This is the main question within the veteran-owned smallbusiness community in light of recent events. Businesses with fewer than 500employees account for:

·        99% of all employer firms,

·        jobs for over half of the nation's private workforce,

·        nearly two-thirds of all new jobs, and

·        44% of total U.S. private payroll.

This is a huge part of the American economy, giving theAdministrator of the SBA the potential to have major influence on Americancommerce. Surprisingly, the top SBA position has been vacant for some time now,leading me to believe that the Executive Branch does not view small businessprogress as a priority. Surely there are plenty of people with the talent anddesire to have a key position like this to serve their country and thousands ofsmall businesses across the country.

After appointing Karen Mills as the new SBA Administrator in2009, President Obama elevated SBA to Cabinet-level status in January 2012.Small businesses across the country hailed this political advancement of smallbusiness a major victory.
Under Mills tenure, the SBA backed more than $106 billion in loans to smallcompanies. This included record years of more than $30 billion worth of loanguarantees in both 2011 and 2012. Mills led a charge to make it easier forsmall businesses to apply for various government-backed loans and automatedmuch of the application process.

Her tenure was also marred by allegations of widespread fraudand abuse of SBA programs, according to FOX Business News.

During Mills' term at the SBA, the minimum 23 percent of federalcontracts that should go to small business by law was never met. Federalcontracting goals for woman-owned firms, Service Disabled Veteran-Owned smallbusinesses, minority-owned and HUBZone small businesses were rarely – if ever —met.

Though one cannot say if the lack of meeting these smallbusiness 'goals' precipitated this change of course and Administrative action,rumor has it that SBA might be shifted to the Department of Commerce. Noverifiable source has been identified to sustain this rumor.

At that time, the Pentagon was the driving force behind twofailed campaigns to move SBS to Commerce.

However, interesting developments within SBA may give someindication of what may be in store for the Small Business Administration.

Lloyd Chapman writes in the Huffington Post:

"Senior Pentagon officials and some of the biggest names in thedefense and aerospace industry have been lobbying for more than thirty years toclose the SBA in order to cover up decades of rampant fraud in federal smallbusiness contracting programs by the DoD and its prime contractors. The excusesfrom the government that every year, for over a decade, small businesscontracts wind up in the hands of some of the nation's largest defensecontractors as a result of "miscoding, computer glitches, anomalies and simplehuman error" are starting to wear thin and are no longer believable orsustainable.

"ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN have all covered the story of thediversion of hundreds of billions of dollars in federal small businesscontracts to major Pentagon prime contractors." Full article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lloyd-chapman/pentagon-pr-heavyweight-t_b_3825196.html

Majormedia sources contend, however, that a senior Pentagon PR official, RetiredCommander Terrance Sutherland, has taken over the SBA press office. Sutherlandhas tamped down some of the biggest flare-ups ever in DoD. What's odd aboutthis? DoD has never met of the minimum contract expenditures awarded to smallbusiness. The most recent years of the SBA 'Scorecard' indicates that DoDranked among the worst government agencies to contract with small business. Andthe "Scorecard" is just another toothless, bureaucratic measurement that shouldbe very easy to meet.

Some small business representatives, including many forservice-disabled veteran owned small business (SDVOSB) and veteran owned smallbusiness (VOSB) regard Sutherland's reassignment as a ruse to appease the smallbusiness community. His reassignment could accomplish several things:

·        Prop-up DoD's flailing 'Scorecard' numbers to small business;

·        Redirect giant contracts that account for the massive cases ofDoD contract fraud to small business;

·        Prepare the Commerce Department for incoming SBA functions;

·        Aid in dismantling the SBA;

·        De-rail HR 2882, a bill introduced last month by Mike Coffman(R-CO), to transfer SDVOSB/VOSB from VA to SBA;

·        Increase employment opportunities in both agencies for the hugeinflux of veterans returning from the Middle East. This accomplishment is theonly positive economic result, but very unlikely. DoD and VA public relationsoffices (AND Sutherland) would have publicized the heck out of this weeks ago.

Sutherland, a retired Commander in the US Navy, was a careerpublic relations professional handling controversial DoD situations such ascases of "rape, murder, downed spy planes, terrorist attacks, shootings by militarypersonnel, Saddam Hussein and advanced weapons systems.

Sutherland has been on the front lines many times with greatsuccesses for DoD.

On another front, the Government Accountability Office's (GAO)recently released Report 10-108, which indicated: "By failing to hold firmsaccountable, the SBA and contracting agencies have sent a message to thecontracting community that there is no punishment or consequences forcommitting fraud." GAO also found that up to 25 percent of Pentagonexpenditures cannot be accounted for.

Now THAT'S a major flare-up, but can Sutherland address this? Ihope so, but what then with SBA? Does it lose its status as a Cabinet-levelagency? Will it become a pawn in the Commerce Department? Just another wing inan invisible government building? If this turns out to be the case, smallbusiness will rank extremely low in the American economic landscape.