WASHINGTON — A U.S. Government Accountability Office reportreleased last week said the Small Business Administration has madeimprovements over the past two years in several areas includingemployee morale.

The report noted that SBA had followed through on several GAOrecommendations. The agency re-engineered its guaranty purchaseprocess to track progress of the completeness of packages lenderssubmit and customer service, according to the GAO report. SBA hasalso continued to define the roles and responsibilities of thedistrict offices including retaining a role in the loan processesthat have been centralized, GAO noted.

The development of a performance management framework was a keystep in linking the agency's reforms with strategic goals andemployee roles, according to the report. SBA has also taken actionsto address low employee morale including conducting focus groups tounderstand their concerns and completing the largest staff trainingin the agency's history back in August 2007. More than 1,300 of its2,500 permanent employees participated, SBA said.