This week I am in Memphis hosting the Corps' Small Business Conference, sponsored by The Society of American Military Engineers. Small businesses play a key role in strengthening and restoring our Nation's infrastructure and supporting our service men and women with first-class facilities.

Small businesses provide an important link to our communities and local governments. They are entrepreneurs responsible for most of the new inventions. Did you know that the majority of our Nation's patents come from small businesses?

Last year, fiscal year 2008, was a record year for the Corps, as we awarded nearly $7 billion to small businesses- $1 billion more than 2007. Dollars to "Service Disabled, Veteran Owned Business" doubled to $541 million. We predict 2009 will be an even better year! We plan to award 115 civil works contracts in New Orleans alone- many to small businesses. We are depending on our partnership with small businesses to help us deliver superior performance!

BUILDING STRONG

Van