How the Small Business Administration Can Support Your Organization 

Small businesses are vital to our regional economy and to the American economy overall. In fact, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce reports that more than 700,000 small businesses directly employ 1.5 million Massachusetts residents, accounting for nearly half of the workforce. The recovery of these small businesses after the coronavirus pandemic could very well be the solution to our economic recovery in the coming months and years. 

Sadly, the covid-19 pandemic shut down and altered the course of many small businesses growth over the last two years. Small and medium-sized business reopenings in the Boston, Massachusetts area are lagging behind. 

There is help out there and today’s blog is meant to show one such organization that can help – the Small Business Administration of Massachusetts and the North Shore. 

What is the Small Business Administration (SBA)? 

The SBA is a government agency that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. It offers resources like training and educational materials for small business owners. It also has the capability to match SBA-approved lenders with small businesses in need of financing.

In short, the SBA is the voice and advocate of small businesses that need assistance getting started and remain thriving as their business grows and expands. 

How the SBA Can Help

The Small Business Administration has many roles within the small and medium-sized business community. Here are a few of the most important during this time of economic recovery. 

Securing Funding

Financial assistance and lender matching is one of the main objectives of the SBA both nationally and at the regional and local levels. 

Rather than providing loans, the SBA backed loans are provided by banks and other financial institutions. Through the SBA’s business connections, your small business may be able to find an investor for your business through a Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) licensed by SBA.

Additionally the SBA offers disaster assistance, grants, and surety bonds to help businesses in our region grow and thrive, especially after the strains of the last two years. 

Learning Opportunities

Beyond the financial help that the SBA can assist with, they also have a wide range of learning and training opportunities designed to not only help employees become specialists in their field, but to help business leadership grow in their roles. 

Although there are numerous learning centers, the SBA has adjusted their model in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic to offer online learning courses including some of the following options: 

• Boots to Business, training for service members getting back into civilian life. 
• Ascent for Women, helping women with free online training to start their own business. 
• Emerging Leaders Initiative, executive-level series designed to accelerate the growth of high-potential small businesses in America’s underserved cities.

Mentoring Programs 

Financial support and training programs are just the tip of the iceberg for the SBA. They also offer mentoring programs such as the nationally recognized SCORE Program. This mentoring program allows business leaders access to the nation’s largest network of volunteers and expert business mentors. 

Check out the Massachusetts SBA site to see how they may be able to help your small business recover and thrive in this post pandemic economy. 

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