Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
What happened to the SBA? Over the past several years, theSBA's budget, staff and employee morale have been cut in half.Investigations by the SBA's Office of Advocacy and the Officeof Government Accountability found that billions in federalcontracts awarded to some of the largest corporations in the worldwere reported as small-business awards. A report by the Office ofAdvocacy found that the SBA had completely failed to ensure thatbundled contracts were broken up to give legitimate smallbusinesses their fair share.
How did an agency established to assist small businesses come tothis? Somewhere along the way, the true mission of the SBA washijacked by bureaucrats and politicians. Now the future of the SBAis in jeopardy, as more information comes out that major defensecontractors like Northrop-Grumman and General Dynamics are theactual recipients of billions in federal small-businesscontracts.
How can the SBA recover? Restore the budget and staff. Eliminatepolicies and regulations that have allowed Fortune 1000 firms to beconsidered small businesses. And prosecute fraudulent firms.
Finally, entrepreneurs need to realize they have been duped.Several national organizations claim to represent your interests,but do they really? Federal investigations have found fraud,significant abuse and a staggering lack of oversight in federalsmall-business programs. Search the websites of the groups that youbelieve represent small businesses--if there is no mention of theseproblems and their efforts to address them, they are phonies. Whenyou find groups truly trying to address the problems at the SBA andother agencies, join, get involved, and support their efforts.
