flood that flooded grand old opry, including a lot of small businesses. now two years later, i was very happy to walk main street with the mayor and say we put $124 million into homeowners and small business owners to help them get back on their feet. and we do this in smithville where the tornadoes came, floods, hurricanes. we have an unbelievable team of -- and you're going to hear more about that at our phoenix award-winning lunch. can i do something about this buzz? so this is the core of what we have -- this is the core of what we have been able to do at the sba.

better? i want to make sure you can hear me. and i want all of the sba staff to stand for a minute. i'd like to give them all of a -- all a round of applause. i see my technical assistance people. so let's just walk back about three years ago. you know, when i first took this job, the economy was in terrible, terrible shape. and all of you remember this because you were running your businesses at the time. the banking market just froze. america's small businesses took it really hard. and we were able to step in and give access to the capital markets with our loan guarantee

programs through the recovery act. and we made helping small business a top priority. what have we done? i want to make sure one point is clear. small businesses like tax cuts. right? well this administration has put through 18 tax cuts for small businesses. and if you don't know what they are, come to our website and we'll walk you through them. we want to make sure you have taken advantage of all the potential tax cut opportunities. tax cuts for hiring unemployed workers, veterans, allowing small businesses to write off the full cost of new investments, things like new machines against last year's taxes, and the president recently called on congress in the to do list to pass another tax cut for small business as one of his top five priorities. number three on that list is a small business tax credit of 10% tax credit to firms that create jobs or increase wages in 2012. and we want to extend the 100% expensing. that's the accelerated depreciation for all businesses

in 2012. we also passed the recovery act, we passed the small business jobs act. that was the most important piece of small business legislation in ten years. and this legislation gave us the flexibility to do more to help you grow your businesses. we have supported $79 billion since 2009 in access to capital. 150,000 small businesses. and then we brought a thousand community banks back to sba lending that hadn't made a loan since 2007. then we turned our attention to

the big banks and we got our top 13 lenders to commit $20 billion of incremental small business lending. so we have the small community banks back and we have the big banks back. but there's still work to do on filling the gaps for small loans in an underserved community. and we have been focused on that for the last year, and we're going to continue to work on that with some new programs and simplifications, more doors, more dollars so we can make sure we have all of our entrepreneurs able to get access to the capital that they need. so now we are beginning to see the economy improve. when i sit down with a small business today, it's a different conversation. three years ago, it was i need a loan to save my business. now you need a loan to buy the next piece of equipment. i need a loan to hire more people, grow my business. in the past 26 months, our economy has created more than

4.2 million private-sector jobs, many of them at small businesses. and it's more than triple the number of jobs that were created in the recovery of 2002 to 2004. but if you -- and if you look at the economy today, we have put in place for small businesses and across the economy some of the structure that we need to do what the president calls build an economy that's built to last. that means an economy that's not built on a bubble. right? it's built on small business growth. it's built on investments and entrepreneurship. it's built on advanced manufacturing. it's built on increased exporting.

and as we go forward, we want to make sure this foundation is inclusive that there's access and opportunity for all our entrepreneurs in this country because that's what makes our country strong and successful. what are we doing? well, now we are turning our attention to the skills issue. many of you have told me when i come out that your number one problem is finding skilled workers. especially in manufacturing. and darlene miller, who will be up on stage with us shortly, has been instrumental -- i won't steal your thunder. she's got some great programs, skill building and precision manufacturing, which is her company's area. and we're working on supply chains. many of you are part of a supply chain serving america's largest companies or the federal government. we have just started with ibm working on a whole set of programs called supplier connection. part of our american supplier initiative to make sure that small companies can find those

opportunities and that big companies can find the small companies. we've got, right now with ibm, 16 major companies, like citi bank, facebook, caterpillar. working through this, and one of the things i'm going to ask everybody here is go take a look and see if your business works for this supplier portal because we're trying to get more small businesses into -- to be signed up. we have over 4,000 now. so supplier connection. we're going to be talking about this more over the next day and a half. this is what national small business week is all about. it's about opening the doors. it's about making sure entrepreneurs from all the communities across this country

