I met with Greg Lopez, head of the Colorado Small Business Administration office this morning. Greg is the epitome of what you want in a government employee. He is knowledgeable, persuasive, focused, and incredibly enthusiastic. He also appears to know everyone in the main business community as well as our political leaders – which is key for his job. All in all, a great hire.
The most interesting thing was how the SBA operates. They not only are advocating and helping small businesses, but they themselves run much like a small business. They have a small number of people and a limited budget, yet they have a large number of efforts they must effectively complete. The government appears to be following the Microsoft model here where, when a job absolutely requires 5 people, assign 4 to it. I'm not saying that everyone at the SBA is working at 101%, but I think limited resources is a major constraint on what they can get accomplished.
Ok, so they're like us (small businesses) in many ways. Except… They can't advertise. They cannot spend a single cent telling people that they exist and how they can help them. So here's this great resource for small businesses. We spend all this tax money on it. Small businesses desperately need it. And they can't get the word out! This is nuts.
So back to Greg. Very interesting guy. He has owned companies, sat on numerous boards, was head of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and mayor of Parker. A really varied experience that fits really well with his present job. What was also interesting was he talked very little about his previous experience, definitely not someone who needs to brag.
The main part of his job is getting out and talking to business leaders, political leaders, etc. The topic he kept returning to time after time was getting all of these people to realize how key small business is to the economy and how their efforts to purchase from small businesses assist the economy. And he would drill in on what they need to do to actually insure they are buying from small businesses rather than just going through the motions.
He also discussed how the banks are not loaning to small businesses here. He talks to bank executives who swear that they are loaning – and he brings up the SBA loan numbers to show that no, it's at about ½ where it used to be. And he gets in their face about it. He can only push so much but at least we have someone calling these guys on their B.S. when they claim that they are loaning money.
We discussed the definition of a small business and he said that while a manufacturing company of slightly under 500 employees appears large to a 5 person company, it is still very small compared to the large concerns out there. But he then went on to say that size generally is not an issue at all and they are happy to help any company. And they have very large companies coming to them for help – on how they should implement their small business programs.
I've never been a big proponent of set-asides, even though they would help my business. But he made a compelling case for it. First off, he discussed how small businesses are the engine that drives the economy, they provide half the jobs in this country, and they tend to be better paying jobs. Because of that, it is in our general interest to encourage the success of small businesses as it improves the economy. (He also believes that if small businesses can drive the turn-around, we will get out of this economic mess a lot sooner.)
He then discussed the self-interest of a community to keep its public spending local where possible so the money gets a multiplier effect. When a city builds a new police station, everyone local who is paid for that work then turns around and spends a lot of that money locally, so the tax money that is paying for the building also boosts the economy. All things being equal, I can see the value of that.
He returned time and again to effective measurable efforts to assist small business. He is clearly focused on making a difference. What was interesting is he would like to see the federal government do this better – and state and local governments actually do it. He was very polite and did not bad mouth anyone, but he clearly doesn't see the state or local governments coming even close to the efforts the federal government makes. (And I can attest to that difference from personal experience – it's major.)
He did have nice things to say about Governor Ritter's recent efforts to have them do a small business road trip together where they talked to small businesses and sat down with them one on one to help them with their present efforts. Greg has a superb grasp of what small businesses need to watch, what they need to do, what can get in their way, etc. If he was not in a government position (where he can't do it) I would beg him to sit on the advisory board of my company.
All in all I'd say the SBA is operating well here and is in very competent hands. Yes they'd like more resources so they can accomplish more (wouldn't we all), but they are accomplishing a lot with what they have. And they provide a wealth of key information for small businesses – information that can easily make the difference between success and failure. And the best measure of Greg is at the end of 1 hour I realized I had mostly learned about and been sold on the SBA, not Greg Lopez.
In closing, I asked Greg what was the one piece of advice he would like to give all people starting a small business was. And his reply was that the SBA is here to be your partner on your road to success. Call them.
