Small Business Development Centers Improvement Act of 2018

Floor Speech

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Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1709, the Small Business Development Centers Improvement Act of 2018, expands support for entrepreneurs by modernizing the statute governing the Small Business Administration's Small Business Development Centers program.

Small Business Development Centers, or SBDCs, provide entrepreneurs and small-business owners with business counseling and training at roughly 1,000 locations throughout the country.

These centers, spanning rural and urban areas alike, have had an immense impact on the American economy. As a result of SBDC training, a new job is created every 5\1/2\ minutes, a new business is created every 30 minutes, and $100,000 in sales is generated every 8.2 minutes.

The SBDC program is providing small-business owners and entrepreneurs with the resources they need to be successful.

H.R. 1702 further expands support for entrepreneurs by ensuring that the SBA focuses its resources and attention on congressionally authorized entrepreneurial development programs, such as SBDCs. This provision will promote operational efficiency within these programs, to the benefit of both small-business owners and taxpayers.

Additionally, this legislation allows SBDCs to market or advertise their business counseling and training programs. This will increase the impact of SBDCs by ensuring that entrepreneurs and small-business owners are aware of the resources available to them.

Finally, H.R. 1702 includes minor programmatic updates, including confidentiality requirements and data collection requirements that allow for the continued integrity of the SBDC program overall.

Small business development centers serve an important purpose in furthering entrepreneurship and business creation throughout the United States. H.R. 1702 allows SBDCs to continue to fulfill this purpose.

I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

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