By Roberta Holland

The past year was one of growth for the small business community in terms of new tools like electronic commerce and beefed-up government programs to assist small businesses, local officials said.

'This was probably one of the busiest years in the association's history," said Julie Scofield, executive director of the Smaller Business Association of New England in Waltham, which celebrated its 60th anniversary in 1998. "Because the economy was so strong, people really were flat out growing their business."

Scofield added that the uptick for small businesses through electronic commerce was palpable, and will only become more pronounced next year

Scofield said the only dark cloud for small businesses was a problem shared by everyone-the labor shortage. The late summer fluctuations of the stock market and the Asian economic flu had an uneven impact on small businesses, she said.

'here were some for whom it was a direct hit," Scofield said. "If you're a supplier to a company that does most of its business in Asia, it was hard to come away unscathed. But I didn't see any evidence of it having a ripple effect."

Scofield was not the only one praising 1998.

"From our viewpoint in New England we just had one of our best years in the 45-plus year history of the agency," said Patrick McGowan, the U.. Small Business Administration's regional administrator for New England.

McGowan said the number of loans and counseling sessions to small businesses increased, while the failure rate for small businesses stayed low. "These are all very good signs," McGowan said.

"As we watched the stock market jackrabbit up and down, we've come to realize small business is the true stabilizer in the region," McGowan said. "The Asian market had an effect, the fluctuation of the Dow had an effect, but the real key is (small businesses) keep chugging along as the engine of growth in the economy"

McGowan said he is bullish about the new year for small businesses. The credit crunch that devastated small businesses in the early 1990s has given way to lenders competing for small business customers, he said, and the SBA is continuing its efforts to get women- and minority-owned small businesses better access to capital.

"We're finding more small businesses are coming into international markets and finding foreign trading partners," McGowan said. "Things have been very good in '98, and we're very optimistic about '99."

McGowan credited Sen. John F Kerry, D-Mass., for his work on the Small Business Committee for helping to secure the largest pool of money ever appropriated to the SBA for loans $ 14 billion for the 1999 loan program nationwide. In Massachusetts, the SBA guaranteed 1,068 loans worth more than $ 200 million to small businesses in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30. Jeffrey C. Shuman, a professor and director of entrepreneurial studies at Bentley College in Waltham, said advances of technology with the Internet and access to the global marketplace combined with unprecedented levels of investment dollars have resulted in a very healthy climate to start a business. Shuman does not predict any tightening of dollars from venture capitalists or angel investors for entrepreneurs with good ideas.

"I always feel it's a great time to start a business-and I mean that probably more so than other times in the past," Shuman said. "It's a very exciting time and opportunities really abound."

Scofield also was optimistic about the coming year, saying she doesn't see any serious dark clouds on the horizon. "I think we're going to continue to expand," Scofield said. "I think the economy is going to be strong. That's partly my head and partly my heart."

SBANE conducted a recent survey of 276 companies with 100 or fewer employees, with 72 percent responding that they expect increased demand for their products or services. About 23 percent of the companies expect sales to remain level next year while 3 percent expect a decrease and 2 percent were unsure.