have access and opportunity to grow their businesses. you know, i was with the president last week and we kicked off national small business week. and we did it in the great tradition. we went out to a small business that served food. we went to a sub shop called taylor gourmet, which is right here in town. and it was started up by two young men from philadelphia. they came to washington and they couldn't get a good hoagie. there's always a different impetus for creating a business. and they claim, by the way, it's not cheesesteak that philadelphia is known for. it's the hoagies. so they truck the bread down every morning from philadelphia. and we had a terrific time talking to them. and here's what they told the president. they told the president that they started their first shop,

they had some success, they started their second with input from friends and family and capital. they wanted to start their third -- they were tapped out. right? and one of our sba district directors was walking door to door, walked into their shop and said i'm from the sba. i want to know what's going on in your business. how can i help? the owner said he grabbed for his business card, and we were able to fund the third store and the fourth store and the fifth store. eagle bank said, you know what? we don't need the sba guarantee. that is the story -- and the president absolutely got this. that's the story. we don't create your business, but we can accelerate what you do. and then -- until the marketplace recognizes and then helps you grow to the next level. e so at that store were the two

young men who ran that, and two other entrepreneurs. kathy rachels was there and she owns an organic market. and she's a korean immigrant and had sba's support. she turned to the president and she said, i am living the american dream. that's what she said. brian smith was there. he started a contracting and construction business after decades of working for other people. he's now a prime contractor for the federal government. he does the excavations. he's part of that win-win that we were talking about when we talk about federal contracting. these entrepreneurs and small business owners and all of you here today and all across the country are the reason that i believe in america's future.

you are the foundation stone of an economy that's built to last. that's why the president, the sba, all across this administration, we are committed to helping you grow and succeed. america's greatest strength has always been rooted in the ingenuity of you, our small business owners, and the imagination and in the diversity of our entrepreneurs. and in all of our productivity together, it's this powerful combination that built the greatest economy in the world and it's produced the greatest innovations in the world and it's helped lift generations of americans into the middle class

and allowing them to do what kathy said, live the american dream. together we're going to make sure that this proud tradition continues, and together we will create an america that is built to last. thank you very much. [ applause ] >> well, thank you, again, for being here. so i now have the great pleasure of bringing forth -- of sitting on a panel that we're going to have together. let me get my notes. but first, where's kathy?

so i'm going to invite the other folks who are going to run the panel up to the podium to sit with us. and i'm going to also ask cathy martine from at&t to come up and say a few words to you. kathy is the executive vice president for small business solutions and alternate channels at at&t, but she leads a $13 billion business, which is the services to small business owners. so if any of you need some help, kathy is here. and she and at&t are really long-time sponsors of national small business week. i really want to thank them so much for their support. welcome cathy up to say a few words and my co-panelists for the rest of the town hall up to

join me here. [ applause ] >> thank you, administrator mills, and good morning, everyone. as always, it's such a pleasure to be here. i'm always inspired by administrator mills' comments and stories. about all of you, small businesses. you truly are the american dream and you are fueling the american economy. like karen, small business week really is the highlight of my year. i do a lot of public speaking, but nothing makes it as enjoyable than being with all of you, because you represent what america stands for in terms of entrepreneurialism and really consistently persevering through adversity. some of the statistics you heard about during the challenges of 2008, many of you lived that and are here to tell this story and that's why it's so exciting to be here with you. running a business requires a a lot of dedication, persistence, and the art of the possible, because you have to

seep opportunity when opportunity may not be there. and while the economy is slowly recovering, it's still not enough. and anyone who is committed to sustaining that american dream and building an economy to last must ensure that all of us large corporations as well, has to support small businesses as best we can. so to that point, at a large company, at&t, we have turned our focus on a couple of key areas. first is convincing large companies about the importance of creating a more diverse supplier mix by hiring small businesses. we have a committed goal to hire small businesses as contractors, and we try to persuade other corporations that's really important and that's how we can help. second, the providing of financing. we heard how difficult it is. it's gotten better, but we have tried to support the financing by the financing of some of our products and services. and third, is technology. to drive future growth. at at&t, we're supporting initiatives that attract and provide financing and encouraging the use of powerful technologies and applications that help make

