By Dan Danner

The road to healthcare reform took a hard left turn last week.

WASHINGTON ─ Women who own small businesses will be able to use a new online U.S. Small Business Administration training course to learn how to identify and take advantage of federal contracting opportunities.  The new training course, Winning Federal Contracts: A Guide for Women Entrepreneurs, is part of an ongoing government-wide initiative to promote opportunities for women-owned businesses in the area of government contracting. 

The U.S. Small Business Administration announces that a Business Recovery Center in Cobb County is opening Monday, October 12 at 9:00 a.m. to help businesses impacted by the severe storms and flooding in Georgia that began on September 18, 2009. The Cobb County Center will be located in the Powder Springs Library at 4181 Atlanta Street, Powder Springs, GA 30127. The hours of operation are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday until further notice.  Additional centers are opening in DeKalb, Douglas and Fulton Counties.

WASHINGTON – Changes under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to U.S. Small Business Administration loan programs led to a rebound in SBA-backed loans for small businesses and greater access to much-needed capital.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U. S. Small Business Administration announced today that 58 non-profit organizations from 32 states and the District of Columbia will receive grant funding under the Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs Act (PRIME) to assist low-income and very low-income entrepreneurs with training and technical assistance to start, operate, and grow their businesses.

WASHINGTON ─ The U.S. Small Business Administration and Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence (CMI) launched a cooperative Strategic Alliance Memorandum to promote opportunities for women entrepreneurs through education, training and counseling.