Out In The Mountains : News - Feds Try to Connect with GLBT Business

In its first-ever recognition of gays and lesbians as a minority group by the federal government, the Small Business Administration has launched an initiative to reach out to the community through a partnership with a national GLBT organization.

On June 2, SBA Commissioner and Clinton cabinet member Aida Alvarez signed an agreement with the National Association of Gay and Lesbian Community Centers. The partnership is intended to increase the participation of lesbian- and gay-owned small businesses in SBA’s capital access, contract procurement, and technical assistance programs.

The Memo of Understanding, as the agreement is officially titled, does not set up quotas or special loan programs for lesbians and gays, according to Kathleen Herrington, the public information officer in the SBA’s Montpelier office. Instead, she said, it creates a channel of communication, through which more members of the community may access information about services already available through the administration.

The SBA offers programs directed specifically at socially and economically disadvantaged business owners. Gays and lesbians are not, as a group, targeted in any of those programs now, but there are programs that allow for pre-qualification for loans by women- or racial minority-owned businesses.

Although Vermont does not yet have a physical community center, the Green Mountain State can still benefit from the agreement. “R.U.1.2? is very interested in small business information,” said board member Mike Bensel. He said the fledgling community center has many plans on the drawing board for which this association could be a good fit.

Don Eggert, co-chair of the Burlington R.U.1.2? board, sees the agreement as a positive tool for GLBT individuals who might be seeking financial backing for their businesses. “I think it can be hard for us to approach a bank about a loan, particularly when the business is gay and lesbian oriented,” he said.

Eggert hopes the partnership with the SBA will lead to workshops and educational events that will help prospective entrepreneurs in Vermont’s GLBT community.