WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 5, 2015—Recognizing the business imperative to embrace diversity, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) launched the first initiative of its kind focused on LGBT business owners.
LGBT Business Builder will bring together expertise and resources from staff at SBA district and regional offices, NGLCC’s 38 U.S.-based affiliate chambers, and other resource partners. Businesses will learn how to leverage NGLCC’s LGBT-owned business certification and explore opportunities through SBA’s suite of services around government contracting, exporting, and other SBA initiatives.
“Today’s announcement is about ensuring that entrepreneurs who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender have the support they need to excel. I’m here because we cannot separate the fight for civil rights from the fight for market rights and economic empowerment,” said SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet. “This agreement is not about what we will do here in D.C., but we will do together in all 50 states to help LGBT entrepreneurs grow their revenues and their payroll.
“At its heart, America is a country that builds things, especially businesses. It is gratifying to know the leadership of the Small Business Administration sees the value of LGBT citizens who have wondered for too long how they can also gain a seat at the table. This program will ensure they will understand the value of becoming an LGBT-certified businesses and all the SBA resources that are available to them. We commend Administrator Contreras-Sweet for putting an unprecedented focus on harnessing the potential of LGBT-owned businesses,” said Justin Nelson, president and co-founder, NGLCC.
The day-long training sessions will occur in the next 24 months for LGBT business owners in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Francisco. Other cities will be announced in the near future.
The focus on California is especially important in light of a new law that took effect Jan. 1. California public utilities are now required to extend existing provisions granted to ethnic minority-, women-, and disable veteran- owned business enterprises to LGBT certified business owners. It is believed to be the first bill of its kind in the United States and will serve as a model for similar legislation covering other highly regulated industries and in other states.
This is a problem with all small businesses, not special interest groups. Focusing on them is a distraction strategy to keep you from knowing the actual extent of the problem, which affects every single small business in America with 1-19 employees.
In 2008, the average SBA loan size was $185,000 and 24% of them were under $100,000. In 2014, it was an absurdly bloated $514,000 and less then 9% of them were under $100,000, and declining. The small businesses, who need small loans, aren’t getting them anymore. Why? Because for the last six years, and continuing to day under Contreras-Sweet, the SBA has been aggressively expanding the definition of small to include over 100,000 very large corporations, who are now getting the overwhelming majority of the loans.
If the SBA wants to help the disadvantaged, it should focus on true small businesses instead of on large corporations. Gays aren’t getting small business loans. African-Americans aren’t, either. But neither are any businesses with under 20 employees. At one point this was the SMALL Business Administration, not the special interest administration. Stop focusing on the top 2% of the largest businesses in America, and get loans back in the hands of ALL small businesses. That’s your job.