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Lending a hand: SBA, AICPA partner to help small businesses.

Article Excerpt
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When Steve Preston stepped into the role of SBA administrator in July 2006, he left a seemingly comfortable career in the private sector, most recently with the ServiceMaster Company, for a less certain future in the public arena. Charged with the task of overhauling the SBA's Disaster Assistance Program in the wake of its heavily criticized delayed response efforts to Hurricane Katrina victims, Preston embraced the challenge as an opportunity to serve others.

In his relatively short tenure at the SBA, he has implemented strategies designed to improve both the overall operational efficiency and effectiveness of the SBA while furthering the products and services that the agency offers to small businesses.

Another initiative that he hopes will expand SBA services is a Strategic Alliance partnership with the AICPA. This agreement, signed late last year, was created to help the organizations join resources to better serve the small business community. In a recent interview with the JofA, Preston described his goals for the partnership and spoke about his work with the SBA.

JofA: Describe the SBA's partnership with the AICPA and the successes you hope to achieve through this alliance.

Preston: Partnering with the AICPA is a great opportunity for us to work with individual accounting firms to handle any number of challenges a small business might face. My vision is to become well-known in the accounting community for the services and assistance we can provide to small businesses throughout their development. For example, we help businesses get capital that they wouldn't get through the conventional market and provide training to help them develop at various points through their life cycle. We assist small businesses in selling products and services to the federal government by showing them the process for registering their business and finding available contracts to bid on. We also work with federal agencies to find the right small business as well.

JofA: How can CPAs help their clients in their dealings with the SBA?

Preston: CPAs can provide high-quality referrals to SBA services. As a former CFO, I'm very familiar with the accounting profession and the way...