businesses that spur innovation and far-reaching economic growth. please welcome the welcome a true leader to rebuild our nation. karen gordon mills. >> well, thank you, very much. we have heard from the vice president, we have heard from magic johnson, we have heard from many leaders in our nation's capital. today, we have a president that really gets it when it comes to

small business. he talks about how small businesses are born around the kitchen table he calls a small business the heart of the american economy. this it ministration is sending out a clear message, minority- owned small businesses are playing a crucial role in getting us out of this recession and into recovery. at the sba, we believe in the power and potential of minority- owned small businesses. we know that small businesses create over 70% of the jobs in this country and half of americans who work own or work for a small business. small businesses drive competition and a drive 23rd

century jobs. today, the sba is working to make sure that minority-owned businesses can not only survive but can grow. we have three priorities to do that. first, implementing the recovery act. the second is reinvesting in our agency. the third is to be the strongest possible voice of small business across the administration. first, the recovery act. economic stimulus. all of you know what happened in october. in october, banks stopped lending. credit lines froze. small businesses were struggling to find the capital that they need. congress and this administration understood that the small business community needed some extra help. they included over $700 million

for the sba in the recovery act. it has been six months. this has been a smart investment. we have been able to get the money into the hands of small businesses. it is working. in march, because of the recovery act, we were able to implement two important changes in the sba's top loan programs. we've reduced or eliminated many of the fees in our 504 programs. we wanted you small businesses to keep more of that money and to be able to reinvested back into businesses. we were able to increase the federal backing on our 7a loans up to 90% so lenders would offer more sba loans. as a result, we have been able to get more than 1000 lenders

who were not making loans after october that making sba loans. more than half of those have not participated in making sba loans since 2007. this means a bigger network. more banks and more points of access for all of you small businesses. as a result, our loan volume is up more than 50% from the weeks before the recovery act passed. this means that we have been able to put $9 billion into the hands of america's small businesses at this crucial time when they needed the most. i am proud to say that in the first six months of the recovery act, nearly 5500 of

these sba loans went to minority-owned small businesses. do you know how much that is? $2.2 billion in the hands of minority-owned small businesses. [applause] this is the everyday work at the sba. a study by the urban institute estimated that the sba loans are three times to five times more likely to go to a minority- owned business or a woman owned business than those that go to a conventional lender. the best part is that borrowers are reporting that the loans are helping create or maintain tens of thousands of jobs all

across the country as you've heard this week, we're not stopping. we are renewing our commitment to federal contracting with small business. we are working across the federal government to ensure that small businesses can deliver at least 23% of all the federal contracts. we have special goals and emphasis on minority-owned small businesses, women owned small businesses, and veteran owned small businesses. we see this as a win-win. minority-owned businesses get increased volume and sales. they can hire more people. they get a lift to be competitive and take their products across the globe. federal agencies win also. they get access to the most

innovative and nimble and responsive companies. often in a small business, they have direct access to the ceo and the owner. so far, more than 20% of stimulus contracts have gone to small business. we're hitting many of our targets. nearly half are going to minority-owned small businesses. if you count the big and small minority-owned small businesses, it is over 1 billion. we announced a government wide outreach effort to build on this success over the next 90 days. we will work with are for treatment partners -- we will work with our procurement

partners. we're doing matchmaking events. over two hundred events. we will help put contracts in the hands of people like you. i used to say it is like speedskating. i think is really a longer-term relationship. now i call it e-harmony. in the announcement, the president himself said that providing the maximum practical opportunity -- he called it essential. the vice president said, "the administration is committed to ensuring that small and minority-owned businesses are part of the economic recovery every step of the way." billions more in contracts are

coming down the pipeline. this push could not come at a better time. today i want to encourage you to do a few things. i want to make sure that you actively market more products and/or services to these agencies just like you would to any customer. i am pleased to hear that many of you have been actively doing just that. good. with both lending, contracting and the recovery act, we're doing a number of things. you're giving taxpayers a big bang for the buck. we're putting the brakes on this recession. and we're doing the side-by-side with minority-owned small businesses. [applause] we are also doing some other things. we are investing in and

reinvigorating our agency. we are investing in our strong network of partners to better serve all of you, all of the minority-owned small businesses. sba has great bone structure. we have more than two thousand employees. 68 district officers all across the country. you can add to that more than 1200 on call employees who come to an area when it is hit by a natural disaster. in addition, we have resources partners. we have 900 small-business development centers. many of you have probably used the services. and 100 women owned business centers. all of these 14,000 councilors are there. one of them told me they think

we have a counselor within one hour of most small businesses in this country. in fact, their businesses up more than 5%. within this vast bone structure, we have some very important people for helping with government contracting. we have dozens of procurements center representatives and they are stationed at federal facilities all across the country. i encourage you to get to know them, to reach out to them, to contact them. they're there to be your partners. we're also ensuring that all of our people and all of our federal partners stand ready to

meet your needs, the needs of minority-owned small businesses. to recap, we are driving the recovery. we are reinvigorating the sba bone structure. finally, the sba is serving as the strongest possible voice for small business. in this administration, small business has a seat at the table. we are taking action to show the importance value of small business. we are working with hard-hit industries like the automotive suppliers in michigan. i was there when we launched a cluster of these suppliers in the robotics industry, linking them to the department of defense, which has a great interest and robotic technology. we are working with the

department of energy to build on the grounds will start up firms that are creating green jobs. we're supporting efforts by our partners and working with the the department of commerce and others in events like this across the country. we will build on this and we will create an environment where all kinds of small business can flourish. from main street small businesses to some of the high- growth, high impact businesses like all of you in this room. that means we will also tackle some tough issues. one of them his health care. healthcare is the number one concern of small business. the number one concern is that small businesses need access to affordable health care. 13 million of the uninsured come from small businesses that have less than 100 people.

