By Camille Solberg
U.S. Small Business Administration Hector Barreto has announced
plans to bring the highly
successful Business Matchmaking program to Wisconsin next year. The
program is a public-
private sector contracting initiative made possible through a cooperative
agreement between
the SBA and the HP Small Business Foundation.
Barreto met in Milwaukee last week at the Sonag Co. with business and
community leaders
worked to plan dates, the program and a site for the Matchmaking event.
It is expected to bring together some 1,000 small business owners
from throughout
Wisconsin and nearby states with 200 procurement representatives from
federal, state and local
agencies, as well as representatives of major corporations.
Business Matchmaking has so far created more than 20,000 one-on-one
appointments between
small business owners throughout the country and purchasing
representatives from federal,
state and local government agencies along with dozens of the country’s
largest corporations.
During last week’s event, Barreto cited several Wisconsin government
contracting success
stories, including Sonag – a graduate of the SBA’s 8(a) business
development program, which
began out of a garage and now employs between 35-40 people.
Barreto praised what Milwaukee’s “vibrant” small business community.
“The economy is turning around here in Wisconsin and we want to do
anything we can to
continue supporting that momentum,” he added.
Barreto said 2003 was a good year for the SBA in Wisconsin.
“We actually broke all records here,” he said. “We did 100 million
dollars more in loans
than the year before . Which was just incredible! We also facilitated
more contract
opportunities and we will continue that momentum as well.”
Last month, the SBA and the HP Small Business Foundation announced plans
for a nationwide, 24-
7 “online Business Matchmaking” and counseling component to the venture.
This new feature will
be piloted initially in five cities starting in January, 2005, with
national roll-out later in
the year.
In FY 2003, Wisconsin received $1.7 billion in federal procurement
dollars out of that $240
billion spent by the U.S. government ranking it 45th per capita by state.
The upcoming plans
for Business Matchmaking for Milwaukee and Wisconsin will create the
enthusiasm for small
businesses to pursue federal procurement dollars and increase economic
growth that those
dollars generate.
Many representatives of Wisconsin small communities and business groups
attended the event,
including the Wisconsin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
A free, half-day workshop was given to small business owners. It was
designed to train and
educate participating small businesses to effectively learn the
procurement process prior to
the Business Matchmaking event. SBA, SCORE and Small Business Development
Center counselors
will also be available throughout the year to assist participating
companies in gearing up for
the Business Matchmaking opportunity.
Barreto said Milwaukee was selected to be the site for the Midwest
Regional Business
Matchmaking event because of the high level of interest among small
business owners, as well
as the support available through the SBA and its resource partners.
Robyn West , HP’s vice president of small and medium business said the
foundation is looking
forward to welcoming small business owners from throughout the Midwest to
our Milwaukee
Business Matchmaking event.
West said the city is well known for its energy and commitment to
entrepreneurship and is home
to a large number of significant organizations that support business
growth and diversity.
For more information on Business Matchmaking and upcoming events, please
visit
www.businessmatchmaking.com.
