BUSINESS RESOURCE GUIDE (Business Advice and Technical Assistance)

FEDERAL AGENCIES

Small Business Administration – The SBA has a number of programs that benefit small businesses, including:

• 8(a) Business Development Program – The SBA's 8(a) BD Program, named for a section of the Small Business Act, is a business development initiative that helps small disadvantaged business concerns compete in the American economy. As part of the business development of the 8(a) firms, SBA helps small disadvantaged business concerns to access the Federal contracting marketplace. Certification through the SBA 8 (a) program is required for participation in this program.
  
• Central Contractor Registration (CCR) – CCR is the primary registrant database for the U.S. Federal Government. CCR collects, validates, stores and disseminates data in support of agency acquisition missions.
  
• HUBZone program – The purpose of the HUBZone program is to provide federal contracting assistance for qualified small business concern located in historically underutilized business zones. To be a qualified HUBZone small business concern, a company must be a small business, owned and controlled only by US citizens, have the "principle office" located in a HUBZone, have at least 35% of the company's employees residing in a HUBZone (doesn't have to be the same HUBZone as the company's principal office), and be certified under the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program.
  
• SBA Office of Advocacy – This office’s mission is to encourage policies that support the development and growth of American small businesses. Advocacy represents the nation's small businesses within the federal government; conducts policy studies; and compiles statistics on small business characteristics and contributions.
  
• Office of Women’s Business Ownership – OWBO promotes the growth of women-owned businesses through programs that address business training and technical assistance, and provide access to credit and capital, federal contracts, and international trade opportunities. With a women's business ownership representative in every SBA district office, a nationwide network of mentoring roundtables, women's business centers in nearly every state and territory, women-owned venture capital companies, and the Online Women's Business Center, OWBO is helping unprecedented numbers of women start and build successful businesses. At every stage of developing and expanding a successful business, the Office of Women's Business Ownership is here to counsel, teach, encourage and inspire.


• Office of Veterans Business Development – OVBD is dedicated to serving the veteran entrepreneur by formulating, executing and promoting policies and programs of the agency that provides assistance to veterans seeking to start and develop small businesses.

Federal Business Opportunities - This is the single government point-of-entry for Federal government procurement opportunities more than $25,000. Government buyers are able to publicize their business opportunities by posting information directly to FedBizOpps via the Internet. Through one portal – FedBizOpps – commercial vendors seeking Federal markets for their products and services can search, monitor, and retrieve opportunities solicited by the entire Federal contracting community. Once you are signed up with FedBizOpps, you will receive announcements by email.

U.S. Department of Commerce – While the SBA is the primary federal agency that advises and assists small businesses, the U.S. Department of Commerce has a number of programs that provide information and/or services to U.S. businesses, including:

• Bureau of Industry and Security Mission Statement – The mission of the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is to advance U.S. national security, foreign policy, and economic interests. BIS's activities include regulating the export of sensitive goods and technologies in an effective and efficient manner; enforcing export control, anti-boycott, and public safety laws; cooperating with and assisting other countries on export control and strategic trade issues; assisting U.S. industry to comply with international arms control agreements; monitoring the viability of the U.S. defense industrial base; and promoting federal initiatives and public-private partnerships to protect the nation's critical infrastructures.
  
• Economics and Statistics Administration – Much of the statistical, economic, and demographic information collected by the Federal Government is made available to the public through the bureaus and offices of the Department of Commerce that are known collectively as the Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA).
  
• Bureau of Economic Analysis – BEA is the Nation's accountant, interpreting data to draw a complete picture of the U.S. economy. BEA's economic accounts provide information on economic growth, regional development, and the Nation's position in the world economy.
  
• Bureau of the Census – The Constitution commands that a census be taken every 10 years. The purpose is the apportionment of seats in Congress, but the information collected provides the cornerstone of knowledge about the people of our nation.

• STAT-USA – The One-Stop Internet Source for Business and Economic Data, publishing the best business and economic information that the Federal Government has to offer. STAT-USA gathers crucial, timely information from over 50 Federal Agencies.
  
• Economic Development Administration – The EDA is a bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce working through local governments to generate new jobs, help retain existing jobs and stimulate industrial and commercial growth in distressed areas of the United States.
  
• International Trade Administration – See Shreveport Export Assistance Center under the International Trade Section.

• Minority Business Development Agency – This agency was created specifically to encourage the growth of minority-owned businesses in the United States. It coordinates federal government plans, programs and operations that affect minority business enterprises. It promotes and coordinates the activities of government and private organizations that help minority businesses grow. It collects and distributes information to help those interested in starting or expanding a minority-owned firm, and it provides financial assistance to organizations to provide management and technical assistance to minority entrepreneurs.

• Patent and Trademark Office – For over 200 years, the basic role of PTO has been to promote the progress of science and the useful arts by securing for authors and inventors the exclusive right to their writings and discoveries for a limited time.

• Technology Administration – TA manages three major agencies, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), and the Office of Technology Policy (OTP).

U.S. Chamber of Commerce – The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Small Business Institute provides a wide range of affordable and effective training tools and products developed for small and growing businesses.

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