Exports receive boost from SBA

9/27/2011

The Small Business Administration has provided $30 million worth of state grants in an effort to achieve President Barack Obama's target of doubling the export trade over the next five years, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The funds, authorized under the Small Business Jobs Act as part of the State Trade and Export Promotion program, were granted to 47 states and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the Virgin Islands.

"Strengthening the nation's economy through a substantial increase of U.S. exports is a top priority for the Administration and the agency," said SBA administrator Karen Mills. "This is a unique partnership between the federal government and the states. Sharing responsibilities and resources will help new small exporters across the country enter and succeed in the global market."

The STEP program will support approximately 2 million jobs, and provides around 65 to 75 percent of overall program costs. This comes at a time when small business lending is still sputtering, as the government's Small Business Lending Fund regulators only approved approximately one-third of the 932 loan applications it received this fiscal year, the Arizona Business Journal reports.

WSJ adds that U.S. export of goods and services reached a record high of $178 billion this July, and have totaled $2 trillion this fiscal year.