Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Ranking Member Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) today commented on the release of a new report by the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Advocacy entitled, “An Analysis of the Effect of Reserve Activation on Small Business.”  The report confirms that the increase in call-ups of military reservists during recent years has resulted in negative effects on the revenues of small firms employing these servicemembers. 

“This new report once again vividly illustrates the need for the SBA to quickly form the Interagency Task Force that Senator Kerry and I included in legislation signed into law 20 months ago,” said Ranking Member Snowe.  “The needless delay in implementing this critical tool has been a disservice to our nation’s veterans and their employers.  I urge the SBA to seriously and fully commit to putting this critical resource in place now, and without delay.”

According to the report, small firms with reserve activations of 30 days or more faced a 1.9 percent decrease in sales compared with larger firms.  Additionally, small businesses with reserve activations of 180 days or more witnessed a 3.0 percent decrease compared with their larger counterparts.

The Interagency Task Force provision that Senator Snowe authored was included in P.L. 110-186, the “Military Reservist and Veteran Small Business Reauthorization and Opportunity Act.”  The purpose of the Task Force is for Federal agencies to coordinate and leverage services for veteran entrepreneurs, consult regularly with veteran service organizations, and develop proposals to assist veteran small business owners.  The Task Force should have been implemented prior to May 14, 2008.

The report can be accessed at: http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs352.pdf.