Today, I will discuss the state of the small business economy at the National Small Business Association’s Small Business Congress in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.  I will participate in the economic summit this afternoon, where I will discuss overall economic trends and answer a number of questions related to small business issues. 

In conjunction with this event, the Office of Advocacy will release the 2008 edition of The Small Business Economy: A Report of the President.  (Its publication had to be delayed for reasons beyond our control.)  We produce this book annually, and consistent with recent years, we have once again included some chapters from outsiders which I hope will spark some conversation.*  Note that SBE usually covers the previous year’s data.  These chapters are:

  1. “The Small Business Economy,” a look at the economic trends of 2007, by me.
  2. “ Small Business Financing in 2007,” an overview of small business lending conditions, by Victoria Williams and Charles Ou
  3. “Federal Procurement from Small Firms,” including the most recent data from FY 2007, by Major Clark and Radwan Saade
  4. “Profile of Small Business and International Trade,” focusing especially on export opportunities for small firms, by Kathryn Tobias and me
  5. “Small Business Training and Development,” examining small business investment in human capital, by Jules Lichtenstein
  6. “A Tax Policy Update for America’s Small Businesses,” an essay on major upcoming tax policy issues, by Donald Bruce
  7. “Business Creation in the United States: Entry, Startup Activities, and the Launch of New Ventures,” summarizing results of the new Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics II (PSED II) dataset, by Paul Reynolds and Richard Curtin
  8. “An Overview of the Regulatory Flexibility Act and Related Policy,” discussing the RFA highlights of FY 2007, by Cheryl Johns, Claudia Rodgers, and kate Reichert

If you would like to have a hard copy of The Small Business Economy, please e-mail me at chad.moutray@sba.gov, and we will forward one to you.

* One of the constant complaints about this publication is its timeliness.  We would like to push up the release of the SBE to earlier in the year.  Therefore, starting with the 2009 edition, we will publish the SBE by June (or thereabouts).  This first edition will be abbreviated, but it is possible that future editions would feature more chapters.


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