A LENDER
Use this SBA map

These links were supplied by the SBA. Before borrowing money from any source, seek advice from a trusted advisor with experience — preferably with the first round PPP.

Gettyimages

• Director California’s Office of the Small Business Advocate
• Currently helping to coordinate California’s economic recovery plan amid the COVID-19 crisis
• Served as senior advisor and deputy chief of staff of the SBA during the Obama-Biden Administration

Isabel Guzman currently serves as the Director of the Office of the Small Business Advocate within the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz).

According to an announcement issued by the Biden transition team, Guzman is a lifelong proponent of small businesses. She grew up as the daughter of a small business owner and served within the Obama-Biden Administration as Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor in the U.S. Small Business Administration.

In her current role in California, Guzman helps connect entrepreneurs in every community with the resources and capital needed for success and supports small businesses to weather the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prior to her career in public service, Guzman was a small business entrepreneur herself, an advisor to fellow founders, and an advisor at ProAmérica Bank, the first California-chartered Latino-formed business bank to form in Los Angeles in over 35 years. She earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business. 

Credit | GettyImages

As part of this year’s National Small Business Week, the U.S. Small Business Administration will host an “all virtual” event. Next week’s events (September 22-24, 2020) will include numerous educational panels providing retooling and innovative practices for the nation’s small businesses who are seeking to “pivot and recover, contributing to a stronger economy,” according to the SBA.

The National Small Business Week event schedule includes three days recognizing America’s outstanding entrepreneurs, shining a spotlight on the nation’s 30 million small businesses across the country. The event will also recognize the national award winners, including the naming of the National Small Business Person of the Year.

Information about and free registration to the streaming sessions can be found here: SBA.GOV/NSBA

Tuesday, September 22, 1 p.m. EDT 

“Pride in America’s Small Businesses”

Day’s events include | National Small Business Week Welcome
SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza | Keynote Address

National Small Business Week Awards Presentations

Wednesday, September 23, 9 a.m. EDT

“Preparing for a stronger tomorrow: Recovery, Adaptation, and Innovation”

Day’s events include | Panel Discussion Series | America’s Strength, Learning to Pivot and Innovate

Mid-day Sessions | SBA’s Veteran Resources and Veteran Success Story Videos

Thursday, September 24, 9 a.m. EDT 

“Preparing for a stronger tomorrow: Recovery, Adaptation, and Innovation”

Day’s events include |Panel Discussion Series – America’s Strength, Learning to Pivot and Innovate

Mid-day Sessions | “The Business Landscape of today and Federal and Local Resources to Empower Small Businesses”

What is National Small Business Week?

Jovita Carranza
SBA Administrator 

For more than 50 years, the SBA has celebrated National Small Business Week (NSBW), which recognizes the critical contributions of America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners.

This year is one unlike the half-century that has come before.

We are facing unique challenges together. However, American small businesses continue to play a central role in building a strong country, prepared for any obstacles in the future.

More than half of Americans either own or work for a small business, and they create nearly two out of every three new jobs in the U.S. each year. As part of NSBW, the SBA takes the opportunity to highlight the impact of outstanding entrepreneurs, small business owners, and others who support entrepreneurship from all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and U.S. territories.

Additionally, this year’s NSBW will recognize the small businesses who have navigated the coronavirus pandemic while supporting their employees and communities. There will be a number of presenters providing retooling and innovative practices for entrepreneurs as our nation’s small businesses look to pivot and recover towards a stronger economy.

Every day, they’re working to grow small businesses, create 21st-century jobs, drive innovation, and increase America’s global competitiveness.

An emergency disaster lending program for small businesses has been so overwhelmed by demand that it has significantly limited the size of loans it issues, while blocking nearly all new applications from small businesses, according to Aaron Gregg and Erica Werner of the Washington Post. (Note: This SBA program, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is separate from the new Paycheck Protection Program. See below.)

After initially telling businesses that individual disaster loans could be as high as $2 million, SBA has now imposed a $150,000 limit.

The Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is a long-standing SBA program that’s separate from the new Paycheck Protection Program,

• Congress gave the disaster loan program more than $50 billion in new funding in recent relief bills to offer quick-turnaround loans to businesses slammed by the coronavirus pandemic.
  
• The agency has faced a backlog of millions of applications for the disaster loan program for the past several weeks.
  
• The SBA has been so overwhelmed by demand it is now allowing only agricultural interests to submit applications.
  
• Republican senators had been pushing hard for farmers and agriculture companies to be able to tap the program, and they are now being prioritized over other prospective borrowers.
  
• Agency officials have said the holdup is because of a lack of funding and an unprecedented crush of applications.

Full Washington Post story can be found here.

Photo: SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza and Secretary of Treasury Steve Mnuchin on April 2, 2020. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

In the U.S., almost every government entity is required by law to include small business suppliers, vendors or other types of product or service providers when making purchases that are a part of the programs they administer. But what exactly is a small business? The legislation that established the Small Business Administration states that unless specifically authorized by statute, no other federal department or agency may prescribe a size standard for categorizing a business concern as a small business concern unless such proposed size standard meets certain criteria and is approved by the Administrator of SBA. 

Therefore, the first step for a business to become a government contractor is to accurately meet the legal (or statutory) definition of “small business” for your specific industry.

(Note: This entry focuses specifically on size standards, not on the process of applying for a contract.)

To qualify as a small business government contractor, you must adhere to industry size standards established by the U.S. Small Business Administration. For most industries, the SBA defines a “small business” either in terms of:

1 | Average number of employees over the past 12 months
2 | Average annual revenue over the past three years

In addition, the SBA defines a small business as a concern that:

• Is organized for profit
• Has a place of business in the US
• Operates primarily within the U.S. or makes a significant contribution to the U.S. economy through payment of taxes or use of American products, materials or labor
• Is independently owned and operated (i.e., not a subsidiary of a larger company)
• Is not dominant in its field on a national basis
• Is a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or any other legal form of ownership

In determining what constitutes a small business, the definition will vary to reflect industry differences, such as size standards.

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)

The SBA uses the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) as the basis for its size standards.  Visit the official NAICS website to find the code(s) that apply to your industry, then use the SBA’s Size Standards Tool  to determine if your business qualifies.

Links to the Most Recent SBA Updates Related to Size Standards

Size standards change. But those changes are not across-the-board. For that reason it is important to seek the most recent information from the SBA regarding standards in your industry. The following links go to SBA online resources that are updated when changes are made in specific industries

What’s New with Size Standards

• Get updates on small business size standards news.

istock

Also on SmallBusiness.com

Answers to 20 of the Most Frequently Asked Questions About U.S. Small Business