SBA targets young entrepreneurs on new YouTube channel

With millions of viewers logging onto YouTube throughout the world each day, individuals like British talent contestant Susan Boyle can practically become online sensations overnight. This growing popularity in mass video-sharing is what drove the U.S. Small Business Administration to tap into the online resource as a means to reach a larger audience for program and service promotion.

With millions of viewers logging onto YouTube throughout the world each day, individuals like British talent contestant Susan Boyle can practically become online sensations overnight.

This growing popularity in mass video-sharing is what drove the U.S. Small Business Administration to tap into the online resource as a means to reach a larger audience for program and service promotion.

On Wednesday, the SBA launched its own YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/sba) complete with a 60-second introduction to SBA and a 10-part “Delivering Success” series co-produced with the U.S. Postal Services.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9UM96lcNbo&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fuser%2Fsba&feature=player_profilepage[/youtube]

“By expanding its outreach,” SBA Administrator Karen Mills says, “SBA will be providing more current and potential entrepreneurs with the necessary tools to start, grow and succeed in their business”

Delaware’s SBA District Director Jayne Armstrong calls the new web platform a very smart and economic approach to reaching a new demographic. “I think it’s important for agencies like SBA to really be on top of the best avenue to effectively reach a wider audience of potential entrepreneurs,” Armstrong says.

The SBA is using this new and growing outlet to educate the younger generation on the value of entrepreneurship and the importance of small business to the nation’s economy. It will also be used as a resource for information on the agency’s programs and services.

Most importantly, the creation of the SBA YouTube Channel is part of a larger effort to revitalize the economy through the establishment of new business start-ups.

“Locally, we’re seeing a lot of layoffs and not a lot of business start-ups right now,” Armstrong says, “So, I hope once we come out of this economic downturn people can use this tool to tap into their inner entrepreneur”

Future content on the SBA YouTube Channel will include information on how small businesses can take advantage of the Recovery Act loan programs, government contracting opportunities, exporting to increase market share and training on how to start and grow a small business.