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Press Release – September 29, 2009Quick Links
Pennsylvania stands to lose some of the very features which brought its economy to the international stage in the ongoing budget negotiations. Pennsylvania Budget Proposals Shortchange Legacy of Smart Economic Development InvestmentsPHILADELPHIA—Last weekend, Pennsylvania played host to leaders of the 18 largest economies in the world at the G-20 Economic Summit, in which Pittsburgh served as a model for economic recovery. But the Commonwealth stands to lose some of the very features which brought its economy to the international stage in the ongoing budget negotiations. Pennsylvania’s enduring investments in economic development efforts—seen today in thousands of new jobs, new and expanding businesses, emerging technologies and a restored image—are on the chopping block. “It is a sad irony,” noted Christian Conroy, State Director of the Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers (SBDC). “World leaders came to Pennsylvania to study our success, and yet policymakers in Harrisburg are failing to fully support the very strategies that explicitly served to restore and rebuild our economy.” The Pennsylvania SBDC program began in the early 1980s as part of the state’s aggressive response to its economic crisis, which brought the demise of many large firms with outdated business models. The SBDC was established to create the state’s next generation of business leaders and has helped thousands of entrepreneurs capitalize on their innovations and sell billions of dollars worth of new technologies and products throughout the world every year since. The program aims to foster growth by leveraging assets of universities to help small companies achieve growth. Budget proposals thus far have failed to bring the program back to the $8 million previously invested to sustain the 18-center network. Other states comparable to Pennsylvania have significantly invested in economic development—especially those activities which support entrepreneurship. Michigan, for instance, increased its support for the Small Business Development Centers program by 54 percent to help restore its battered economy. Peer states including Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Ohio all continued to fund their Small Business Development Centers at a level at least the same as last year. “Pennsylvania, too, should bolster services proven to provide for its long-term prosperity,” said Conroy. “It was the strategic investments made in economic development in the past which have helped the state weather the current recession better than some of its counterparts.” Pennsylvania has 978,831 small businesses (defined as having fewer than 500 employees). At last count, small employers represented 98.4 percent of the state’s employers and 49.9 percent of its private-sector employment. In terms of job creation, innovation and productivity, research confirms entrepreneurs drive growth, even in recessions. "History has demonstrated this time and again: new firms create new jobs and fuel our economy,” said Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation. “Policies that support entrepreneurship support recovery." Kauffman research elsewhere indicates the importance of providing effective support to entrepreneurs. “The lesson is clear: Supporting small businesses is a smart economic development strategy,” Conroy affirmed. “Now is the time to invest in activities which promote economic recovery through creating new jobs, new companies, new tax revenues, new products and services which have raised the Commonwealth as a model for the rest of the world.” ### RelatedState Budget Impasse Hampers Efforts to Support Struggling Small Businesses What clients say about their experience with the SBDC
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