FULL COMMITTEE MARKUP OF H.R. 2352 THE JOB CREATION THROUGH ENTREPRENEURSHIP ACT OF 2009 HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION HEARING HELD May 13, 2009 Small Business Committee Document Number 111-022 Available via the GPO Website: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/house U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 49–617 PDF WASHINGTON : 2009 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Aug 31 2005 13:13 Aug 12, 2009 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 G:\CLERKS~1\HEARINGS\TRANSC~1\49617.TXT DARIEN Congress.#13 HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS NYDIA M. VELA´ ZQUEZ, New York, Chairwoman DENNIS MOORE, Kansas HEATH SHULER, North Carolina KATHY DAHLKEMPER, Pennsylvania KURT SCHRADER, Oregon ANN KIRKPATRICK, Arizona GLENN NYE, Virginia MICHAEL MICHAUD, Maine MELISSA BEAN, Illinois DAN LIPINSKI, Illinois JASON ALTMIRE, Pennsylvania YVETTE CLARKE, New York BRAD ELLSWORTH, Indiana JOE SESTAK, Pennsylvania BOBBY BRIGHT, Alabama PARKER GRIFFITH, Alabama DEBORAH HALVORSON, Illinois SAM GRAVES, Missouri, Ranking Member ROSCOE G. BARTLETT, Maryland W. TODD AKIN, Missouri STEVE KING, Iowa LYNN A. WESTMORELAND, Georgia LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas MARY FALLIN, Oklahoma VERN BUCHANAN, Florida BLAINE LUETKEMEYER, Missouri AARON SCHOCK, Illinois GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania MIKE COFFMAN, Colorado MICHAEL DAY, Majority Staff Director ADAM MINEHARDT, Deputy Staff Director TIM SLATTERY, Chief Counsel KAREN HAAS, Minority Staff Director (II) VerDate Aug 31 2005 13:13 Aug 12, 2009 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 0486 Sfmt 0486 G:\CLERKS~1\HEARINGS\TRANSC~1\49617.TXT DARIEN STANDING SUBCOMMITTEES Subcommittee on Contracting and Technology GLENN NYE, Virginia, Chairman YVETTE CLARKE, New York AARON SCHOCK, Illinois, Ranking BRAD ELLSWORTH, Indiana ROSCOE BARTLETT, Maryland KURT SCHRADER, Oregon TODD AKIN, Missouri DEBORAH HALVORSON, Illinois MARY FALLIN, Oklahoma MELISSA BEAN, Illinois GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania JOE SESTAK, Pennsylvania PARKER GRIFFITH, Alabama Subcommittee on Finance and Tax KURT SCHRADER, Oregon, Chairman DENNIS MOORE, Kansas VERN BUCHANAN, Florida, Ranking ANN KIRKPATRICK, Arizona STEVE KING, Iowa MELISSA BEAN, Illinois TODD AKIN, Missouri JOE SESTAK, Pennsylvania BLAINE LUETKEMEYER, Missouri DEBORAH HALVORSON, Illinois MIKE COFFMAN, Colorado GLENN NYE, Virginia MICHAEL MICHAUD, Maine Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight JASON ALTMIRE, Pennsylvania, Chairman HEATH SHULER, North Carolina MARY FALLIN, Oklahoma, Ranking BRAD ELLSWORTH, Indiana LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas PARKER GRIFFITH, Alabama (III) VerDate Aug 31 2005 13:13 Aug 12, 2009 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 0486 Sfmt 0486 G:\CLERKS~1\HEARINGS\TRANSC~1\49617.TXT DARIEN Subcommittee on Regulations and Healthcare KATHY DAHLKEMPER, Pennsylvania, Chairwoman DAN LIPINSKI, Illinois LYNN WESTMORELAND, Georgia, Ranking PARKER GRIFFITH, Alabama STEVE KING, Iowa MELISSA BEAN, Illinois VERN BUCHANAN, Florida JASON ALTMIRE, Pennsylvania GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania JOE SESTAK, Pennsylvania MIKE COFFMAN, Colorado BOBBY BRIGHT, Alabama Subcommittee on Rural Development, Entrepreneurship and Trade HEATH SHULER, Pennsylvania, Chairman MICHAEL MICHAUD, Maine BLAINE LUETKEMEYER, Missouri, Ranking BOBBY BRIGHT, Alabama STEVE KING, Iowa KATHY DAHLKEMPER, Pennsylvania AARON SCHOCK, Illinois ANN KIRKPATRICK, Arizona GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania YVETTE CLARKE, New York (IV) VerDate Aug 31 2005 13:13 Aug 12, 2009 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 0486 Sfmt 0486 G:\CLERKS~1\HEARINGS\TRANSC~1\49617.TXT DARIEN C O N T E N T S OPENING STATEMENTS Page Vela´zquez, Hon. Nydia M. ....................................................................................... 1 Graves, Hon. Sam .................................................................................................... 2 APPENDIX Prepared Statements: Vela´zquez, Hon. Nydia M. ....................................................................................... 11 Graves, Hon. Sam .................................................................................................... 13 Documents for the Record: H.R. 2352 The Job Creation Through Entrepreneurship Act of 2009 ................. 15 Amendment to H.R. 2352 Offered by Ms. Dahlkemper of Pennsylvania ............ 65 Amendment to H.R. 2352 Offered by Mr. King if Iowa ........................................ 66 Amendment to H.R. 2352 Offered by Ms. Halvorson of Illinois .......................... 68 Internation Franchise Association ......................................................................... 