WASHINGTON – As the nation celebrates its 240th birthday, Maria Contreras-Sweet, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, will be celebrating with small businesses in five states and 11 cities during the SBA Main Street Road Tour, July 4-8.
“Main Street entrepreneurship is at the heart of the American economy, contributing half of our nation’s productivity and creating two out of three net new jobs,” said Contreras-Sweet. “Communities throughout the country depend on local family restaurants, shoe stores, barber shops, and other small businesses to provide good jobs, generate vital economic activity, and deliver products and services at home and abroad. We launched this bus tour to make sure small businesses throughout the Delta Region know that the SBA is here and ready to support them through access to capital, counseling, federal contracting and even disaster assistance. And we are working to improve support for small businesses every day with our loan originator streamlining, technological embraces including LINC, the Small Business Technology Coalition, and Startup in a Day making it easier than ever for small businesses to start, grow and succeed.”
The SBA Main Street Road Tour is a weeklong bus tour that starts in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri on Monday, July 4th and concludes in New Orleans, Louisiana on Friday, July 8th. Contreras-Sweet will visit cities and towns along the route, which includes stops in Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. During her bus tour she will embark on Main Street walking tours, meet with local small businesses as well as members of the local Chambers of Commerce, city officials and business representatives. While meeting with all these groups she will emphasize SBA’s work to drive investing into U.S. communities of all sizes and shine a spotlight on the importance and impact of Main Street small businesses across the nation.
About the Small Business Administration:
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 and since January 13, 2012 has served as a Cabinet-level agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation. The SBA helps Americans start, build and grow businesses. Through an extensive network of field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations, the SBA delivers its services to people throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam. www.sba.gov