Editor’s Note: On June 12, 2008, The New York Times ran a piece “Small-Business Agency’s Problems Linger as Leader Moves on to HUD.” This response from the Small Business Administration appeared in the paper on June 19, 2008. To read the original article, link to  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/12/business/smallbusiness/12sba.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Small-Business+Agency%92s+&st=nyt&oref=slogin June 12, 2008

To the editor:

Your piece on the U.S. Small Business Administration ("Small-Business Agency’s
Problems Linger as Leader Moves on to HUD," 6/12/08) was stunning in its
omission of hard facts on the agency's transformation—which were provided to
the Times—but also in its omission of letters and proclamations of support for
the agency's turnaround from industry groups and legislators.

SBA guarantees loans to small businesses.  Our progress has been praised by
bankers, community lenders, and credit unions.  Lenders are coming back into
our programs for the first time in years.  Why? It used to take 9 months for
SBA to honor a guarantee in its flagship program.  Now it takes 3 weeks.  We
have designed more relevant products for the market.  Our interactions with
banks are increasingly automated and we are providing better support to them
throughout our network.

SBA helps small businesses get government contracts.  In 2006 (the last year
with published data), small businesses reached a record level of federal
contracts.  Women-owned small businesses experienced their largest year of
growth and hit a record level.  Small disadvantaged businesses (generally
minority-owned) hit a record level.

SBA has also led tough-minded efforts to improve the integrity of small
business contracting data and to tighten the rules to qualify, reducing the
value of contracts coded as small business by over $10 billion, increasing new
opportunities.

Finally, in 2006 SBA was ranked 30th out of 30 in the Best Places to Work
survey among federal agencies.  After only one year of reforms, SBA morale
skyrocketed, placing it among the top ten in respect for leadership, overall
job satisfaction up 9 percent, and satisfaction with leadership communication up
11 to 16 percent.

The story goes much deeper, but then again, the Times knows that.  You
have seen the data.

A detailed rebuttal of the article and a compilation of comments about SBA are
at: http://www.sba.gov/news/index.html

Sincerely,
Jovita Carranza
Acting Administrator
U.S. Small Business Administration