Expanding Partnerships for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) Needed: The Right Kind of Support

摘要

Small- and medium-sized companies are the growth generators for economies worldwide, the frequent incubators of ideas and inventions and the basis of the U.S. economy. Ninety percent of new jobs in the United States are generated through small- and medium-sized (SME) enterprises. Most businesses fall into this category. Therefore, governments (federal, state and local) are interested in helping to make them successful. Big business also is interested in SMEs because of the ideas and technology they generate. Many large businesses grow from the acquisition of smaller firms. So it is natural to ask whether the existing services and businesses that purport to help SMEs do an adequate job and how they might do it better.