Petaluma, Calif. – President Barack Obama’s future plans for the Small Business Administration (SBA) are raising concerns within the small business community. The American Small Business League (ASBL) is sounding the alarm and expressing its concerns over President Obama's future plans for the SBA.  The ASBL is concerned that President Obama may try to follow through on Bush Administration plans to close the SBA by combining it with the U.S. Department of Commerce. 

A recent Obama Administration joint statement between SBA Administrator Karen Mills and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke has fanned the flames of concern over President Obama's plan.  ASBL points to the fact that President Obama has broken every campaign promise he has made to the small business community. 

During the 2008 presidential election cycle, President Obama promised to restore the SBA’s budget, restore the SBA Administrator to a cabinet level position, implement the 5 percent set-aside goal for women owned firms, and stop the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants.  To date, President Obama has failed to honor these campaign promises.

In February of 2008, after accepting the endorsement of the ASBL, President Obama released the statement, "It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants."  (http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php)  

On Friday August 21, the Obama Administration released its 2008 small business goaling report.  An analysis of the data by the ASBL found that 8 of the top 10 recipients of small business contracts were large businesses, which received 85 percent of the total dollars awarded to those firms.  Large businesses also received 64 percent of the total amount of contract dollars awarded to the top 100 recipients of federal small business contract dollars. The largest recipient of federal small business contracts was Textron Inc., which is a Fortune 500 firm with 43,000 employees. (https://www.asbl.com/documents/20090825TopSmallBusinessContractors2008.pdf) 

"I don't trust President Obama.  He has lied to me, and he has lied to every small business in America by breaking every promise he has made to the small business community," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. "I am very concerned that he may try to dismantle all small business programs by combining the SBA with the Commerce Department."

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Please click here to watch ASBL President Lloyd Chapman discuss the ASBL’s concerns regarding the Obama Administration's small business plans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKLK7c_1vX4