WASHINGTON — A U.S. Government Accountability Office report released last week said the Small Business Administration has made improvements over the past two years in several areas including employee morale.

The report noted that SBA had followed through on several GAO recommendations. The agency re-engineered its guaranty purchase process to track progress of the completeness of packages lenders submit and customer service, according to the GAO report. SBA has also continued to define the roles and responsibilities of the district offices including retaining a role in the loan processes that have been centralized, GAO noted.

The development of a performance management framework was a key step in linking the agency's reforms with strategic goals and employee roles, according to the report. SBA has also taken actions to address low employee morale including conducting focus groups to understand their concerns and completing the largest staff training in the agency's history back in August 2007. More than 1,300 of its 2,500 permanent employees participated, SBA said.