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ODEP News Release: [12/11/2003]
DOL Contact Name: Michael Volpe
Phone Number: (202) 693-7880
SBA Contact Name: Sue Hensley
Phone Number: (202) 205-6444

Department of Labor and Small Business Administration Partner to Support People With Disabilities

WASHINGTON—Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao and Small Business Administration Administrator Hector V. Barreto today signed a Strategic Alliance Memorandum (SAM) designed to help people with disabilities pursue small business ownership and to also increase their employment opportunities in small businesses.

The SAM, entitled “The New Freedom Small Business Initiative,” is designed to assist adult workers in acquiring the skills and resources they need to successfully begin and operate a small business and to educate small business owners about hiring people with disabilities. It will accomplish this by encouraging people with disabilities to pursue small business ownership, provide them with technical assistance, and encourage small businesses to hire people with disabilities. The Initiative will also build the capacity of the workforce system to serve people with disabilities and support their entrepreneurship through economic development and greater coordination of small business activities among Federal departments.

“Today we celebrate another milestone that builds upon the President’s New Freedom Initiative,” said Secretary Chao. “This strategic alliance memorandum creates a new partnership that will benefit small business employers and employees, people with disabilities and ultimately, our country as a whole.” She added, “The timing for this initiative is important. More Americans, especially women, are launching themselves on the road to entrepreneurship than ever before. We want to ensure that people with disabilities have full access to this path to financial independence, which has proven so rewarding for so many Americans.”

SBA Administrator Barreto said, “Today is an important step forward in an ongoing mission to ensure that the door to the American Dream is wide open to all Americans. The small business community can’t afford to be without this group of Americans, and encouraging people with disabilities to become part of the most powerful segment of our economy is more than just the right thing to do, it’s the smart business thing to do.”

Assistant Secretary Roy Grizzard, who heads DOL’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, said “Through this collaboration, people with disabilities will be able to launch successful entrepreneurial careers and also be recognized as an exceptional pool of talent available to small business owners.”

Copies of the Initiative are available by accessing www.dol.gov/odep or www.sba.gov.

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