We're celebrating small business.

• Position: FROM BEGINNERS TO BIGSHOTS

Welcome to our annual celebration of America's entrepreneurial spirit.

As part of National Small Business Week 2008--an annual event that recognizes the big role the more than 25 million small companies play in the U.S. economy--we are bringing you the stories of 10 successful entrepreneurs.

Read about corporate executives who shucked their jobs to strike out on their own, a former broadcast journalist who developed an idea for a startup based on her father's struggles, a successful investment banker who quit that career to get back to his passion, and other inspirational stories of people running their own companies.

These entrepreneurs have something else in common. In following their dreams, they got help along the way from the U.S. Small Business Administration and its re source partners.

Established in 1953, the SBA remains true to its mission--to "aid, counsel, assist and protect, insofar as is possible, the interests of small business concerns."

The SBA helps finance startups and existing small businesses, and it offers technical and contracting assistance.

SBA loan programs range from microloans and export-capital loans to financing for construction. The SBA also supports research grants.

A 2007 study by the Urban Institute found that SBA lending programs "are more effective than conventional lenders in reaching minorities, women and startups."

In fiscal 2007, the SBA's loan portfolio grew to $85 billion.

SBA resource partners, including SCORE and its cadre of volunteers, Small Business Development Centers and Women's Busi ness Centers, helped 1.1 million small businesses and entrepreneurs in fiscal 2007.

A key initiative going forward under SBA Administrator Steven Preston is to increase delivery of SBA programs to underserved communities to help stimulate economic development.

The SBA also provides assistance to victims of disasters and funded almost $1.7 billion in disaster loans in its last fiscal...