TODAY: Obama Cabinet Member to Address Small Business Environment in North Dakota

BISMARCK, N.D. – Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet, the head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and a member of President Obama’s cabinet, will discuss how North Dakota entrepreneurs can harness the SBA to advance their small business potential, particularly in underserved communities like women and Indian Country.

Administrator Contreras-Sweet and U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a member of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, will host a roundtable and discuss small business challenges and concerns facing North Dakota women entrepreneurs at Earth Kind, a SBA assisted small business in Bismarck. In the afternoon, Contreras-Sweet and Heitkamp will host a roundtable regarding Native American entrepreneurship at the Entrepreneurial Center at Sitting Bull College, which serves the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Thursday, the Administrator will participate in a U.S. Senate field hearing in Fargo hosted by the Senator to examine how the federal government can play a more proactive role in propelling U.S. startups, entrepreneurship, and innovation.

Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Administrator Contreras-Sweet founded a community bank.  Previously, she was California’s Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing, where she managed 13 departments, including Caltrans, the California Highway Patrol, the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Financial Institutions.

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