September 8, 2003

Conference President Hempstead (NY) Mayor James A. Garner, joined Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Hector Barreto August 5 in celebrating the SBA's 50th anniversary by opening the NASDAQ market in New York's Times Square. NASDAQ is the world's largest electronic stock market, listing the securities of nearly 4,100 of the world's leading companies. Many NASDAQ Listed companies have benefited from the help of SBA, including Apple Computer, Inc., Intel Corporation, The Gymboree Corporation and Staples, Inc.

Following the market opening, Mayor Garner and Administrator Barreto addressed a large audience that had gathered for this event. In his remarks, Barreto recognized the importance of mayors and their efforts to help small businesses across the nation, and thanked Mayor Garner for his leadership and efforts as President of the Conference of Mayors. Barreto reviewed the agency's 50 year history, emphasizing that the SBA has expanded its array of programs to include financial and federal contract procurement assistance, management assistance and specialized outreach to women, minorities and veterans.

Nearly 20 million small businesses have received direct or indirect help from SBA programs since 1953, as the agency has become the government's most cost-effective instrument for economic development. The SBA's current business loan portfolio of roughly 219,000 loans worth more than $45 billion makes it the largest single financial backer of U.S. businesses in the nation.

Garner took the opportunity to speak about the importance of small business to our metro economies as shown in the U.S.Conference of Mayors annual report. U.S. metro economies comprise 85.6% of our Gross Domestic Product, 88.6% of our labor income, and 84.2% of national employment. As the engines of our economy, metro areas give rise to new industries, speed the diffusion of knowledge, spur technological innovation, increase productivity and promote growth. And of course, small businesses are the fuel of these engines. "It is clear that we must do everything we can to help businesses, especially small businesses, grow and prosper within our metro areas, said Garner. "As the bedrock of our cities economies, I believe that small businesses will lead our nation into a more robust economy and job growth."

Recognizing the significance of small business, in 1999 the Conference of Mayors developed a small business initiative called Partner America, which is designed to connect Mayors across the country with their small business communities and help small and mid'sized businesses succeed by improving profits and sales through access to federal, state and local programs and resources.

The Conference also recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the SBA, to foster small business growth and development through local outreach and increased awareness of SBA programs and resources.