companies like yours faster and more productive. i hope while you're here you'll stop at our booth to talk to some of our great sales representatives, but take some of our brochures and see what technology can do for your business. in terms of supplier diversity, in 2011, at&t spent $12 billion with certified diverse suppliers. most of them small and medium-sized companies. that's 23% of our total spending with diversifiers last year. of that $12 billion, we spent $9 billion with minority-owned firms. and $3 billion with companies owned by women. and i see many of you represented in the audience here today. we firmly believe if you want to be a leader in innovation, you need to work with diverse innovative suppliers to help you go to the next level. the next area is financing. that is a topic of mine i talk to and remains a significant break on economic progress. the number of small business

loans from established lenders has improved, but we can still do more. i know the sba has been working very hard through karen's diligent leadership on making sure she can fill the gaps through other loans and other institutions. so have companies like at&t. over the past two decades, at&t capital has provided more than $6 billion in financing for small businesses and municipalities. that allows companies like you to access badly-needed financing and that's been one of the key priorities from the first time i attended small business week three years ago, and i heard that question time and time again. during 2010 and 2011, at&t provided nearly $240 million in badly-needed financing to allow customers to buy products that can make their company work for effectively. so we continue to place a premium on providing this level of support for one reason. when you have the tools to succeed, we succeed especially in the market segment i'm responsible for. and access to funding is very

closely-linked to the third area of focus, and that's access to technology. innovation, and you heard that from the companies that have taken use of sba in the past of support in the past are the oxygen of small businesses. no other sector of the economy innovates more faster or effectively than you do. that's an area we spent a lot of time considering our best practices and understanding how we can help unleash the capacity of your businesses to become smarter and more productive. so i'd like to share a couple examples of how providing technological support and cash flow. one of them is a company in minnesota that karen had examples from nashville. i don't today. lone range sir a minnesota based garden design company. it supplements its income in the winter by plowing snow. as my fellow panelist can attest, snow pretty plentiful in minnesota in the wintertime. for lone ranger, a snowstorm is a fleet management challenge.

the more effectively and efficiently you can track and manage drivers, the happier your customers and the more profitable your business. managing a fleet of snow plows in minnesota is anything but smooth sledding. drivers need to know where to go, how to get there, and to track how long to spend at each location. how many jobs you can do during that particular snowstorm makes a difference between a good day and a bad day. now, lone ranger employs a web-based application that uses each mobile device to track the driver, monitors completion times and automatically bims customers as each job is finished. so there's no paper in this equation. it also ensures there's not a lot of time spent at starbucks. realtime routing has slashed fuel costs, helped drivers become more efficient, and provides more accurate and timely customer billing which is always a challenge to small businesses and better business productivity, of course. in miami, a florida-based

corporate catering company stands out in a crowd of competitors because in a market like florida and miami, catering comes down to how good your food looks and the importance of how your customers will perceive it. so their mantra is, so what looks good takes good. armed with smart phones, the companies event managers use realtime photo sharing to share pictures of table tops for review, critique and modification by the owner. the managers can make any needed adjustments on the spot. they can also send the photos to the clients and attach a final bill. the result, more satisfied customers and more timely receivables. in addition, corporate caterers manage their fleet of 40 drivers on a busy day. ensuring the food is arriving where it's supposed to, when it's supposed to, to the client's satisfaction. unquestionably, smartphones and tablets have become critical aspects in your business arsenal. that's one of the reasons why this morning we're announcing a

suite of mobile services called at&t mobile protection pack. it's designed to protect mobility lifeline and your livelihood and provides insurance and something i know i could use, gps tracking, of your location. if you have left your phone somewhere, it can track where it is, and enhanced support for your mobile devices. so our goal is to make it even easier to replace or locate missing devices and get the support you need to focus on running your business, not tracking down your cell phone. darlene and rick are going to share their examples of how it's helped their business, but i think it's a key in an industry in terms of how we can help. let me close by saying i'm so thrilled to be on this panel. i stand in awe of your commitment, dedication, and positive attitude, not to mention the fact you're making money, and i have no doubt given the right resources and technologies that you'll continue to

provide the foundation for a strong economy. thank you for what you do so well every day, and i hope you're as pleased as i am to work with an organization as wonderful as the sba that is so committed to helping you assess the tools and the need to do even better. thank you so much. [ applause ] >> well, good morning. can you all hear okay? that buzz was kind of annoying, but i want to make sure you can hear well. my name is rick cochran, the president and ceo of mobile medical international corporation. last year i was the sba small business person of the year. [ applause ] thank you. it really was a glorious moment. something for those of you who

will be there today and sitting and waiting, and one person obviously will be selected. and it is a great honor. it's a very humbling experience, but i think it's something then we have a responsibility, something i have felt over the last year as i had an opportunity to speak at rotary clubs, and at even some commencement addresses, things i'd never done before, but to share with people the impact of small business in america, and i think that really is the key, and i appreciate the vision that administrator mills provides and what she has done for us. i want to tell one side story and then i want to introduce darlene miller. after last year, after winning the national award, going home that weekend, it was a full weekend. a lot of interviews, activities, we had an international delegation coming to our facility.

