SEATTLE, WA – On July 11-12, Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the voice for America's 33 million small businesses in President Biden's Cabinet, joined Washington Governor Jay Inslee in Seattle to tour a highway Infrastructure job site and met with small businesses and contracting firms to highlight how federal funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is helping to accelerate infrastructure projects and provide government contracting opportunities for small businesses as the SBA promotes the President’s “Build America, Buy American” priorities.
“The SBA is collaborating with local leaders throughout the nation to help entrepreneurs gain access to revenue and growth opportunities to achieve their American dreams. I was thrilled to join State of Washington Governor Jay Inslee and Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell during my visit to discuss how we can work together to help small businesses throughout the Pacific Northwest and all of America to continue to recover from the COVID pandemic and meet the challenges ahead,” said Administrator Guzman. “We saw and heard firsthand the resilience of Seattle small business owners and were inspired by what they have achieved to protect and provide jobs to their employees, both long-standing and brand-new hires. President Biden’s successful leadership has guided our economy from high levels of pandemic job loss to the strongest job recovery in history, with all private sector jobs now fully recovered.”
During the trip, SBA Administrator and Washington Governor Jay Inslee toured the Seattle 520 Montlake long-term highway Infrastructure job site to highlight how small businesses stand to benefit from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law on similar projects. The Administrator and Governor also heard from four small business State and Federal Contracting firms about their role in the infrastructure project.
Owner Patricia Cleary of subcontractor Crux Diving explains how her team gained State and Federal contracts and provided technical diving services on bridge projects such as the Seattle 502 Montlake project and answers questions from SBA Seattle District Director Kerrie Hurd, Washington Governor Jay Inslee, SBA Administrator Guzman and Pacific Northwest Regional Administrator Mike Fong.
Administrator Guzman and Governor Inslee also shared the importance of Federal, State, and Local governments working together to continue directing the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to the small businesses in the hardest-hit and underserved communities.
For a lunchtime visit with Managing Owner Yasuaki Saito of The London Plane restaurant in Seattle’s Pioneer Square, President/CEO Anthony Anton of the WA Hospitality Association, and other small business officials, Administrator Guzman and Governor Inslee discussed how the federal and state government continue to work hand-in-hand to ensure no small business is left behind. Governor Inslee announced the new fifth round of “Working Washington Grants” implemented by the Washington Dept. of Commerce for small businesses still suffering from financial hardship due to COVID-19.
Administrator Guzman with WA Governor Jay Inslee discuss Federal and State of WA Dept. of Commerce’s focus with new round of grants using ARPA federal funding to get assistance to retail and other hardest hit small businesses like restaurants, such as London Plane in Pioneer Square, Seattle where both toured and met with Managing Owner Yasuaki D Saito
Finally, Administrator Guzman was joined by Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell to hear crucial on-the-ground feedback from three minority-owned small business entrepreneurs on what they still need and how Federal, State, and Local government agencies can provide a multi-focused effort to assist and support resilience and enable more access to growth opportunities.
This visit was hosted at the second location of Boon Boona Coffee in Seattle, which was opened in the middle of the pandemic as a second location by Owner Efrem Fesaha, in addition to his original location in Renton, WA. Earlier this year as part of SBA National Small Business Week, Pacific Northwest Regional Administrator Mike Fong and Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell presented Mr. Fesaha with SBA’s Washington State and Pacific Northwest Regional “Small Business Person of the Year” 2022 award.
Administrator Guzman with Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and SBA PNW Regional Administrator Mike Fong at a roundtable discussion at Boon Boona Coffee, Seattle, Washington with small business owners Rosalinda Mendoza of Mocel Mezcal, Efrem Fesaha of Boon Boona Coffee and Jaebadiah Gardner of Gardner Global, Inc..
Expanding federal contracting opportunities for historically underserved, underrepresented groups is one way in which the Biden-Harris Administration is addressing equity issues, the wealth gap, and other barriers to opportunity. As the largest purchaser of goods and services in the world, this ensures the U.S. government will play a role in helping small businesses and particularly those in underserved markets and communities have a level playing field to compete and sell their goods and services directly to the federal government.
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About the U.S. Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow or expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.