Celebrating American Entrepreneurship.

Welcome to this special section .jointly produced by American City Business Journals and the U.S. Small Business Administration. Last year in this special section, I talked about the importance of small businesses to our economic strength and vitality. The last 12 months could not have been stronger evidence.

We are now in the midst of an economic recovery, and small businesses are leading the way. The last half of 2003 brought us the strongest economic growth over a six-month period since the 1980s. A total of $4 trillion of wealth has been created in the stock market. As of this writing, 365,000 new jobs have been created in the last several months. These strong economic indicators are the signs of small businesses in action.

We knew that three out of four net new jobs were created by small businesses, and we knew that they produce more than half our private-sector non-farm output. Now we know that small businesses are growing and expanding at a fantastic rate. That means that this is just the start.

It is a powerful sign that the spirit of American entrepreneurship is alive and well. That spirit is a powerful part of everything we do at the SBA. We can, as President Bush frequently says, create an environment in which small businesses can succeed. But we cannot create success for them. That is what entrepreneurs must do for themselves, and it is what they are doing across America.

Many people don't realize how uniquely American the entrepreneurial impulse is. Not everyone lives in a country that treasures freedom, encourages individuality and rewards hard work. I am the son of immigrants. My family came here because they dreamed of being able to provide something better for their families. They fulfilled that dream, as so many Americans do, by opening their own small business. They understood the entrepreneurial spirit that personifies the American Dream.

We at the SBA want to honor that entrepreneurial spirit, and that is what we will do at this year's SBA Expo '04, which is being held in Orlando, Fla., during Small Business Week. For three full days--May 19 through May 21--small-business owners from across the country will gather to recognize each other's accomplishments and learn new ways that they can grow their own businesses and continue their record of success.

We hope anyone who owns a small business or is interested in starting one can join us in Orlando. But for those who can't, we hope that this special section can help you learn something new that you can use to start or grow your own business.

And we hope that all small-business owners know that the SBA is always there for them as their primary resource in the federal government. If you want to learn more about our programs, go to our Web site at http://www.sba.gov, call our help desk at 1-800-U-ASK-SBA (1-800-827-5722) or visit your nearest SBA District office.

I hope to see you at SBA Expo '04, and I hope that the last year of tremendous success for small businesses continues for all of you.

Hector V. Barreto

Administrator

U.S. Small Business Administration