LET’S TALK ABOUT PROMOTING THE COMPETITIVE VIABILITY OF SDBs… ~ Wilfong

TO A SELECT FEW:

WILFONG’S THOUGHT OF THE DAY:

DECEMBER 21, 2008

ISSUE STATEMENT NO. 3930:  LET’S TALK ABOUT PROMOTING THE COMPETITIVE VIABILITY OF SDBs…

In our last Issuance we talked about the Auto Industry Bailout.  Now, we’ve been invited to talk about the Mortgage Industry Crisis as it relates to small business.  But, we want to talk about what’s really bothering us, as to the current crisises as they relate to minority small business.

Back in the early 80s, we served as the Associate Administrator for Minority Small Business/Capital Ownership Development under Ronald Reagan.  Back then, we believed in and practiced “developing and growing firms” and promoting the viability of firms owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals through the provision of contractual financial and technical assistance as may be necessary”.  Back then, SDBs were synonymous with Minority Small Business (MSB).

Somehow, since that time, it has seemed to become politically incorrect to refer to “Minority” when you’re talking about assisting small businesses.  Somehow, since that time, it has become more acceptable/desirable to talk in euphemistic terms like “disadvantaged” or other non-ethic terms-you know “race -neutral” stuff.

We need to get over that and get back to the nitty gritty.  You can’t fight racism and the effects of racism, with non-racial methods.  And, you can’t fight gender discrimination, with non-gender methods.  So, if we are to face and correct these issues, of racial and gender discrimination and their effects, then we need to accept that reality.  If there is no racial or gender discrimination, then we can feel free to stand down.  They no longer need us to stand on the wall.

Having said that, let us re-state what we have said for a long time, back then, and today. Racial and gender discrimination is still alive and well in America.  And, we still need to eradicate it.  As we chip away at these two, we will serve to ameliorate the problems minority and women-owned businesses have today.

A good start would be restoring the Office of Minority Small Business Ownership and Capital Ownership Development at the United Small Business Administration.  We hope to make these small businesses in the minority and women sector competitively viable, and we’ve solved a lot of the “Economic Crisis” and “Mortgage Crisis” in the small business community, in general.

We hope Change will bring with it a new attitude about what is “politically correct”.  We hope that Change will bring about a new conviction to “putting your money where your mouth is”.  We hope that the new Administration will have the nerve to do what it KNOWS is right, and not what is politically acceptable.

NO WILFONG HOUR THIS COMING WEEK OR NEXT….

The struggle continues, until we succeed-and we shall-YES WE CAN!!!!!

Henry T. Wilfong Jr., MBA, CPA

President, NASDB

Current or Former Positions:

• Three-time Appointee of Governor and President Ronald Reagan
• Pasadena, CA City Councilman
• Member, Bush-Cheney Transition Team-SBA Advisory Group
• Member, Department of Energy, Small Business Advisory Committee
• Associate Administrator for Minority Small Business/Capital Ownership Development, SBA
• Member, National Council on Policy Review-Black Capitalism
• Member, Presidential Task Force on International Private Enterprise
• Member, California Council on Criminal Justice
• Member, NASA Advisory Council
• Chair, NASA Minority Business Resource Advisory Committee
• Co-Chair , Unity Network and Black Republicans for Obama/(BRO)
• Chair, The WILFONG Hour

NASDB INSTITTUE OF LEARNING ~ SPRING SESSION-APRIL 16TH

“WILFONG’S SCHOOL FOR ADVANCED SMALL BUSINESS STUDIES”

When: April 16, 2008

Place: Marriott Savannah Riverfront

100 General McIntosh Blvd.

Savannah, GA.

 

For more information, contact the NASDB at | 912.692.1168 | hwilfongjr@aol.com

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About the SDB INSTITUTE OF LEARNING

By Hank Wilfong

 

“The SDB Institute of Learning was developed out of the tremendous need and desire of small and minority business owners, Congressionals and Governmental Agency staffers to know what small businesses are entitled to, what the laws are which protect them, and how to effectively support the small and minority business owner.

 

Our parent body, the National Association of Small Disadvantaged Businesses is a Trade Association of minority and women-owned businesses. NASDB is devoted to the enhancement of opportunities for minority and women-owned businesses to be able to fully and freely participate in the business of America. We aid in this endeavor primarily by educating minorities and women as to what they’re entitled to under the law, and how to best demand it.

