Location: SBWG / Links

Links

1. The U.S Agency for International Development (more)
2. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) (more)

The U.S Agency for International Development

The U.S Agency for International Development is the U.S. federal government agency that implements America's foreign economic and humanitarian assistance programs. USAID's history goes back to the Marshall Plan reconstruction of Europe after World War Two and the Truman Administration's Point Four Program. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed the Foreign Assistance Act into law and created by executive order USAID.

Since that time, USAID has been the principal U.S. agency to extend assistance to countries recovering from disaster, trying to escape poverty, and engaging in democratic reforms.

USAID is an independent federal government agency that receives overall foreign policy guidance from the Secretary of State. The agency works in six principal areas crucial to achieving both sustainable development and advancing U.S. foreign policy objectives:

• Economic growth and agricultural development;
• Population, health and nutrition;
• Environment;
• Democracy and governance;
• Education and training, and;
• Humanitarian assistance.

USAID provides assistance in four regions of the world:

• Sub-Saharan Africa;
• Asia and the Near East;
• Latin America and the Caribbean, and;
• Europe and Eurasia.

With headquarters in Washington, D.C., USAID's strength is its field offices around the world. USAID works in close partnership with private voluntary organizations, indigenous organizations, universities, American businesses, international agencies, other governments, and other U.S. government agencies. USAID has working relationships with more that 3,500 American companies and over 300 U.S.-based private voluntary organizations.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)

Established in 1953, SBA provides financial, technical and management assistance to help Americans start, run, and grow their businesses. With a portfolio of business loans, loan guarantees and disaster loans worth more than $45 billion, in addition to a venture capital portfolio of $13 billion, SBA is the nation's largest single financial backer of small businesses. Last year, the SBA offered management and technical assistance to more than one million small business owners. The SBA also plays a major role in the government's disaster relief efforts by making low-interest recovery loans to both homeowners and businesses. America's 25 million small businesses employ more than 50 percent of the private work force, generate more than half of the nation's gross domestic product, and are the principal source of new jobs in the U.S. economy.

Small Business "Vital Statistics"

Did you know that...
• there are approximately 25 million small businesses in the U.S.?
• new business formation reached another record level in 1998?
• there were 898,000 new employer businesses in 1998 -- the highest ever and a 1.5 percent increase over the record of 889,000 new businesses in 1997?
• In 1998, seven of the 10 industries which added the most new jobs were in sectors dominated by small businesses? (U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of Commerce)
• small businesses hire a larger proportion of employees who are younger workers, older workers, women or workers who prefer to work part-time?
• small businesses provide 67 percent of workers with their first jobs and initial on the job training in basic skills?
• small business bankruptcies are the lowest in 19 years? Small businesses…
• provide approximately 75 percent of the net new jobs added to the economy.
• represent 99.7 percent of all employers.
• employ 53 percent of the private work force.
• provide 47 percent of all sales in the country.
• provide 55 percent of innovations.
• account for 35 percent of federal contract dollars.
• account for 38 percent of jobs in high technology sectors.
• account for 51 percent of private sector output.
• represent 96 percent of all U.S. exporters.