A Cabinet Full of Entrepreneur Helpers

These days, Cabinet meetings are mostly for show, and generally designed to promote the idea that all departments are behind some aspect of the president's agenda. Today's meeting was a case in point. President Obama welcomed Karen Mills, administrator of the Small Business Administration, to the Cabinet, and emphasized that other agencies would be pitching in to help people who want to start their own businesses -- even some you might not expect.

Here's what the president said:

In addition, we've got all the Cabinet agencies, who are here represented. They are putting forward their own initiatives to enhance the ability of entrepreneurs to get up and running. So, for example, the Department of Homeland Security, my understanding is we're going to be talking about how we can improve the visa process for those who are interested in investing in the United States and starting businesses here in the United States.

I know that the Department of Commerce, Energy, and Education, as well as the SBA, are all launching complementary initiatives to support entrepreneurship as well. And so what we want to do is to make sure that every single agency, even as they're tending to their energy initiatives or providing homeland security or transportation or defense, that we're also thinking about how are we advancing the cause of giving small businesses and entrepreneurs opportunities to start creating the next Google or the next Apple or the next innovative company that's going to create jobs and improve our economy.

It's that kind of all-hands-on-deck approach that is really going to make a difference. And we're looking forward to hearing additional ideas from our business council and from those who are involved in startups that can help to promote this agenda.