WASHINGTON
- The U.S. Small Business Administration is re-launching one of its primary entrepreneurial
training divisions to broaden its focus into a one-stop shop for information on
how to start, maintain or grow a small business, including an emphasis on financial
literacy.
The newly renamed Office of Entrepreneurship
Education (OEE) will be a division of the Office of Entrepreneurial Development,
which provides small business training, counseling and access to resources.
"SBA
is excited to re-launch the Office of Entrepreneurship Education because it will
help build small business ownership and strengthen SBA's focus on improving the
economies of underserved markets through small business ownership," said
SBA Acting Administrator Jovita Carranza. "It will also help us move forward
President Bush's agenda to increase financial literacy, which is critical to advancing
America's economy."
"Financial education is a
critical first step to owning your own business," said Council Chairman Charles
Schwab. "With the SBA's leadership, would-be entrepreneurs are going to have
access to the kind of financial education necessary to be successful."
"Entrepreneurship
is such a natural option for so many individuals living in underserved communities
across America," said John Hope Bryant, vice-chairman of the President's
Council on Financial Literacy and founder, chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE.
"In fact, it is precisely a generation of minority entrepreneurs, rooted
in an understanding of financial literacy, the language of money and free enterprise
and capitalism, that will best move a community from underserved to adequately
served. That is the need that the new SBA Office of Entrepreneurship Education
will help to fill, and the President's Council is honored to support the SBA in
this important initiative."
OEE combines SBA's online
education programs, business and community initiatives, and youth outreach under
a single umbrella, and will serve as a federal clearinghouse for information related
to small business development.
The office will place special
emphasis on the agency's youth entrepreneurship activities to help develop the
next generation of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship education has become one of
the strongest vehicles to deliver financial literacy at the high school and college
levels. Recently, SBA worked with the Aspen Institute's Youth Entrepreneurship
Strategy Group to address such topics as aligning youth entrepreneurship within
the educational system and with government resources, and clarifying the role
of the private and public sectors.
The new office complements
SBA's efforts to accelerate delivery of its products and services to underserved
markets, such as inner cities and rural communities, including initiatives designed
to generate jobs and business growth to strengthen local economies in these areas.
SBA's Emerging 200 program, launched earlier this year, supports promising businesses
in 10 inner cities across the country through rigorous education and training
programs. Rural Lender Advantage, a loan program that simplifies SBA lending for
smaller and rural lenders, was rolled out in 10 states last year by SBA's Office
of Capital Access and will be available nationwide in the fall.
