The Export  Promotion Cabinet delivered a September 2010 report to the President  with recommendations to implement the goals of the NEI. SBA intended that District International  Trade Officers only spend about 15 percent of their time on export  promotion responsibilities. The NEI identifies these primary activities for U.S. agencies  involved in small business promotion, which we classify under four  general terms:
Outreach: Identify small businesses that can begin or expand
Counseling and Training: Prepare small businesses to export
Trade Leads: Connect small businesses to export opportunities
Financing: Support small businesses once they have export  These activities are dispersed across the six key agencies, as shown in  table 3 and explained in further detail below. In addition to conducting outreach, SBA provides counseling  and training, primarily through SBDCs, and assists small businesses with  export financing through OIT. Other agencies connect clients with trade leads in a variety of ways. SBA Has Taken Steps to Collaborate with Other Agencies, but Further Collaboration Efforts Are Needed

SBA, Commerce, and Ex-Im collaborate on some export promotion  activities in headquarters and at field locations, but some services  overlap, which can be confusing for small businesses and may not be an  optimal use of resources. SBA has collaborated with other agencies to develop a  joint strategy for increasing small business exports and to include  collaborative efforts in performance evaluations. However, SBA and other  agencies have not clearly defined agencies’ roles and responsibilities for  export promotion, nor have they fully leveraged resources such as by  regularly sharing client information, where possible. SBA and other agencies have developed a joint annual strategy at the  headquarters level to work collaboratively toward the NEI goal of doubling  U.S. exports by the end of 2014. Agency officials noted that  information sharing is limited by certain privacy restrictions. SBA Has Made Some Progress in Increasing Export Training but Experienced Challenges in Meeting Staffing Requirements under the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010

The SBJA expanded SBA’s presence in providing export assistance to  small businesses, by requiring an increase in the export training of SBDC  staff and an increase in the number of OIT field staff. Citing difficulties with finding qualified staff for the four advertised OIT  positions, and not having continued funding to hire more staff, SBA never  advertised for the additional eight OIT positions it would have had to fill, in  addition to the original four, to meet the SBJA field staffing requirement. SBA developed a plan to increase its OIT staff levels to 30 staff and  proposed—in a report submitted to Congress in September 2012—to  place the staff in specific USEACs. Moreover, the plan explained SBA’s difficulties in attracting qualified  candidates, but the plan did not discuss how SBA would overcome the  hiring challenges or discuss the potential for leveraging the resources of  other export promotion entities that could provide similar export  assistance as that provided by OIT staff. Without clear definition of each entity’s roles and responsibilities, the  overlapping export financing products offered by SBA and Ex-Im and the  labor-intensive export counseling sessions provided by SBDCs and  Commerce may cause confusion for small businesses and could result in  duplication of efforts and inefficient use of government resources. 2. To improve collaboration and leverage available resources, consult  with Commerce and Ex-Im and identify ways to increase, where  possible, sharing of client information deemed useful for SBA,  Commerce, and Ex-Im. To more effectively implement SBA’s expansion of OIT field staff as  required by the SBJA, update SBA’s plan for additional OIT staff to  include funding sources and time frames, as well as possible  efficiencies from clearly defining roles and responsibilities and  leveraging other entities’ export assistance resources. We incorporated agencies’ technical  comments throughout our report, as appropriate. Appendix I: Scope and Methodology

The objectives of this report were to (1) describe Small Business  Administration’s (SBA) role within federal export promotion efforts; (2)  assess the extent to which SBA collaborates with other agencies in its  export promotion activities; and (3) assess the extent to which SBA is  meeting Small Business Jobs Act (SBJA) requirements to expand export  promotion training and staffing. To assess the extent to which SBA collaborates with other agencies in its  export promotion activities, we focused our assessment on coordination  between SBA entities with Commerce and Ex-Im, the key agencies that  provide similar export promotion activities to similar clients and that work  together at the headquarters and field level, including at five of the  selected field locations that feature all three agencies colocated in the  same city. We analyzed government-wide initiatives, strategies, as well  as TPCC’s and agencies’ documents, including the National Export  Initiative and National Export Strategy. We did not examine the other requirements under the SBJA.
Why GAO Did This Study

In January 2010, the President announced the goal of doubling U.S. exports over 5 years. The President's plan in the National Export Initiative included prioritizing exports by small businesses and called for improved coordination among agencies involved in federal export promotion activities. Recently, Congress has also directed SBA to expand its export counseling and financing activities. This report (1) describes SBA's role within federal export promotion efforts, (2) assesses the extent to which SBA collaborates with other agencies in its export promotion activities, and (3) assesses the extent to which SBA is meeting requirements under the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 to expand export promotion training and staffing. GAO analyzed agencies' documents and interviewed agency officials, including those in six selected field office locations serving areas with high export potential and where staff from at least two agencies were colocated.

What GAO Found

The Small Business Administration (SBA) and five other key agencies provide a variety of export promotion services to small businesses. In addition to outreach, which all six agencies conduct, SBA's primary activities include counseling and training, provided mainly through nonfederal partner entities called Small Business Development Centers, and export financing, provided through SBA's Office of International Trade (OIT).
While SBA collaborates to some extent with other key agencies on its export promotion activities, additional collaboration could enhance agency efforts and reduce overlap. SBA, Department of Commerce (Commerce), and the U.S. Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) coordinate some export promotion activities at headquarters and at field locations, but some services overlap. For example, Small Business Development Centers and Commerce both assist companies new to exporting as well as more experienced exporters, despite intentions to divide responsibilities for those types of firms. Additionally, OIT and Ex-Im offer similar financial products for small businesses, such as export working capital loan guarantees. Overlapping services may cause confusion for small businesses and result in inefficient use of government resources. SBA and other agencies developed a joint strategy to increase small business exports and, to varying degrees, the agencies have included collaborative efforts in the performance evaluations of staff with export promotion responsibilities. However, SBA and other agencies have not clearly defined roles and responsibilities, and efforts to leverage resources have not included regularly sharing client information where possible. Such sharing could help agencies improve client services and clarify each agency's impact in promoting U.S. exports. Enhancing collaboration could help agencies ensure they are working toward the goal of increasing exports by small businesses in a way that maximizes limited resources and mitigates overlap.
SBA has made some progress in increasing export training of Small Business Development Center counselors but has experienced challenges in meeting increased OIT staffing requirements under the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. The law required a certain number or percentage of staff working for the 63 Small Business Development Center networks to obtain export counseling certification. As of the end of September 2012, 73 percent of the networks had met this requirement, for which SBA set a 2013 deadline. To meet another requirement under the law, SBA needed to increase its OIT field staff, who primarily provide export financing assistance, from 18 to 30 staff, by the end of September 2012. However, SBA has only advertised for four temporary positions and filled two of them. SBA officials noted challenges in finding qualified candidates and lack of continued funding for additional OIT field positions. In a recent report to Congress, SBA stated its plans to hire the additional OIT staff but did not include funding plans or updated time frames to fill the positions. Furthermore, the plan did not discuss how SBA would overcome the hiring challenges or discuss the potential to leverage resources of other export promotion entities that also provide export assistance.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that SBA (1) consult with Commerce and Ex-Im and clearly define export entities' roles and responsibilities; (2) consult with Commerce and Ex-Im and identify ways to increase, where possible, sharing of client information; and (3) update its plan for meeting mandated staffing requirements to include funding sources and time frames, as well as possible efficiencies from improved collaboration. SBA agreed with our recommendations and noted it is taking steps to address them. We also received technical comments from other key export promotion agencies, which we incorporated, as appropriate.