Mayors Join with Small Business Administration to Launch Historic “Partner America™” Initiative
Partnership Will Promote Small Business Growth and Development in Cities Across U.S.

By Jennifer Johnson and Jubi Headley

At the 68th Annual Winter Meeting, Conference President Denver Mayor Wellington E. Webb announced the creation of the nation’s first small business/city resource partnership between the Conference and American Management Services of Waltham, MA, entitled Partner America™, and welcomed the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) as co-chair of the Mayor’s Small Business Task Force.

Partner America™ will soon name members to the Mayor’s Small Business Task Force, and welcomes participation from Mayor’s interested in guiding the strategy and focus of this important small business/city initiative. Mayor’s interested in participating should contact Jennifer Johnson, Partner America(tm) Managing Director at the Conference at 1-877-PRTNRAM (1-877-778-6726).

According to Mayor Webb, Partner America(tm) “reflects our strong commitment to work with respected small business supporters from the SBA, Commerce and Export-Import Bank, and private enterprise, to help American businesses realize maximum profitability and take advantage of the billions of federal resource dollars earmarked each year for small businesses.”

Joining Partner America™ are the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Export-Import Bank of the United States.

Partner America™ features include:

• management technical assistance to small and mid-sized businesses, enabling them to increase their profits and sales, improve cash management, and become better positioned to take advantage of available federal resource dollars and programs.

• positioning cities and metropolitan areas as the centers of, and for, business commerce.

• empowering Mayors to serve their appropriate role as central advocates for business, ensuring sustainable growth and economic development.

• facilitating participation opportunities for businesses to take advantage of government programs and private capital access programs.

• The debut of a unique economic publication serving as a barometer on local business success, growth and opportunity.

Partner America™ is offered to eligible small and mid-sized businesses in hundreds of cities across the nation over the next decade. The program will be initiated in cities throughout the eastern United States and will progress to cities in the West.

Through Partner America™, the Conference, American Management and local Mayors will aggressively advocate for small business development and growth. American Management will provide its implementation-based, profit improvement programs to interested firms, and will facilitate participation in federal resource and private capital access programs determined appropriate for the business.

“Businesses cannot simply finance their way to profitability. It can only be achieved through effective and committed management”, remarked George A. Cloutier, Chairman/CEO for American Management. “Our role will be to help business owners improve profits, sales and cash, and to facilitate their participation in important and appropriate government resource programs.”

Designed to provide management expertise, technical assistance, education and government procurement opportunities to small and mid-sized firms in every state and hundreds of cities across the nation, Partner America(tm) is the first comprehensive long-term public-private initiative focused on American small businesses.

Mayors interested in participating or obtaining additional information should contact Jennifer Johnson, Partner America™ Managing Director at the Conference, at (877) PRTNRAM (877-778-6726).