69 (V) VerDate Aug 31 2005 13:13 Aug 12, 2009 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 G:\CLERKS~1\HEARINGS\TRANSC~1\49617.TXT DARIEN VerDate Aug 31 2005 13:13 Aug 12, 2009 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 G:\CLERKS~1\HEARINGS\TRANSC~1\49617.TXT DARIEN FULL COMMITTEE MARKUP OF H.R. 2352 THE JOB CREATION THROUGH ENTREPRENEURSHIP ACT OF 2009 Wednesday, May 13, 2009 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS, Washington, DC. The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 2:00 p.m., in Room 2360, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Nydia M. Vela´zquez [Chair of the Committee] presiding. Present: Representatives Vela´zquez, Moore, Shuler, Dahlkemper, Kirkpatrick, Nye, Clarke, Ellsworth, Halvorson, Graves, Bartlett, Akin, King, Gohmert, Fallin, Buchanan, Luetkemeyer, Schock, and Thompson. Chairwoman VELA´ ZQUEZ. I am pleased to call this afternoon’s markup to order. We are here today to mark up H.R. 2352, the Job Creation Through Entrepreneurship Act of 2009, which reauthorizes and modernizes the SBA’s entrepreneurial development programs. The bill expands the resources available to small businesses. In doing so, it will help spur job creation and economic growth. In their day-to-day operation, small firms are encountering many challenges, from declining revenue to difficulty securing a loan. Given these uncertain times, access to technical assistance is espe- cially critical. In some cases, it can mean the difference between a business’s success and its failure. Today, small business growth is especially important. With un- employment at a 26-year high, we need entrepreneurs now more than ever. They are the ones who are going to reverse this trend and produce the jobs our country needs. Small businesses have a proven record for job creation. After the recession of the early 1990s, small firms created approximately 3.8 million new positions. That number outdid large firms by half a million. During that time, it was often the laid-off factory worker or the downsized cor- porate executive who decided to start a business. In fact, nearly 25 percent of downsized managers over the age of 40 started their own firms. The connection between economic growth and entrepreneurial de- velopment is clear. By helping firms increase the efficiency of their businesses, H.R. 2352 will enable them to not only maintain, but hopefully expand their operations. I look forward to continuing the committee’s work on this impor- tant legislation. (1) VerDate Aug 31 2005 13:13 Aug 12, 2009 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 G:\CLERKS~1\HEARINGS\TRANSC~1\49617.TXT DARIEN 2 And I now yield to Ranking Member Graves for his opening re- marks. [The statement of Chairwoman Vela´zquez is included in the ap- pendix.] Mr. GRAVES. Good morning. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I would like to thank you for holding this markup on the Job Creation Through Entrepreneur- ship Act of 2009. This legislation makes critical changes to the en- trepreneurial program at the SBA at a time when many small busi- ness owners are struggling every day just to stay afloat. I thank the chairwoman for moving very quickly on this important bill. The SBA’s entrepreneurship development program provides nec- essary tools for America’s small businesses to not only exist but to succeed. Many entrepreneurs turn to this program for assistance in starting their businesses and for advice in helping their businesses grow. As we all know, the success or failure of small businesses in large cities and rural towns throughout our Nation is a direct re- flection of our economic health. Currently, small businesses are finding it increasingly difficult to meet their bottom line, much less become a thriving business. Cre- ative methods are being employed by entrepreneurs throughout the country as they try to figure out for themselves how to survive in this new economic climate. The Job Creation Through Entrepreneurship Act of 2009 con- tains vital components that work to increase coordinations, stream- line duplication and entrepreneurial development programs and spur job growth. As we have heard from multiple testimonies from those close to the issue, increased cooperation among these pro- grams is vital to these services provided by the SBA. This legislation also modernizes the distance learning function of the SBA by requiring the development of far-reaching online courses tailored to today’s entrepreneur. This new function will em- power small business owners in the most remote areas of the coun- try. In short, this bill sharpens already existing tools employed by the SBA to cultivate one of our Nation’s greatest natural resources, its entrepreneurs. Once again, I want to thank you for holding this timely markup on an important matter.