 

We also educate Governmental agencies and the contractors who serve them, as to their responsibilities under the Constitution and the laws enacted by Congress. And finally, we seek to create an environment conducive to potential suppliers interacting successfully with the potential customers. We provide a forum for that to develop.

 

We tap into some of the great minds of the day. We copy from some of the Masters of yesteryear. We help develop plans of action for accomplishing the intent of Congress to expand the base of suppliers to the United States Government. And, we help to implement that plan. WITH YOUR HELP….”

Introducing Wilfong’s Corner…

SEE: “Wilfong’s Corner” under the Summary Topics Section.

We welcome Mr. Hank Wilfong as an editorial writer for the 8-PAC Eagle. Mr. Wilfong is one of the most prolific and impassioned independent political minds working today.

The President of the National Association of Small Disadvantaged Businesses (NASDB), he is a charismatic and articulate speaker, not afraid to use the vernacular that sparked a movement by disadvantaged small business some 20+ years ago. Hank Former is a former Appointee of Governor and President Ronald Reagan; Member, Bush-Cheney Transition Team-Small Business Advisory Group; and, Co-Chair, Obama Unity Committee/Black Republicans for Obama.

All posts from Mr. Wilfong will be initially featured here on our main page, and then archived on “Wilfong’s Corner” under the Summary Topics Section.

We look forward to the cool sophistication and thoughtfulness of Mr. Wilfong’s writings.

Chairman | 8-PAC

WILFONG’S THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Entrepreneurship is the Answer – March 16, 2008

ISSUE STATEMENT NO. 3737 | ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS THE ANSWER -TO A LOT OF THINGS……..

But, we must face a lot of “realities” before we achieve the results. We must have a lot of components to cause the recipe to work. Competitive viability…..maximum practicable utilization…..competent advocacy….relevant technical assistance- the necessary ingredients.

We are aware that the Senate Subcommittee on Urban & Rural Entrepreneurship examined the role of entrepreneurial development in promoting the success of small firms. This was reported by 8-PAC Eagle-Premium Business Communication Portal, A Small Business, Veteran, and Disadvantaged Business Contractor Association, March 14, 2008.

“WASHINGTON, D.C. – Facing record energy prices, tightening credit markets and heavy job losses, America looks to a proven source of economic strength-small businesses. In turn, many of these firms rely on the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) entrepreneurial development programs, which are specifically designed to provide them with the business information, training, and advice they need to succeed. The Subcommittee on Urban and Rural Entrepreneurship today held an oversight hearing to ensure these initiatives are meeting the needs of small firms.

“Small businesses are leaders when it comes to innovation and job creation. It is in the nation’s fundamental interest to help them grow the economy,” said Chairman Heath Shuler (NC-11).” “The math on this is very simple. Small business owners who take advantage of SBA’s entrepreneurial development support are twice as likely to succeed. That’s the sort of calculation that keeps America at the forefront of global competitiveness,” said Chairman Shuler. Well, to be truthful with you Mr. Senator, it is, and then it ain’t. We’ve seen the math. We know what the numbers say. But, we also know and experience daily the failure of the Government to live up to such high-sounding words as these.

It is a truism to assert that it is in the nation’s fundamental interest to help small businesses grow the economy. But, then, it is also to sadly true that the government is failing miserably on its pledge of 30 years ago,”to promote the competitive viability of firms owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, through the provision of contractual, financial and technical assistance as may be necessary” (P.L. 95-507).

Maybe, just maybe, Sen. Shuler and his subcommittee is exhibiting signs that a Change is a commin’. Well, it’s about time. Will this be talked about at the SDB Institute of Learning-Spring Session on April 16th…YES it will…. The struggle continues, until we succeed-and we shall,-YES WE CAN!!!!!

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Henry T. Wilfong Jr., MBA, CPA

President, NASDB
Current or Former Positions:

• Three-time Appointee of Governor and President Ronald Reagan
• Pasadena, CA City Councilman
• Member, Bush-Cheney Transition Team-SBA Advisory Group
• Member, Department of Energy, Small Business Advisory Committee
• Associate Administrator for Minority Small Business/Capital Ownership Development, SBA
• Member, National Council on Policy Review-Black Capitalism
• Member, Presidential Task Force on International Private Enterprise
• Member, California Council on Criminal Justice
• Member, NASA Advisory Council
• Chair, NASA Minority Business Resource Advisory Committee

WILFONG’S THOUGHT OF THE DAY – ISSUE STATEMENT NO. 3696

Obama & the Gipper

January 20, 2008

LETTER TO THE EDITOR| Wall Street Journal

wsj.ltrs@wsj.com

I just read your editorial piece “Obama and the Gipper”. How astounding that Senator Obama received such flack over this. It is indicative of the poor state of the Democratic Party that so many of their folk went ballistic over a relatively simple statement that makes such sense. “This week, Barack Obama had the blaspheming temerity to acknowledge that Reagan was a transformational President.”

