INTRODUCTION: Thank you, Mr. Emhoff, for being here today, and for your commitment to our nation’s small businesses.
And thank you to Senator Cardin for your leadership at the helm of the Senate’s Small Business Committee and for all that you do to support entrepreneurs here in Maryland and across the country.
I’d also like to recognize Congressman Sarbanes and Senator Van Hollen for their unwavering support. Maryland’s small businesses are lucky to have all three of you looking out for them in Congress.
What a beautiful setting for today’s roundtable.
Thank you, Alice Estrada, for giving us a tour of the Annapolis Maritime Museum, and for being such a gracious host.
And thank you to Mayor Buckley for opening up your beautiful city to us today.
It feels great to be meeting here with you all – face to face – and the fact that we’re able to do that is just another sign that things really are getting better.
After the past year and all the challenges that came with it, it’s hard to believe that’s finally the case.
Things are looking up.
We’ve administered 250 million shots since President Biden took office.
We’re quickly approaching 60 percent of adult Americans who have taken at least one shot, and as of last week, COVID-19 deaths were at the lowest point since April 2020.
However, millions are still struggling.
Our nation’s small businesses have been hit hard by this pandemic.
And our underserved businesses – those owned by women, people of color, veterans and the smallest of the small – have suffered disproportionately.
It’s no coincidence that these groups have also faced historic barriers to capital, markets and networks.
These barriers have made it even harder for our underserved businesses to recover and rebuild from COVID.
At the SBA, we’re focused on connecting with those businesses and delivering the relief they need now to get back on their feet.
I’m really proud of what we’ve been able to deliver.
Thanks to our champions in Congress and the Biden-Harris administration, the American Rescue Plan allocated billions of dollars in targeted relief for our hardest-hit small businesses.
We recently launched the $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund, and in two weeks, we’ve received more than 303,000 applications representing over $69 billion in requested funds.
Nearly 57 percent of those who submitted applications are women, veterans or socially and economically disadvantaged business owners.
So far, we’ve been able to deliver nearly $6 billion in funds relief to more than 38,000 food and beverage businesses owned by women, veterans, and people of color – who, as mandated by Congress, were given priority access to the program.
This includes more than 800 establishments here in Maryland.
And to make sure that the smallest of the small food and beverage businesses wouldn’t be left out, as they have been in earlier rounds of relief, we set aside $9.5 billion of the total specifically for them.
This includes a special set-aside of $500 million for businesses with revenue of $50,000 dollars or less.
And the good news is that we still have funding left for businesses in this category, so if your 2019 annual revenue did not exceed $50,000, be sure to get your application in before May 24.
We also recently launched the Shuttered Venues Operators Grant program, which is giving out $16.2 billion to help operators of concert halls, movie theaters, stages, museums and other venues continue to pay their bills until we can bring back the performances and experiences that are the lifeblood of our American culture.
With PPP and EIDL, we’ve now gone beyond $1 trillion dollars in relief.
And, so far in 2021, 95 percent of PPP loans have gone to Main Street businesses with fewer than 20 employees.
While this immediate relief is critical, we also have to look to the future.
As President Biden has said: This is no time to just build back to the way things were before, with the old economy’s structural weaknesses and inequalities still in place. This is the moment to reimagine and rebuild an American economy for our families and the next generation.
The SBA is committed to carrying out the Biden-Harris administration’s three-part agenda to rescue, recover and rebuild this country.
As we do that, I’m focused on ensuring that the SBA is as entrepreneurial as all of the small businesses and innovative startups we serve….meeting our businesses where they are - instead of waiting for them to come to us – implementing a customer-first, technology-driven and equitable approach to all of SBA’s programs.
The path forward must include opportunities for all of us. To get there, we’ve got to eliminate historic barriers. Not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it will help us build back better.
We know that so many small businesses still need our help.
Working with champions like Senators Cardin and Van Hollen, and Congressman Sarbanes, we will continue to do everything we can to help them get past this pandemic – and build the resiliency they need to thrive.