Snowe Supports Expanding Small Business Opportunities for Veterans and Active Reserve Members

            WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, yesterday introduced legislation that would increase small business opportunities for the nation’s veterans and active Reserve members. Snowe was joined by Senators Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Larry Craig (R-ID) in introducing the Veterans Small Business Opportunity Act of 2007, which would improve the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan (MREIDL) program and expand business development and procurement opportunities for veterans.

            “Today’s small business owners play a vital role in the economic stability and prosperity of our nation,” said Senator Snowe.  “Many of these entrepreneurs are veterans who have served our nation in the past and continue to do so today.  We must ensure that our dedicated troops are provided with the necessary resources to help their small businesses thrive while they courageously serve overseas.”

             The state of Maine has one of the highest Guard and Reserve deployments in the country and subsequently, servicemen and women who own or are employed by small businesses experience production slowdowns, lost sales, or incur additional expenses to compensate for employee absence. 

            Senator Snowe recently commissioned a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study which found that 35 percent of Guard and Reservists either work for small businesses or are self-employed.  This legislation would offer much needed support to returning veterans and small businesses that often pay a disproportionate or unfair share of the burden increased by the Guard or Reserve member call-ups.

            The legislation would:

·        Raise the maximum MREIDL amount from $1.5 million to $2 million. A maximum military reservist loan amount of $2 million is the same level as many of the SBA’s other loan programs, including: 7(a) loans, international trade loans, and 504 Certified Development Corporation loans that serve a public policy goal.

·        Allow the SBA Administrator to offer loans up to $25,000 without requiring collateral from a loan applicant.  Currently, the SBA offers military reservist loans up to $5,000 without collateral.  This provision would increase that level to eligible small businesses.

·        Require the Administrator to give military reservist loan applications priority for processing and ensure that Guard and Reserve members are adequately assisted with their loan application by incorporating the support and expertise of SBA entrepreneurial development partners, such as Small Business Development Centers and Veterans Business Outreach Centers.

·         Authorize increased appropriations for the SBA Office of Veteran Business Development to $2 million for FY 2008, $2.1 million for FY 2009 and $2.2 million for FY 2010.  Increased appropriations for SBA’s Office of Veterans Business Development will help them better assist the nation’s veterans and provide the business services they need. 

·        Strengthen the access of veterans and service-disabled veterans to Federal contracts and subcontracts.  Under the Small Business Act and the President’s Executive Order 13360, Providing Opportunities for Service-Disabled Veteran Businesses to Increase Their Federal Contracting and Subcontracting, Federal agencies must award at least 3 percent of prime contracts and subcontracts to small businesses owned by service-disabled veterans. To remedy this, the legislation puts the force of a Congressional statute behind the requirements of the President’s Executive Order.

·        Ensure that veterans and service-disabled veterans do not face confusing and duplicative red tape before they can be eligible to access the Federal procurement market.  Currently, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the SBA both operate registration databases for small businesses owned by veterans and service-disabled veterans.  A veteran must often register in both databases to be properly considered for bidding.  This legislation requires that a single registration point for both of these databases be established within a year.

·        Permit the SBA, in cooperation with the Department of Veterans Affairs, to develop a business development assistance program (including mentor-protégé assistance) to be administered by the SBA.   This legislation includes a requirement to expand procurement opportunities for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, while ensuring the continued success of other SBA contracting programs.  

·        Create an interagency task force among Federal agencies charged with improving procurement opportunities for service-disabled veterans.  The scope of this task force will focus on increasing veterans’ small business success, including procurement and franchising opportunities, access to capital, and other types of business development assistance.

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