The White House and SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet Convene Private Sector Leaders

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As a part of his Year of Action, President Obama and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet launched SupplierPay, a partnership with the private sector to strengthen small businesses by increasing their access to working capital.

"In July, I stood alongside President Obama and announced SupplierPay to fuel growth for both small and large businesses. As the advocate for our nation's entrepreneurs, I know that supply chain growth is a priority as I work to improve resources for our nation's economic engines – small businesses.  That is why today I am proud to join with the White House in announcing more corporations, which have joined this partnership, to ensure access to affordable working capital, which is often the greatest challenge faced by America's small suppliers," said Administrator Contreras-Sweet.  "When small business suppliers wait 120 days to get paid, that's four months without the revenue to compete for and to fulfill new contracts, making it more difficult to add more employees to the payroll.  The companies which have taken the SupplierPay pledge have made a powerful collective statement about the leadership role of large buying organizations in supporting the health and vitality of America's supply chains, and the hundreds of thousands of small businesses that comprise it."

For private sector leaders, joining SupplierPay demonstrates recognition that a healthy supply chain is essential for good business.  For their small business suppliers, the initiative means having more working capital to invest in new opportunities, equipment, and hiring.  America's small businesses provide nearly half of all private sector jobs and play an outsized role in innovating new products, services, and business processes.  Initiatives like SupplierPay, which promotes timely payment to small suppliers, enables small businesses to devote more of their resources to innovation, quality, and growth.

National Economic Council Director Jeff Zients and Administrator Contreras-Sweet hosted a meeting at the White House on November 17 with pledge adoptees for SupplierPay updates and its implementation.  The session included pledgees sharing their experiences, lessons, and best practices with their SupplierPay peers.  This event follows a July 2014 launch, at which time 26 companies had pledged SupplierPay.

As of November 2014, the following companies have taken the SupplierPay pledge:   

Release Number: 14-67

Contact: Miguel Ayala (202) 205-6420
Internet Address: http://www.sba.gov/news

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SOURCE U.S. Small Business Administration

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