Thank you, Nigel for that warm introduction.
It feels great to be back in California and here virtually with the Milken Institute and CalMatters to engage in a topic that is so important right now, what we can all do together to not only bring small businesses back, but also ensure they continue to anchor our Main Streets and our communities – creating local jobs and spurring local economies.
A special thank you to Eugene Cornelius, - Gene and I first met as former colleagues at the SBA during the Obama administration, he’s a passionate advocate for small businesses, and is doing great things at the Milken Institute.
As many of you know, I spent the first part of the COVID-19 pandemic in California as the director of the Office of Small Business Advocate, serving with the Newsom Administration to help Californians weather this unprecedented crisis. We focused
I’m now proud to leverage those rich experiences in CA to focus on these same issues at the federal level again – now for the 30 million small businesses and innovative startups that are the engine of our nation’s economy.
Just as we experienced in California, underserved entrepreneurs across America -- the smallest of the small in urban and rural areas, businesses owned by women and people of color – struggled to stay afloat throughout the pandemic. Through no fault of their own, they were left to pick up the pieces and pivot and adapt to a marketplace that changed in ways no one ever could have predicted.
Many were left out of early rounds of federal relief – often plagued by historic barriers to capital and opportunity.
And many of those businesses are still struggling.
However, there are glimmers of hope and reasons for optimism -- our small businesses and our economy are coming back thanks to the American Rescue Plan’s successes fighting COVID and getting shots in arms – yet many small businesses are also still reeling from this unprecedented disaster and need our help
That’s why, at the SBA, we remain committed to delivering billions of dollars in COVID relief – and ensuring we get that funding into the hands of the small businesses who need it.
As the voice for America’s 30 million small businesses and innovative startups, I’m focused on bridging the gaps to support ALL our nation’s small businesses and make them feel like the giants they ARE in our economy.
Since the pandemic began, the SBA has scaled dramatically from $40 billion dollars to more than a trillion – disbursing loans, grants, debt relief and other resources to help our nation’s small businesses survive.
Today, we’re leveraging this unprecedented moment and attention on small businesses to transform our programs and make them more customer-centric, technology forward and equitable as we want businesses to thrive
I’ve directed my staff to be as entrepreneurial as the entrepreneurs we serve and put our customers – America’s small businesses – first. We need to understand their needs and meet them where THEY are, instead of waiting for them to come to us.
And we need to be technology-forward - to leverage technology small businesses have adopted at high rates during COVID, streamline, automate for speed and efficiency.
And we need to do all of this with a focus on equity.
I’m proud to say that we’ve made changes and achieved results.
In 2021, 96 percent of PPP loans went to small businesses with 20 employees or less with strong performance in rural and LMI communities. Now we’re working closely with our more than 5,000 private financial partners to ensure our small businesses can gain forgiveness for their PPP loans.
We designed and implemented an innovative and effective approach to the Restaurant Revitalization Fund to distribute targeted relief to food and beverage businesses – including $18 billion to underserved - women, veterans and socially and economically disadvantaged - businesses.
We revamped the Shuttered Venues Operator Grant program that was established last year to help the performing arts venues and cultural institutions that anchor so many of our communities. As a result, in the past few weeks, we’ve awarded $5.2 billion dollars to over 6,800 entities.
And now, we’re working to improve the high-in-demand COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan program – or EIDL– which is a strong recovery tool as it provides low-cost, long term funds with deferred payments. We’ve delivered more than 3.8 million loans, for a total of more than $218 billion, plus an additional $3 billion in the companion grants for highly impacted small businesses through the Targeted EIDL and Supplemental Targeted EIDL Advance programs.
But we know we can do better and get the EIDL programs out more swiftly – so look for key improvements in the coming weeks.
We also know that our work is only as effective as our connection to small businesses.
We’re looking for new ways to get the word out that the SBA has resources to help small businesses start and grow.
We recently launched our Community Navigator Pilot program – a $100 million dollar program funded by ARP which will create a hub and spoke network of trusted organizations, local governments and community champions who can leverage their direct access to small businesses – esp underserved small businesses - to help them navigate resources at all stages of their growth.
The future of our nations’ economy depends on our ability to help all our small businesses recover and rebuild.
And the strengthening of this small business ecosystem will better position communities during this next stage of recovery to access the opportunities that will be available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework and President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda – which both promise to bring unprecedented investments to reimagine our future economy.
We are positioning SBA’s programs to help build back better.
We know capital is critical but market access – the revenue side of the equation is equally important. And these once-in-a-generation investments in infrastructure, innovation, R&D, manufacturing and supply chains, workforce and the care economy will present great opportunities for our small businesses.
Which is why, through SBA’s contracting programs, we’re positioning to better support our small businesses to get ready to do business with the federal government. We know that when we help small businesses engage in the more than ½ trillion federal contracting budget, we’re building wealth, creating jobs and strengthening our supply chains making them more competitive, innovative, diverse and resilient. And these opportunities are only going to increase with the proposed $1.2 trillion in infrastructure spending.
President Biden recognizes the importance of helping ALL small businesses grow for an equitable economic recovery and recently announced an all-of-government effort to grow federal contracting with small, disadvantaged businesses by 50 percent, which translates to an additional $100 billion dollars over five years.
With President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, we will transform our programs to ensure capital, markets and networks are accessible to all so we can build that future economy.
We know that great ideas come from everywhere and anywhere. We need to tap into those ideas, support our startups and small businesses (the job creators) to strengthen our economy and help us compete globally.
Because as President Biden has said, we can’t just return to where we were before the pandemic – we need to build our country and economy back better.
America’s small businesses are up to the task.
If we give them the tools, they will innovate, build, and adapt.
That’s what they do. That’s what the entrepreneurial spirit is all about.
I look forward to working with all of you as we bring businesses back, create jobs, and equitably connect all entrepreneurs in America to the support they need to start, grow, and be resilient.