Lstone2103@aol.com
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Building Services Inspection |
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Water Damage Restoration |
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Rest Room Cleaning & Sanitizing |
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Hard Floor Cleaning & Restoration |
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Upholstery Cleaning |
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U.S. Small Business Administration Joseph Montes |
SUCCESS STORIES |
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4300 Amon Carter Blvd., Suite 108 For More Information |
Larry Featherstone's journey has been from an East Arkansas farm to a managerial After graduating from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Larry began work as an assistant manager of operations for Ryder Systems. As his career progressed he moved to California to work for Standard Oil and then for British Petroleum (BP). At BP, he became the manager with the highest volume profit center, largest profit margin, and most consistent profit and loss reports on an annual basis for four straight years. In 1991 he decided it was time to return home to Arkansas
and he accepted the job of Operations Manager for his brother's
company, Mr. Klean's Carpet & Janitorial Service in Little Rock.
He started his own company, All Seasons Carpet and Janitorial Service,
Inc. in January 1998. In 2001 Larry was accepted into SBA's 8(a)
Program. The SBA's 8(a) BD Program, named for a section of the Small
Business Act, is a As Larry progressed in the 8(a) program, he learned the importance of taking advantage of the training opportunities that SBA offered. These training sessions not only presented important skills but also provided networking opportunities with potential buyers for his janitorial services. Larry became an expert at self-marketing. He attended presentations given by the federal agencies even when the projects did not appear to include janitorial services, knowing that opportunities could appear at any time. Larry, through his company, is a board member on the Arkansas Workforce Investment Board. He is also very active in his church, Second Baptist Church-Barrow Road, where he serves as superintendent of the Sunday School ministry. When asked if Larry has advice for other young entrepreneurs his response is, "Work hard, do not count the hours. Always use fair and honest business practices with employees, vendors and customers. Exercise your faith in God and never let anyone tell you what you cannot do". All Seasons Carpet & Janitorial Service, Inc. |
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National News SBA PROMOTES FEDERAL CONTRACTING TRANSPARENCY WASHINGTON – The U.S. Small Business Administration is continuing to increase transparency and accountability in small business contracting with the release of the "Top 100 Small Business Government Contractors" report. The report lists the 100 small businesses that received the most federal procurement dollars in 2006, and reinforces a series of recent administration initiatives to improve small business access to federal contracts. "Releasing this list is part of SBA's on-going effort to increase the transparency, accuracy, and integrity of government small business contracting data," said SBA Administrator Steve Preston. "It also ensures that federal contracts get into the hands of small businesses and that federal agencies receive credit towards their small business contracting goals." The Top 100 small businesses received approximately $12
billion in FY 2006, about one-sixth of all federal small business
contract dollars paid that year. The Top 100 report reinforces the
importance of the administration's recent initiative to ensure federal
agencies only get credit for contracts awarded to legitimate small
businesses. The 14 month ‘scrub' of 11 million contract actions in FY
2005 and 2006 was completed in June 2007. The review removed $4.6
billion in incorrectly coded contracts from the small business
procurement database. Federal agencies will have to make up the
difference by Four of the Top 100 firms were affected by miscodings. Three of them were incorrectly identified as "other than small," even though the companies are legitimate small businesses. One company was miscoded as a small business in 2006, even though it was not small. Recent federal government regulatory changes have
significantly increased small business contracting opportunities. Prior
to 2007, once a small business contract was awarded, it counted
towards a federal agency's contracting goals for the life of the
contract – as much as 20 years – even if the firm was acquired by a
major corporation. Under the new rules, contracts stop counting towards
small business goals once a firm is acquired. Small businesses that
grow larger on their own can continue to be counted as small for up to
five years, or they may have to ‘recertify' their size earlier when a Under the new rules, twenty-six of the companies on the FY 2006 Top 100 report are now identified as "other than small" in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR). Sixteen companies outgrew their size standard. Ten companies were acquired by, or merged with, other firms. The new federal regulations create opportunities for other small businesses, because contracts awarded to these firms will no longer count towards agencies' contracting goals. The Top 100 report shows that 99 of the 100 companies on the list were in fact properly classified as small businesses when they originally won their contracts. It reflects the progress the agencies have made in their review of miscoded contracts from 2005 to 2006. But with 5.5 million contract actions processed each year, there are certain to be additional errors. SBA is working with other agencies to continually review and improve the data. The Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) has required federal agencies to submit plans by the end of 2007 for maintaining the integrity of data in the contract reporting system. The SBA is working with GSA to provide new tools so the public can better access CCR and help identify errors. The full list can be found at http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_program_office/sba_news_07-84.pdf
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Disaster News DISASTER ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES Sacramento, CA – Small, non-farm businesses in Hale County and the neighboring counties of Castro, Crosby, Floyd, Hockley, Lamb, Lubbock and Swisher are eligible to apply for low-interest disaster loans from the U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA). These loans offset economic losses because of reduced revenues caused by hail and high winds in Hale County on October 10, 2007, announced Alfred E. Judd, Director of SBA's Disaster Field Operations Center - West. Small businesses may qualify for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) of up to $1.5 million to help meet financial obligations and operating expenses which could have been met had the disaster not occurred. "Eligibility for these working capital loans is based on the financial impact of the disaster only and not on any actual property damage. These loans have an interest rate of 4%, a maximum term of 30 years, and are restricted to small businesses without the financial ability to offset the adverse impact without hardship," Judd said. By law, SBA makes EIDLs available when the U. S. Secretary of Agriculture designates an agricultural disaster. Acting Secretary Chuck Conner declared this disaster at the request of Governor Rick Perry. Businesses primarily engaged in farming or ranching are not eligible for SBA disaster assistance. Agricultural enterprises should contact the Farm Services Agency (FSA) about the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) assistance made available by the Acting Secretary's declaration. For information and application forms, call toll-free (800) 659-2955, or visit SBA's website at www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance. Hearing impaired individuals may call (800) 877-8339. The deadline to apply for these loans is July 21, 2008. |
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position with an oil company to successful entrepreneur in the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) 8(a) Program. InREGION VI DISTRICT OFFICES |
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