Petaluma, Calif. – On November 18, the Obama Administration will hold a small business forum to "determine what additional steps we can take to get credit flowing to small businesses that want to expand and create more jobs." As of the close of business on Friday, November 13, at 5 p.m. PST, the administration still has refused to publicly release any information on the event's specific time, location, agenda or attendees.

Despite claims that the event will play host to, "regulators, congressional leaders, lenders and small businesses," the American Small Business League (ASBL) is concerned the meeting will actually consist of the same old cast of characters from Congress, federal agencies, venture capital and big business.  A cast of characters that for more than 7 years has failed to stop the yearly diversion of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to some of the largest corporations in the world. Additionally, the ASBL is concerned that the event will silence legitimate small businesses, small business advocates and the media by omission.  

The ASBL is concerned the meeting could actually result in:

- A loophole that would divert federal small business contracts away from legitimate small businesses and into the hands of wealthy venture capitalists under the guise of "increasing access to capital" for legitimate small businesses.

-  A worst-case scenario in which the Obama Administration attempts to actually wind down federal small business contracting programs under the guise of bolstering the SBA by combining it with the U.S. Department of Commerce.

On several occasions senior Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have attempted to pass legislation to change the definition of a small business as "independently owned" to include firms owned and controlled by venture capitalists. On September 27, 2007, the House passed H.R. 3567.  If signed into law, the bill would have allowed firms majority owned and controlled by wealthy venture capitalists to hijack federal contracts earmarked for legitimate small businesses.

The ASBL maintains that such a change would put legitimate small businesses at a dramatic competitive disadvantage, cost thousands of jobs and further inflate the national unemployment rate.

"He put a venture capitalist as the head of the SBA and the SBA Office of Advocacy, you don't have to be clairvoyant to see where this sham small business conference is going, " ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. "I think Barack Obama is going to try to sell America's small business contracting programs to his buddies in the venture capital industry."

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Please click here to watch a short clip about the ASBL's concerns regarding the Obama Administration's small business conference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JvT7Btd_9s