SBA

Jul 19 2012

Operation Boots to Business: From Service to Startup

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has joined with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense to launch a training program for transitioning service members and veterans to help them become entrepreneurs and create jobs.

Operation Boots to Business: From Service to Startup is a national initiative that will be piloted with the U.S. Marine Corps.

Jun 23 2011

New council to offer advice

Hilda Kennedy, former chief of staff to the Inglewood mayor and City Council, as well as a economic development director, is one of 15 people across the country who have been appointed to the United States Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Council on Underserved Communities (CUC).

May 19 2011

Plus business revitalization seminar

SANTA CLARITA, Calif—The Wade Institute is offering of two boot camps—Small Business Summer Boot Camp and Executive Boot Camp—on Thursday, June 2, from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at IHOP, 24737 Pico Canyon Road in Stevenson Ranch. The boot camps are designed to help local entrepreneurs and small businesses accelerate during this time of economic recovery.

The institute is challenging local business owners to take back control of their businesses by investing in training, human capital and program development.

Apr 14 2011

Advantage Initiatives target start-ups and growing firms

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has unveiled two new initiatives to increase lending opportunities for small business owners in inner cities and underserved communities.

Under the two initiatives, known as the Small Loan Advantage and the Community Advantage, community banks will be able to offer loans of up to $250,000. Those loans, which are part of the agency’s 7(a) program, come with the government guarantee of 75 percent guarantee while anything under $150,000 comes with the 85 percent guarantee.

Donjai Richardson  |   OW Guest Contributor
Dec 23 2010

Connie Sparks lifting up small businesses

You don’t need to light a fire under Connie Sparks. She provides her own, well, you know... The 43-year-old entrepreneur is the founder of the Wade Institute, a business consulting firm with clients as far away as Hawaii, New York, Ohio, and, of course, in her home state of California.

“I help small businesses define their businesses,” said Sparks. “I help them restructure their business and strategic plans. I also help them with business development and business financing. I’m pretty much hands-on with my clients.”

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.