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SBA Y2K Action Week scheduled for Oct. 19-23

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The U.S. Small Business Administration is holding Y2K Action Week Oct. 19-23. The week is dedicated to getting small business owners to focus on the challenges posed by the computer problems linked to the Year 2000 transition.

The SBA will lead several federal agencies in hosting a series of education events across the country, all geared to minimizing Y2K disruptions.

"Early this summer, the SBA began this national education campaign with a simple message: Are you Y2K OK?" said SBA Administrator Aida Alvarez, in a news release. "For many, that question still needs to be answered, and we're going to do everything we can to help."

The agency's plan was outlined to Congress Oct. 7 by SBA Deputy Administrator Fred Hochberg during a hearing before the U.S. Senate's Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem.

"The SBA will reach at least 2 million small-business owners during Y2K Action Week," Hochberg said. "In our SBA district offices, we are holding in-house seminars. Others will link several sites together using a satellite feed. We're also targeting specific segments, like the banking community and chambers of commerce. SBA will be on the air on talk radio shows. It's a full-court press."

The agency's 69 district offices are planning events, along with many of the SBA's Business Information Centers and offices associated with the agency's resource partners, the Service Corps of Retired Executives and Small Business Development Centers.

The SBA said experts are concerned that Jan. 1, 2000, many computers will recognize double zero not as 2000 but as 1900. The glitch could cause them to stop running or to generate erroneous data.

To deal with Y2K, Hochberg urges small business owners to take three immediate steps:

?Determine your business' Y2K risk with affected hardware, software or embedded data chips. A self-assessment test is available on the SBA's Y2K web page at www.sba.gov/y2k/.

?If you are vulnerable, take action now. Don't wait. Fix your problem and test the results. Develop contingency plans to deal with the effects of Y2K problems outside your control.

?Stay informed. Accurate information may change as solutions evolve.

To keep the public informed, the SBA has instituted three ways to obtain current Y2K information. These include the aforementioned web site, a toll-free answer desk at 800-827-5722 and a newly created fax-back system.

"The clock is ticking. Small-business owners can't afford to delay their Y2K analyses," Alvarez said. "Our new fax-back service is one more way SBA can help you meet this crucial business challenge."

To use the fax-back service, call toll free to 877-789-2565, make selections from a menu, and a fax targeted to your specific questions will be sent out within minutes.

The service can be used on touch-tone or rotary-dial telephones and is available 24 hours a day.

"Every small-business owner should view Y2K as a business and management issue, just like a host of other issues you face every day," Hochberg said. "SBA's Y2K fax-back is one more way SBA can help you land feet first in the 21st century on Jan. 1, 2000."

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