Replies

This money does not go to the people or the small business without first being funneled through the SBA and the universities.

We get their mailings all the time. Tired, cliched seminars being offered and not for free. Consultations that justify the existence of the university and the bureaucrats. Loans available that start at $500k. They will not even talk to you for less. Some money is funneled through incubators run on grants. Administrative grants and building grants in the millions are involved, featuring kitchens and freezers and all the trappings of a commercial food processor. Much PC-ness involved in these incubators. The big thing now seems to be artisan and specialty food related businesses. Grants run around $400k each. Most of us were able to prototype and produce and test market products on our own for well under $10k, because the money only went for essentials, not for the infrastructure of the middlemen.

I have seen the products go to market too quickly and then disappear. Not even available locally for more than a few months. _Maybe_ they get one or two orders or even contracts with a distributor who has shelf or freezer space to fill, but they seem to be short term.

And: these grants all compete with the individual entrepreneur, especially when factoring in marketing money. So, tax money goes to tax-supported infrastructure, draining the private sector even more.