1 We hope to advance that discussion today by exploring not only the financing needs of creditworthy small businesses, but also the role these firms could play in creating jobs during these difficult economic times. We will also discuss the unique challenges faced by women- and minority-owned firms.
We hope to be as concrete and practical as possible; for example, several conference papers assess the extent to which training, technical assistance, and other resources are available to support these and other small firms. The ultimate goal of this meeting is to learn more about how best to support both small businesses and their communities – to understand what works and what doesn’t.