all of you out there who are providing health care, you pay up to 18% more for the same coverage as large businesses pay. we know small businesses are like families. you want to provide the coverage. it is a huge burden, especially in this economy. the situation now is untenable. there are options on the table. they're working their way through congress. but we do know this. we must have reform that provides access to affordable health care for small businesses. [applause] on this issue and on others, you can be sure that the sba is a strong voice here in washington for the interests of small businesses. it will become stronger every day and more informed every day

because of the partnership with business leaders like yourself. thank you. my commitment to you is that we will accomplish our priorities that i have described, working side by side with americans. 4 million minority-owned small businesses. thank you. thank you very much for being here. [applause] now i am pleased to give some awards. i am going to give the awards for the 8a graduate of the year, the sba administrators leadership award, and the national minority business

person of the year. before that, i want to do a quick recognition. is judith here? i hope so. if you are, stand up. i just want to say that the legacy award for lifetime achievement is given out every year. it goes to someone who has played a strong will in the process of the minority business community over 25 years or more. we're very proud that they chose one of our own at the sba. as i understand it, she will be recognized more formally tonight at the gala. i wanted to make sure that we also recognize her today. congratulations to our illinois district director, judith. [applause]

our first award is the national 8a graduate of the year. it is given to a firm that represents the true spirit of the 8a program. the award is highly competitive. the criteria are tough. they must make the most of the training and the mentoring opportunities in 8a. 8a is a business development program. they must show how they have grown to be an independent force in the marketplace. they must give back to their community. our winner has done all that and much more. she was born and raised in buffalo , in buffa -- she was born and raised in buffalo, new york. she worked for her father's plumbing company. after that, he told her she should do her own thing. she started slr contract team.

with a commitment to quality, customer service, and innovation, slr began to double sales each year and expanded to two more locations. you know how hard that is to double your sales. the business actively participated in both of our 8a programs. today, our winner also serves on a number of local nonprofit boards. she reaches out as a motivational speaker in the community. please help me congratulate the ceo of slr contracting and services, sundra l. wright. [applause] ♪

[applause] [applause] >> this year we have two administrators leadership awards. these awards are given to officials who have served as true ambassadors to our diverse small business community in federal government. the first winner worked for many years in contracting and

the department of justice and treasury, and now he serves as the associate administrator in the office of small business utilization at the department of homeland security. he helps small businesses who want to contract, and he does it very well. in his most recent scorecard, dhs hit all but one of the schools. furthermore, if it agency says that they're having difficulty reaching one of their contracting goals, we refer them to him as a model of our very best practices treaty served as the vice chair of the interagency council that

includes all of our federal government, small business, small and disadvantaged business utilization offices, and the sba has already recognized him with two other major awards. when he speaks about federal small business procurement, people listen. please tell me recognize kevin. [applause] [applause] >> the second winner of this award works for many years in the heartland regional offices of the general services

administration. she has a strong track record as a champion for our 8a and hud zone programs. in addition, she consistently speaks out about the benefits of working with minority-owned small businesses, women owned, and veteran known to small businesses. in january, she was selected as the acting associate administrator for gsa's office of small business utilization. we know that she has helped build a foundation for successful contrasting at gsa. if you saw our scorecard last week, you saw the results of her work. gsa was the only federal agency to meet all five of its contracting goals. small business, small disadvantaged businesses, and

service disabled veterans. she continues to set the bar. please help me recognize mary parks. [applause] ♪[applause] >> finally, i am pleased to present our national minority- owned small businesses person of

the year award. first things first. like to recognize that 10 regional minority-owned small businesses people of the year. it is a very competitive process to become a regional winner. these dynamic individuals already own and operate 8a firms that have begun to show signs of growth, sales, and job creation. they have to be in business for at least three years, show a good track record of performance, and they need to show that they are active in the community. its 10 businesses will be recognized again this evening. if the regional winners could please stand so we can give you a big round of applause. [applause] >> and now the final award. this is a surprise, i think. this year's national winner is a company that was established in 2002.

these two professional engineers came together to build a company based on high quality service for every client. they offer a wide range of services, from geotechnical consulting t mccanno a and electrical services -- to major renovations. they said no job was too big or too small. they have projects ranging from $3,000 to $6 million. they quickly grew to serve both public and private sector in both north carolina and south carolina. but perhaps most importantly, they know that their people are their biggest asset. it is not just their staff, but it is also the many small businesses that they have begun

to mentor and help grow and subcontract with. i am very pleased to honor the 2009 national minority-owned small business people of the year, cyrus and lawrence. [applause] ♪ we are one to leave this program now to go live to a moral service for senator edward kennedy. it is about to begin at the presidential library in boston. friends, colleagues and family members are expected to celebrate the life of the senator. some of the expected speakers include vice president joseph

biden, senator kennedy's denise, caroline, and centers chris dodd, john mccain, john kerry and orrin hatch. this is live coverage. we are looking at the entrance to the library as guests continue to arrive for a memorial service for senator edward kennedy.

>> good evening. it is my honor to welcome you all this evening on your behalf as well as mine to offer our sincere condolences to the entire kennedy family. only recently pained by the loss of eunice kennedy shriver, and now by the passing of senator edward m. kennedy. to the senator's children, patrick, karin and caroline, jim all of d