Small Business Administration: Overview and Issues

Publication Date: December 2001

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Business

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Abstract:

Legislation creating the Small Business Administration (SBA) was signed into law (P.L. 83-163) in 1953, early in President Eisenhower's first term in office. Successor to several agencies created during the "Great Depression" and World War II, the SBA was created on a "temporary basis" to address several perceived problems facing small business--problems that were accentuated by large-scale mobilization of American industry for national security. The enabling law declared it to be the policy of Congress that the federal government should aid, counsel, assist, and protect insofar as is possible the interests of small-business concerns in order to preserve free competitive enterprise, to insure that a fair proportion of the total purchases and contracts for supplies and services for government be placed with small business enterprises, and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of the nation.

The SBA is working in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other federal, state, and local agencies as well as the American Red Cross in support of the New York City Mayor's Office of Emergency Management (NYOEM) to assist the residents of New York City who were stricken by the September 11 terrorist attacks. The agency is also offering assistance to small businesses nationwide that have suffered economic injury directly related to the attacks. This report will be updated as events warrant or as required by legislative activity.

Response to Terrorist Attack. Following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the SBA dispatched employees from its headquarters and regional offices to augment its staff in New York. SBA loan officers are available in Disaster Recovery Centers located throughout the disaster area to assist business owners and individuals. SBA has long-standing disaster loan programs as well as other loan and managerial assistance programs that can help businesses deal with the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. (Details on SBA's response to the September 11 terrorist attacks can be accessed from the agency's home page at [http://www.sba.gov/].) Subsequent to the attacks, several emergency relief bills have been introduced in Congress to make additional firms eligible for SBA assistance under more favorable terms. In addition, the agency has acted administratively to provide greater access to its Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL).1