we met with them sunday night. that sunday night happened to be the evening that the tornado hit in joplin, missouri. so the next morning one of my staff members came to me and she said, we don't know what we don't know, but everybody is scanning trying to get information about the tornado that decimated the hospital. there was just little information in those early hours, and so we thought, you know, as i stood on that stage as i thought about the moment with administrator mills and the moment i felt the appreciation and respect for the opportunity to be recognized as a national small business person, i said, you know, let's do something that we haven't done per se. we took a mobile unit. i'm involved in mobile hospitals. we took one of our units and put it on the road to joplin, not even knowing if there was a need or not. it ended up that that was a seven-story building that was decimated and not only did that unit get used, but when the ceo and the coo of that hospital saw

what we had on site, they said, we need another one. and our two mobile surgery units have been in use until just last month when they converted to an interment facility while they were building their permanent one. so i would say to administrator mills, it was inspiring, but it also inspired me, and thank you for that. [ applause ] i would like to introduce darlene miller. who is the president and ceo of pervac industry. darlene is the owner and ceo, a kbloebl le global leader in the precision and machining industry. they are located in minnesota manufacturing products for customers around the globe in a variety of industries including aerospace, medical, transportation, and many others. they have received a number of awards. i think notable is that darlene was the sba 2006 minnesota state winner. she was also the 2008 national

chamber of commerce business person for the entire u.s. and currently she has been appointed to sit on the president's council for jobs and competitiveness. darlene. [ applause ] >> thank you, and good morning. i'm really excited to be here today. and as brian mentioned, my real job is owning a small business. i have 38 employees. and we are in the very high-tech precision machining. we do a lot of things in aerospace, defense, and have made some great connections through the sba and with nasa. so we make a lot of tiny components, metals and plastics. so that's my real job i do every day, but i'm really excited to serve on the president's council for jobs and competitiveness and be a voice for small business.

and i really truly believe that the president and all of the staff have really listened to a lot of our recommendations and made a lot of the changes, as administrator mills alluded to earlier in the small business jobs act, and many other areas such as regulatory that we're also working on. so i'm really excited to be here today and answer any questions that people might have. >> okay. thank you. i think you hear a lot about the opportunities, a lot of the things the sba are doing, and that really is important. that is critical to the success for 1345u8-of-small business. but now we have an opportunity kind of in a smaller group, a town hall forum, to have some dialogue, some interchange amongst the panel to hear your questions and to be able to participate in this interactive. i think this is an opportunity not everybody is a billion-dollar company.

some of us are much smaller. some of us are starting up. some of us have been in business for years and still in the growth stage. so what are the problems? what are the kinds of issues that impact you? things that you'd like to ask, things that we could talk about. there are certainly a few, and i'll just toss out as i look at some of the issues that are out there. we always talk about the importance of capital, and i think you have heard some wise counsel on that. but there's a practicality of capital. how many businesses start off, you know, with too much capital in their banks? probably not many of us. we're struggling, we're trying to find the way to piece things together, we're trying to boot strap it along the way, and yet i think that's the message. i think that's the heart of america. we do what it takes, whatever it takes, however long it takes, we

are persistent and we get the job done. i think we've proven that over and over again as a country. but i would like to say from my perspective, one of the things i know we've done, when i initially started the company, i went out to 70 physicians, individuals with whom i had been working. i was setting up surgery centers around the country. and out of those 70 doctors, i said, okay, let's see if i could find some folks who might be willing to invest. so i wrote a letter and put a little plan together and out of 70 physicians, 35 came back with a positive response. if you're doing any kind of marketing, one-half is fantastic, but 50% in anything is a good number. so i took the feedback and a few of them said, let's get a few of us together. three surgeons, a