Scale-up America Initiative Evaluation Study

(OMB Control Number: 3245-XXXX)

Appendix C-1 Request for Administrator Distribution of Participant Survey Announcement (and accompanying announcement)

Dear ScaleUp Administrator,

Greetings from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) Office of Entrepreneurial Development (OED). SBA is conducting an impact evaluation of ScaleUp to improve the initiative and assess its impact on participants’ business-related goals.

To offer independent study, SBA has contracted Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) to complete the evaluation. As part of this assessment, Optimal is distributing an annual survey to the ScaleUp participants. The baseline survey will collect data about the participant, the business, the business needs and goals, and their perceptions of the small business assistance available in your area. Two annual follow-up surveys will collect data on the progress made toward achieving the business-related goals, the value of services received from ScaleUp, and any changes in business growth or perceptions of the small business assistance available in your area.

Participants are in no way required to complete the survey but are encouraged to do so because the information is extremely important for demonstrating the impact of the ScaleUp initiative and improving it for future small business participants.

To conduct the surveys with participants, we respectfully request that you send an e-mail announcement to all individuals who received any services funded through the ScaleUp initiative. Please send this announcement e-mail by <DATE>. The text for the announcement e-mail is provided below.

If you have any questions about the participant survey or sending the announcement e-mail to participants, please do not hesitate to contact Optimal by phone at 301-306-1170 or at [email protected]. Thank you very much for your assistance during this data collection process.

Respectfully,

<xxxxx>
On behalf of the SBA Office of Entrepreneurial Development

Text for announcement e-mail from ScaleUp administrators to participants:

Dear <ScaleUp Initiative> Participants,

We thank you for participating in the ScaleUp America initiative. As you may be aware, the ScaleUp initiative is funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) Office of Entrepreneurial Development (OED). SBA is conducting an impact evaluation of the ScaleUp initiative to develop plans for improving it and assessing its impact on the business performance of its participants.

To offer a fair and independent study, SBA has contracted Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal), to complete the evaluation. As part of this assessment, Optimal is distributing an annual survey to the ScaleUp participants. The baseline survey will collect data about you, your business, your business needs and goals, and your perceptions of the small business assistance available in your area. Two annual follow-up surveys will collect data on the progress you have made toward achieving your business-related goals, the value of services you received from ScaleUp, and any changes in your business growth or perceptions of the small business assistance available in your area.

You are in no way required to participate in the survey but are encouraged to do so because the information is extremely important for demonstrating the impact of the ScaleUp initiative and improving it for future small business participants. Each survey will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. Your responses to the survey will be kept confidential by Optimal and are only shared with us, the site administrators, in a de-identified and aggregated format. You will soon receive an e-mail directly from Optimal with the invitation and a request for your consent to proceed with the survey.

Thank you for your support and assistance in this effort.

Respectfully,

<ScaleUp administrator>