Operation HOPE Founder, John Hope Bryant, Vice Chair of the U.S. President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy and Chair of the Council's Committee on the Underserved, today publicly commended the U.S. Small Business Administration and its leadership as the agency officially launched the new U.S. SBA Office of Entrepreneurship Education, particularly with its focus on urban, inner-city and low-wealth communities.
Inspired in part by the work of the President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy, the new SBA Office of Entrepreneurship Education will serve as a one-stop shop for information on how to start, maintain or grow a small business, including an emphasis on financial literacy. The newly renamed Office of Entrepreneurship Education (OEE) will also provide small business training, counseling and access to resources, and could prove particularly important to individuals and groups of particular interest to Mr. Bryant; from aspiring young people looking for opportunity in their lives, to those living with dignity in America's inner-cities, to those living in low-wealth, rural and under-served communities across America. With this action the SBA became the first federal agency to take action in response to Executive Order signed by President George W. Bush on January 22nd, 2008, which simultaneously created the U.S. President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy, and made financial literacy U.S. federal policy for the nation. The new SBA division will promote the goals of the U.S. Advisory Council on Financial Literacy by encouraging financial responsibly as it advances America's economy. Mr. Bryant also commends SBA leadership for their support here; from former administrator and associate administrator Steve Preston (now Secretary of HUD) and Anoop Prakash, to current SBA Acting Administrator Jovita Carranza. ------ Operation HOPE supports the SBA for emphasizing the importance of financial literacy and a particular focus with this office on minority communities and the under-served, as they announced today the re-launch of their entrepreneurial training for small business. The new division will promote an understanding of financial responsibly while it helps to advance America's economy.
President's Council Member Ignacio Salazar,president and CEO of SER-Jobs for Progress National, Inc., and point person for the SBA Initiative for the Council Committee on the Under-Served, said"SER is an organization engaged in workforce development for a largely Hispanic population. As such, we have found that the workforce of the future needs to be just as prepared to work for themselves as they are for someone else. Entrepreneurship in the Latino community is a long-standing tradition but as the systems of commerce and finance become more sophisticated, the ways in which individuals learn about the 'business of business' are also evolving. As organizations like ours seek to coordinate and collaborate our work with business, government and other non-profit entities to meet this need, we are excited by the news of the establishment of the SBA's Office of Entrepreneurial Education as we know it will serve as a great resource in these efforts."
Complete press release and information from the U.S. SBA follows...
PRESS RELEASE Date: July 28, 2008 Contact: Christine Mangi (202) 205-6948
Release Number: 08-73 Internet Address: http://www.sba.gov/news
SBA Broadens Office of Business and Community Initiatives To Focus on Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurial Education
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Small Business Administration is re-launching one of its primary entrepreneurial training divisions to broaden its focus into a one-stop shop for information on how to start, maintain or grow a small business, including an emphasis on financial literacy.
The newly renamed Office of Entrepreneurship Education (OEE) will be a division of the Office of Entrepreneurial Development, which provides small business training, counseling and access to resources.
“SBA is excited to re-launch the Office of Entrepreneurship Education because it will help build small business ownership and strengthen SBA’s focus on improving the economies of underserved markets through small business ownership,” said SBA Acting Administrator Jovita Carranza. “It will also help us move forward President Bush’s agenda to increase financial literacy, which is critical to advancing America’s economy.”
“Financial education is a critical first step to owning your own business,” said Council Chairman Charles Schwab. “With the SBA's leadership, would-be entrepreneurs are going to have access to the kind of financial education necessary to be successful."
“Entrepreneurship is such a natural option for so many individuals living in underserved communities across America,” said John Hope Bryant, vice-chairman of the President’s Council on Financial Literacy and founder, chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE. “In fact, it is precisely a generation of minority entrepreneurs, rooted in an understanding of financial literacy, the language of money and free enterprise and capitalism, that will best move a community from underserved to adequately served. That is the need that the new SBA Office of Entrepreneurship Education will help to fill, and the President’s Council is honored to support the SBA in this important initiative.”
OEE combines SBA’s online education programs, business and community initiatives, and youth outreach under a single umbrella, and will serve as a federal clearinghouse for information related to small business development.
The office will place special emphasis on the agency’s youth entrepreneurship activities to help develop the next generation of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship education has become one of the strongest vehicles to deliver financial literacy at the high school and college levels. Recently, the SBA worked with the Aspen Institute’s Youth Entrepreneurship Strategy Group to address such topics as aligning youth entrepreneurship within the educational system and with government resources, and clarifying the role of the private and public sectors.
The new office complements SBA’s efforts to accelerate delivery of its products and services to underserved markets, such as inner cities and rural communities, including initiatives designed to generate jobs and business growth to strengthen local economies in these areas. SBA’s Emerging 200 program, launched earlier this year, supports promising businesses in 10 inner cities across the country through rigorous education and training programs. Rural Lender Advantage, a loan program that simplifies SBA lending for smaller and rural lenders, was rolled out in 10 states last year by SBA’s Office of Capital Access and will be available nationwide in the fall.
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