Well, Ronald Reagan was just that, a transformational President. Many may not like the transformation he performed. But, how can they logically dispute that he did, indeed, cause great change? I’m sure that much of the Democrats’ consternation had to do with the. “and in a way that Bill Clinton did not”, ending of the sentence. I’m sure they did not lose sight of the fact that Hillary Clinton was Bill Clinton’s help mate in their substantial failure to achieve change.

Which brings us to the point of whether Obama’s “seeking change” is enough. For me, for now, it is. His willingness to hear what so many of us are telling him, and to react the way he has, is an attitudinal change from The Clintons, in and of, itself. “And, it says something about the breadth of his political ambitions that he would do so”. You said that, and you are absolutely right. Obama will be able to attract a team that can effectuate meaningful change.

I was fortunate enough to have served in the Reagan Administration, in two separate capacities. Before that I was a political appointee of Governor Reagan. What seemed to impress those of us who served him, most of all, was his ability to lead, and his “mother wit”. He didn’t always have the answer. He pretty much left it up to “you smart fellas” to get done what needed to be done. He trusted, but, he verified.

I could be a “Black Republican for Obama”, if the young man keeps this up. He’s a “pretty smart fella”, himself.

Respectfully submitted,

Henry T. Wilfong Jr, MBA, CPA
President, National Association of Small Disadvantaged Businesses

WILFONG’S THOUGHT OF THE DAY – ISSUE STATEMENT NO. 3695

WILFONG’S THOUGHT OF THE DAY| JANUARY 19, 2008

ISSUE STATEMENT NO. 3695: SO, WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT….

We understand the frustration of folk who have little or no input into what goes on in Washington. We’ve had a great opportunity over the last eight years to engage in “inputing”-from a prime, observation and advice, position point, in Washington, D.C. During that time, we’ve been in and out of the White House; we’ve been in and out of the SBA Headquarters; we roamed the halls of all three House Office Buildings, and The Russell Senate Office Building. We talked a lot. and we responded a lot, when asked. But, we often wonder, “Do they really listen?” We’ve concluded: They do, and they don’t, with a lot of emphasis on the “don’t” part.

The current flap over the flawed report on the Women-owned Business Program is a perfect example of some excellent advice given, with poor results achieved. We’ve worked very closely with Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) and other of the leading women-owned business groups, as they’ve made a valiant attempt to achieve justice for their constituents. They were with us, or we with them, on many of those treks, talking to the policy wonks, and the worker bees.

But, we wonder out loud, Did they really listen.

We understand from the PilieroMazza PLLC Weekly Update: Friday, January 18, 2008:

“WOSB Rule: In a House Small Business Committee hearing this week, members of Congress questioned the SBA’s recently-published rule regarding the Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) set-aside program. Committee Chair Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) was particularly critical of the regulation, which was defended by SBA Administrator Steven Preston.”

So, now that we’ve heard the “official” defense of the report, what do we do about it? Now, that the Congress has heard the “official” defense what will they do about it? Saying, wait for the National Elections, ain’t gonna get it. Waiting for the next Administration to get elected, then installed, then settled into place, that’ll take at least a year and half from now.

How many women-owned businesses will have been severely injured, if not killed off, by then?

Waiting is unacceptable…….

THERE IS CHANGE IN THE AIR…but we need for it to hurry…..

The struggle continues, until we succeed-and we shall,

Henry T. Wilfong Jr., MBA, CPA
President, NASDB

Current or Former Positions:

• Three-time Appointee of Governor and President Ronald Reagan
• Pasadena, CA City Councilman
• Member, Bush-Cheney Transition Team-SBA Advisory Group
• Member, Department of Energy, Small Business Advisory Committee
• Associate Administrator for Minority Small Business/Capital Ownership Development, SBA
• Member, National Council on Policy Review-Black Capitalism
• Member, Presidential Task Force on International Private Enterprise
• Member, California Council on Criminal Justice
• Member, NASA Advisory Council
• Chair, NASA Minority Business Resource Advisory Committee