Congressman Dwight Evans represents Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes Northwest and West Philadelphia and parts of North, South and Center City Philadelphia. He was first elected in a special election in November 2016. Before that, he served as a state representative for 36 years, and earned a reputation as a pragmatic leader who knows how to put public policy above politics and make ideas matter. He made history in 1990 when he became the first African-American chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, a position he held for two decades.
A thriving economy builds stable neighborhoods. I am a firm believer in giving our cities the necessary access to capital and investment in order to facilitate prosperous centers of commerce. Investment is one of the anchors that drives individuals to a neighborhoods.
Small Businesses are the engines that drive our economy. As a member of the Small Business Committee, and specifically in my role as Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Economic, Growth, and Capital Access I know firsthand the critical role small business owners play in our economy. As a Co-Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Economic Development and Wealth Creation Task Force, I am proud of the work we are doing in terms of investing in education and job training to help our neighborhoods flourish and succeed.
This Congress I introduced H.R. 1702, the Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) Improvement Act of 2017. The Small Business Development Centers Improvement Act of 2017 is a bipartisan bill that amends the Small Business Act to improve the SBDC program nationwide. The bill specifically amends the Small Business Act to provide a variety of services including: grants, financial assistance, loans, export assistance, subcontracting opportunities on federal contracts to specific business owners, and other critical services to our small businesses.