November 3, 2003

Sugar Land (TX) Mayor David Wallace and the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce hosted a Partner America event on October 8 to discuss the significance of small business to the Sugar Land/Fort Bend community.

Wallace considered the event to be a great success. "Almost 200 small business owners learned more about how to enhance their profitability in our regional environment. As a small business owner, I understand the challenges and rewards that can be attained by these entrepreneurs. The Partner America program offered the opportunity to learn from the experts on how to grow their top line revenues, enhance earnings and access capital for their operations. Listening to world-renowned economist Dr. Arthur Laffer deliver the luncheon keynote address on how the global economy relates to businessmen such as ourselves, was an outstanding opportunity for us all," Wallace said.

The event was the inaugural event for the newly constructed Marriott Hotel and Conference Center at Town Square. The 300 room hotel and 60,00 square foot conference center is an important component of the overall Town Square project, which will include a mix of retail, office and residential space along with a new city hall.

The highlight of the morning session was Partner America Chairman George A. Cloutier, who engaged the business owners with his presentation "Do You Want To Make A Profit — The Partner America Challenge." He provided several tips for running a profitable business and challenged the attendees to take action to turn their businesses around and start making a profit. He also outlined the basic fundamentals of creating a successful business, offered tips for identifying available capital resources, and detailed the steps to building an effective organization. Cloutier has helped over 6,000 small business owners improve their profitability as Founder and CEO of American Management Services Inc.

"Small business is the engine that drives the national economy. Through Partner America conferences like this one, we can continue to foster the growth and success of small business by helping them secure government assistance, create jobs and improve profitability thus grow the local economy," said Cloutier.

Wallace moderated the morning session, which included speakers from the Greater Fort Bend Economic Development Council, Sugar Land Economic Development Office and the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce. They highlighted the key local opportunities available for small business owners and also presented an overview of the many economic development projects the city of Sugar Land is involved with, including the Town Square 32-acre mixed-use development project.

Representatives from the US Small Business Administration (SBA) and US Commercial Service discussed the variety of federal programs available to small businesses including loans, technical assistance and procurement opportunities.

Following the morning program, a luncheon was held with Laffer as the keynote speaker. Laffer was the Economic Policy Advisor to President Reagan and the father of supply — side economics. He provided the audience with some insights on the national economy and discussed his role as advisor to Arnold Schwarzenegger on the California economy.

Over 95 percent of those in attendance said the program met their expectations. If you would like more information about Partner America, or if you are interested in hosting a Partner America Small Business Conference in your community, please contact Jeff Bean, Managing Director of Partner America, at 781-487-0461 or send email to jbean@usmayors.org.