Celebrating the cornerstones of Illinois' local communities
Throughout American history, small businesses have been the cornerstone of our local communities. Families lived over these businesses. Neighbors convened in them. Children got their first summer jobs from them. Little League teams were sponsored by them. This is why each year the U.S. Small Business Administration sets aside an entire week, known as National Small Business Week, to honor and celebrate them and their successes.
The SBA's programs are focused on providing small businesses access to capital, free counseling and opportunities in federal contracting. Along with helping small businesses start, grow and create jobs, we also provide assistance to help spur economic recovery during disasters.
While we are much more, most see the SBA as the lending agency, even though it is banks doing the lending. We help finance manufacturing hubs and high-growth disrupters, as well as local restaurants and retailers.
In FY15, which ended last September, the SBA supported $33 billion in loans which, in turn, supported nearly 730,000 jobs. This was a record level of lending and illustrates America's small businesses are thriving and yearning to grow. Here in Illinois, we supported a record-breaking $1.25 billion. And, our extensive outreach and collaboration is contributing to marked year over year loan increases to veteran (nearly 85 percent increase), minority (nearly 30 percent increase) and women entrepreneurs (nearly 20 percent increase).
To encourage entrepreneurship even more in Illinois, the SBA supported accelerators and cities with grants. Our Startup in a Day campaign awarded $50,000 to Champaign and Peoria to help the cities create or implement a solution to allow entrepreneurs to apply for everything required to start a business in less than 24 hours. Chicago and Schaumburg also pledged to make the same thing possible in their cities. Further, four Illinois accelerators each received a $50,000 Growth Accelerator Award to help boost the economic impact they have with their startup initiatives.
We also worked to unlock opportunities for small businesses, encouraging them to expand their horizons and look for growth in new areas - specifically in exporting, as 95 percent of consumers live outside America's borders.
In Illinois, 90 percent of the companies exporting goods were small firms and they generated about a quarter (25 percent) of the state's total known export value. Through State Trade and Export Promotion (STEP) grants, which total more than $3 million in Illinois since 2011, and our trade finance and export counseling, we're helping small businesses enter and compete in the global marketplace.
Our most recent news regarding federal contracting, which also helps small businesses grow and create jobs, is just as impressive. In FY15, more than 25 percent of all federal contracts were awarded to small businesses. In Illinois, small businesses received $1.6 billion in federal contracts and in total across the nation the contracts amounted to nearly $91 billion, which supports 540,000 jobs.
With regard to disaster, we've been responsive here too. While a single catastrophic weather event did not occur in 2015, many severe storms and flooding caused damage in Illinois and the SBA supported recovery.
Small business owners sacrifice every day. At the same time, they create nearly two out of three new jobs in this nation. More than 98 percent of the businesses in Illinois are small and employ nearly half or 2.4 million of the state's private workforce.
National Small Business Week is about success and seeing it continue. Our economy needs the skills, ambition and work ethic of our Illinois' small business owners, as job growth and economic prosperity is only possible due to their hard work and perseverance. My challenge to you is to create your own success story, either as a business owner yourself, a partner helping them to succeed and/or as a customer supporting them.
Our offices in Chicago and Springfield are ready to help. And, our resource partners, including 32 Small Business Development Centers, 11 talented and active SCORE chapters and two women's business centers, are available for training and mentoring.
During National Small Business Week, we recognize the contributions small business owners make to our nation and recommit ourselves to empowering the entrepreneurs and small business owners who help drive the economy. We look forward to working with you and celebrating all the small business success here in Illinois. For more information, visit our website at www.sba.gov/il. I also encourage you to follow us on Twitter at @SBAGreatLakes.
•Robert Steiner is Illinois District Director of the U.S. Small Business Administration