By Jeff Bean, Managing Director Partner America
September 25, 2006

It was six years ago when the United States Conference of Mayors announced the creation of PartnerAmerica™, a public-private partnership created by the Conference of Mayors and American Management Services to focus on the needs of our nation’s small businesses. PartnerAmerica™ has been such a successful program that the Conference and George A. Cloutier, CEO and Founder of American Management Services, recently signed a twenty-year renewal of the program.

“Through the PartnerAmerica™ program, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, has established a strong foundation to help small businesses in our country,” said Conference of Mayors Executive Director Tom Cochran. “We are fortunate to have a partner like George Cloutier who is one of the nation’s top experts and advocates of small and mid-sized businesses to help mayors reach out to their local businesses, and we look forward to even greater success over the next 20 years,” he added.

Designed to provide management expertise, technical assistance and education to small businesses, PartnerAmerica™ has worked with mayors throughout the country by hosting small business days, publishing best practices from around the country and helping local companies enjoy sustained growth through increased profits and sales.

“We are proud to be a Conference of Mayors Platinum Partner, and are especially excited that the PartnerAmerica™ program has been such a success,” said Cloutier. “We look forward to continuing our work with mayors across the country to help them link local businesses with the necessary resources to foster thriving business communities that are so integral to the economy.”

The Conference of Mayors Co-Chairs for PartnerAmerica™ are Kansas City (MO) Mayor Kay Barnes and Stamford (CT) Mayor Dannel Malloy. For more information about the PartnerAmerica™ Program or to schedule an event, contact Jeff Bean, Managing Director of PartnerAmerica™ at jbean@usmayors.org