Small Business Management and Technical Assistance Training Programs

Robert Jay Dilger
Senior Specialist in American National Government

Oscar R. Gonzales
Analyst in Economic Development Policy

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has provided “technical and managerial aides to smallbusiness concerns, by advising and counseling on matters in connection with government procurement and on policies, principles and practices of good management” since it began operations in 1953. Initially, the SBA provided its own small business management and technical assistance training programs. However, over time, the SBA has relied increasingly on third parties to provide that training.

The SBA’s FY2010 budget for management and technical assistance training for small business owners is $181.1 million. The SBA expects more than one million aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners to receive training from an SBA-supported resource partner in FY2010.

The SBA has argued that these programs have contributed “to the long-term success of these businesses and their ability to grow and create jobs.” It currently provides funding to about “14,000 resource partners including about 900 small business development centers, more than 100 women’s business centers and more than 350 chapters of the mentoring program, SCORE.”

The Department of Commerce also provides management and technical assistance training for small businesses. For example, its Minority Business Development Agency provides training to minority business owners to assist them in becoming suppliers to private corporations and the federal government.

For many years, a recurring theme at congressional hearings concerning the SBA’s management and technical assistance training programs has been the perceived need to improve program efficiency by eliminating duplication of services and increasing cooperation and coordination both within and among SCORE, women’s business centers (WBCs), and small business development centers (SBDCs). Congress has also explored ways to improve the SBA’s measurement of the programs’ effectiveness and to address the impact of national economic conditions on WBC and SBDC finances and their capacity to maintain client service levels and meet federal matching requirements.

This report examines the historical development of federal small business management and technical assistance training programs; describes their current structures, operations, and budgets; and assesses their administration and oversight, the measures used to determine their effectiveness, and WBC and SBDC finances and their capacity to maintain client service levels and meet federal matching requirements.

This report also discusses P.L. 111-240, the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, which authorizes $50 million in additional funds for SBDCs to provide targeted technical assistance to small businesses for various specified activities, such as seeking access to capital or credit, federal procurement opportunities, and opportunities to export products. The act also guarantees each state not less than $325,000 of these additional funds and waives the non-federal matching requirement for these additional funds. The act also authorizes the SBA to temporarily waive, in whole or in part, for successive fiscal years, the non-federal share matching requirement relating to “technical assistance and counseling” for WBCs.


Date of Report: October 6, 2010
Number of Pages: 33
Order Number: R41352
Price: $29.95

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