Nickname: Terry Williams

Review: Good for BusinessWeek -- updated the article to correctly show the status of the USWCC claim against the SBA. We appreciate your update very much. [Readers: Don't be confused by other "Terry" posting. Not me.]

Date reviewed: Jun 7, 2006 3:54 AM

Nickname: SBA 2

Review: So many of you have no clue that it is scary. The SBA loan programs are not subsidized by our tax payers. They currently work at ero subsidy. Further, SBA loans have created thousands of jobs and tax revenue dollars. OK - we shut down the program and then in 4 yeras everyone will ask where are the Federal Express, Sun Microsystems, Mrs. Fields, Allen Edmonds Shoes, and other companies that started with SBA loans. SBA loans support small business incubation.

Date reviewed: Feb 25, 2006 3:14 PM

Nickname: SBA

Review: I'm a former SBA'er too and I agree with Mr. Dupray. Shut this program down. It is an agency that has outlived its usefulness. If you can't survive on your own the taxpayer should not be holding the bag for incompetence.

Date reviewed: Feb 13, 2006 12:44 AM

Nickname: Brendan

Review: I think Terry should re-read the article before posting for a third time. It very clearly states the Women's Chamber won the suit. That point is that the suit should have been unnecessary if the SBA was commited to its mission.

Date reviewed: Feb 10, 2006 3:03 AM

Nickname: Terry

Review: I am sorry that I am an idiot. I do not have the mental capacity to comprehend the above article. I totally thought the article stated that the Women's Chamber lost the case, when in fact the article states that the Chamber won and a request for a dismissal was thrown out. Please forgive me for being such an idiot.

Date reviewed: Feb 9, 2006 3:34 AM

Nickname: jdupray

Review: I think President Bush and the GOP should close the SBA. Who needs you! Any American who is anybody can make millions on their own. They don't need to pay outrageous and high interest loans from the SBA. That is why the GOP promotes independent business development and not the SBA. The SBA is just a democratic means to placate American citizens and to make them think the government is on their side. The government is in business to make money. Get the sad-sacks to get a freaking job!

Date reviewed: Feb 2, 2006 4:01 PM

Nickname: Julie

Review: As one who has recently left the employ of the SBA I certainly agree with Mr. Chapman that the actions of the SBA in recent years have not been particularly small-business friendly. I do not think this arises from an agenda to "starve" SBA programs, but is perhaps the unintended consequence of a philosophical view that there should be no preferential treatment of any population -- whether it be women, minorities, or small business owners. In my view, this is naive -- and ignores the fact that assuming neutrality on an unequal playing field perpetuates discriminatory behavior and its consequences.

Date reviewed: Feb 2, 2006 2:32 PM

Nickname: Adrian

Review: I am impressed with what Lloyd Chapman says and I would very much like to have him comment on how the SBIR program is operating in the current climate, as the SBA has a supervisory role.

Date reviewed: Feb 2, 2006 10:30 AM

Nickname: SBA Refugee

Review: I don't know anything about Mr. Chapman or his organization and can't verify the facts he provides about government contracting and SBA but as employee who was forced out in 2004 as part of a restructure, I can certainly verify that the Bush Administration is giving lip service to small business while it methodically guts the one agency in government whose sole support is to support and foster small business growth and development. The restructuring process was done with a meat ax approach that left many offices without staff who knew anything at all about small business operation or lending. They are currently going through a phony "training" process so they can claim the agency is preparing its remaining employees to do the necessary work but, based on information given to me by SBA employees, it's all show with no substance. It is a real shame that Mr. Bush has been allowed to get away with this.

Date reviewed: Feb 2, 2006 1:33 AM

Nickname: SBACritic

Review: Additionally, SBA is totally mismanaging it's congressionally mandated oversight of SBA lenders. SBA has spent millions developing a lender and loan database administered by Dun and Bradstreet, but in over three years of development, it still has not defined policies and procedures on how to use and interpret the data it provides. The risk- based reviews performed by the Kansas City Review Branch are not even provided to the lenders reviewed. Additionally, those reviews are so poorly defined, that SBA does not even know what it wishes to learn about a lender during those intense reviews, and cannot define to the lenders what indeed they are looking to find. No one in the banking industry has shown the backbone to press SBA to define what it expects of lenders.

Date reviewed: Jan 27, 2006 5:49 PM