Spanish Language Materials and Outreach Assessment short

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 3245-0398)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

Spanish-Language Materials and Outreach Assessment

PURPOSE:

This is the first of two phases of primary research. It will consist of telephone interviews with selected SBA Resource Partners across the United States to ascertain their 1) use of existing SBA materials for Spanish-speaking small business owners and entrepreneurs; 2) need for additional materials and relative priority; and 3) communication channels and resources that are used when serving these audiences.

The subsequent phase of the study will be a series of online focus groups with Spanish-dominant small business owners and entrepreneurs. Phase II segmentation strategy will be dependent on findings of Phase I, in conjunction with SBA employee recommendations.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

Representatives from the following SBA Resource Partners (SBA-funded local organizations that mentor, counsel and train Spanish-speaking small business owners and entrepreneurs across the Unites States):

1. Small Business Development Centers (SBDC)

2. SCORE chapters

3. Women’s Business Centers (WBC)

4. Veteran’s Business Outreach Centers (VBOC)

SBDCs, SCORE chapters, and WBCs are funded through cooperative agreements. VBOCs are funded through grants.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [ ] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group [x ] Other: Telephone Interviews

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name: Paula Tavares (Marketing Director, Office of Communications & Public Liaison

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [x] Yes [ ] No

2. If Yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [x] No

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [x] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [ x ] No

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Private Sector (SBA Resource Partners)	20	65 minutes each (60 minutes interview and 5 minutes screener)	21.7 hours
Totals	20	65 minutes each	21.7 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $9,658, which is attributed to the contractor that will be conducting the telephone interviews.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [ x] Yes [ ] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

We will select respondents from selected lists provided by the two Program Offices that administer cooperative agreements and grants to the Resource Partners. To aim for geographic representation among the study respondents, we will select Resource Partner local organizations based on Hispanic population density in their service area.

This is a qualitative assessment and we have an allocated budget for 20 telephone interviews only. We based our sampling in proportion to the number of each type of Resource Partner that is funded under cooperative agreements and grants. There are currently 950+ SBDCs, 300+ SCORE chapters, 100+ Women’s Business Centers and 20+ Veterans Business Outreach Centers. Thus, we will conduct interviews with 12 SBDCs representatives, 4 SCORE chapter representatives, 3 WBCs and 1 VBOC in highly Hispanic/Spanish-speaking populated geographic areas.

SBA OCPL will prepare an email invitation for the Program Office to send out to potential respondents. We will identify 25 potential respondents and recruit and confirm 20 participants. All participants will need to answer a screener to qualify for participation in the interview.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[x ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ x ] Yes [ ] No

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

Attachments

• Draft email invitation

• Screener Questionnaire--PRE-INTERVIEW DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONS [SCREENING GUIDE]

• Telephone RESOURCE PARTNER IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW GUIDE

Instructions for completing Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback”

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Provide the name of the collection that is the subject of the request. (e.g. Comment card for soliciting feedback on xxxx)

PURPOSE: Provide a brief description of the purpose of this collection and how it will be used. If this is part of a larger study or effort, please include this in your explanation.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Provide a brief description of the targeted group or groups for this collection of information. These groups must have experience with the program.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: Check one box. If you are requesting approval of other instruments under the generic, you must complete a form for each instrument.

CERTIFICATION: Please read the certification carefully. If you incorrectly certify, the collection will be returned as improperly submitted or it will be disapproved.

Personally Identifiable Information: Provide answers to the questions. Note: Agencies should only collect PII to the extent necessary, and they should only retain PII for the period of time that is necessary to achieve a specific objective.

Gifts or Payments: If you answer yes to the question, please describe the incentive and provide a justification for the amount.

BURDEN HOURS:

Category of Respondents: Identify who you expect the respondents to be in terms of the following categories: (1) Individuals or Households; (2) Private Sector; (3) State, local, or tribal governments; or (4) Federal Government. Only one type of respondent can be selected per row.

No. of Respondents: Provide an estimate of the Number of Respondents.

Participation Time: Provide an estimate of the amount of time (in minutes) required for a respondent to participate (e.g. fill out a survey or participate in a focus group)

Burden: Provide the Annual burden hours: Multiply the Number of Respondents and the Participation Time then divide by 60.

FEDERAL COST: Provide an estimate of the annual cost to the Federal government.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents. Please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them. If the answer is yes, to the first question, you may provide the sampling plan in an attachment.

Administration of the Instrument: Identify how the information will be collected. More than one box may be checked. Indicate whether there will be interviewers (e.g. for surveys) or facilitators (e.g., for focus groups) used.

Submit all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

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