Ackerman and SBA hold Corona town hall meeting

Congressmember Gary Ackerman along with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) held a town hall meeting at the Queens Public Library in Corona to discuss critical issues with small business leaders and immigrants from the area on Wednesday, November 8.
Ackerman discussed how business owners can become aware of government assistance and resources, how to obtain government contracts, how to hire employees and how to negotiate a lease. A question and answer session followed the presentation.
Using the meeting, Ackerman shared his wisdom on small business. &#8220Chances are if you've been in business for over five years in this area, then you are going to be successful,” said Ackerman. &#8220And still, it's important for small business owners to become informed on how to obtain government contracts.”
Joseph R. Sifontes, district director of SBA's New York office was also in attendance, along with Eduardo Giraldo, head of the Queens Hispanic Chamber.
&#8220Our aggressive outreach and marketing efforts, and streamlined and simplified loan applications have helped our organization set new assistance records last year. In fact, we completed a third consecutive record-breaking year in guaranteeing loans to small businesses,” said Sifontes. &#8220In fiscal 2005, this office backed almost 5,000 loans for over $624 million with loans ranging from $5,000 to $4,000,000. That was a 43 percent increase in the number of loans over the previous year.”
Last year, the SBA increased loans to women- and minority-owned businesses. For instance, women received 1,294 loans, a 63 percent increase; Hispanics received 515 loans, a 54 percent increase; and African Americans received 326 loans, a 48 percent increase. Additionally, armed forces veterans received 152 loans.
The town hall meeting ended with a question-and-answer session with local immigrants.
&#8220I want to emphasize to all of you that in this country, through hard work and responsibility, you can achieve your dreams,” said Ackerman, a former English as a second language teacher, mixing Spanish and English. &#8220Just look at me, my mother, an immigrant, has a son in the House of Representatives.”
For more information, contact SBA district director, Jos Sifontes at 212-264-1318 or Jordan Goldes of Congressmember Ackerman's office at 718-423-2154.