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IEEE-USA President Gordon Day and SBA Chief of Staff Ana M. Ma at signing ceremony on 18 June.

07.09

IEEE-USA Forms Alliance with Small Business Administration

By Russell Harrison

On 18 June, IEEE-USA President Gordon Day signed a historic agreement between IEEE-USA and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) at special signing ceremony at SBA headquarters in Washington, D.C. The agreement establishes a strategic alliance between the two groups for the purpose of encouraging and fostering the creation of new high-tech businesses.

According to Day, the agreement will benefit IEEE members who are starting their own technology-based businesses.

“The American high-tech industry was created by individuals who had the vision and courage to create new products, companies and even whole industries based on little more than ideas and hard work,” Day said. “Big companies like HP and Apple started in garages. By partnering with SBA, we can help find and nurture America’s next generation of advanced technology companies and business leaders.”

SBA provides aid, counsel and advice to small businesses by providing them with financial, contractual and business development assistance. SBA also advocates on behalf of small business interests within the federal government. It has a host of programs and initiatives designed to help Americans start new businesses and then help those businesses thrive.

The alliance between SBA and IEEE-USA will help improve communication between the agency and U.S. technology entrepreneurs. Under the agreement, SBA will provide IEEE-USA with information on SBA programs, products and services. The agency will also share information on its resource partners, including SCORE and its local Small Business Development Centers; provide speakers to participate in IEEE-USA events to discuss SBA financing, government contracting and other business topics; invite IEEE members to attend local SBA-sponsored events; and offer training at IEEE-USA-designated locations.

“The SBA and IEEE-USA have joined together to help some of the nation’s most innovative entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses,” SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills said. “This cooperative agreement means that more technical businesses will be able to benefit from SBA programs, services and financial assistance as they create the jobs of the 21st century.”

For its part, IEEE-USA will use its communication channels, including this publication, to disseminate SBA information to U.S. IEEE members. IEEE-USA will also be working with SBA to identify and recruit IEEE members who are interested in volunteering to help mentor other engineers who are working at high-tech start-ups through the Agency’s SCORE program.

IEEE-USA and SBA will provide speakers for each other’s workshops and conferences.

Perhaps the most important benefit that will come from the Alliance is not spelled out in its terms. The Strategic Alliance between SBA and IEEE-USA is designed, primarily, to build a bridge between the two organizations. There is a recognition at SBA that the promotion of technology companies is essential to the economic health of our country. The Agency further recognizes that it could do a better job promoting these businesses.

By aligning with IEEE-USA, SBA hopes to gain access to the expertise that IEEE’s 215,000 U.S. members have accumulated on how to launch and promote successful new high-tech companies. It is also hoped that the alliance will facilitate free-flowing communication between technology entrepreneurs and SBA, so that entrepreneurs can benefit from SBA services — and also so that SBA can learn from the entrepreneurs. Over time, this two-way communication should improve the quality and usefulness of SBA services and help foster a new generation of great American technology companies.

IEEE-USA’s efforts will be coordinated by its Entrepreneurial Activities Committee [www.ieeeusa.org/careers/entrepreneurs]. U.S. IEEE members who would like to learn more about the committee or its work with SBA can contact IEEE-USA staffer Scott Grayson at s.grayson@ieee.org.

To read the related IEEE-USA news release, visit: www.ieeeusa.org/communications/releases/2009/062309.asp.

Russell T. Harrison is IEEE-USA's Legislative Representative for Grassroots Activities. Comments on this article may be submitted to todaysengineer@ieee.org.