DETROIT, MI – On Monday, March 7, Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the voice for America’s 32.5 million small businesses in President Biden’s Cabinet, visited the Detroit, MI metro area to highlight local manufacturers and the importance of supporting small businesses that make their products here in America. There, she was joined by U.S. Reps. Brenda Lawrence, Rashida Tlaib, and Haley Stevens for a women-owned small business roundtable.
“Our small businesses make and deliver the products we all depend on every day, and they will lead us as we bring manufacturing back, especially in Detroit, where making things is ingrained in the culture. As we saw firsthand at Centrepolis Accelerator and K-Tec Systems, our small manufacturers are helping to reverse the downtrends of the past. Under President Biden’s leadership, small manufacturers will have a level playing field and strengthen domestic supply chains, bring down costs for businesses and families, and open doors of opportunity in Detroit and all across the nation,” said Administrator Guzman. “And many of our emerging success stories are being created by women who are starting businesses at high rates. I was honored to join U.S. Representatives Brenda Lawrence, Rashida Tlaib, and Haley Stevens in the legendary Motor City during Women’s History Month to celebrate the progress women and all of America’s entrepreneurs made in the first year of the Biden-Harris Administration, and to hear from small business owners who have been the driving force behind America’s strong recovery from COVID and now are working with their trademark grit and determination to build a better, more competitive American economy than ever before.”
Administrator Guzman kicked off her trip by visiting The Narrow Way Cafe & Shop and meeting owner Sabrina Swain. The Narrow Way Cafe & Shop is a black-owned small business that started as a pop-up in the bookstore of Straight Gate International Church. Currently, the Narrow Way Café & Shop serves Zingerman’s coffee and pastries, baked goods from Avalon International Breads, and smoothies. The Narrow Way Cafe & Shop braved the worst of the pandemic with Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding and used the assistance to pay staff while they reconfigured their business and adjusted to COVID.
Following her visit to The Narrow Way Cafe & Shop, Administrator Guzman visited Centrepolis Accelerator and met with Reps. Lawrence, Tlaib and Stevens, Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II, and SBA Regional Administrator to the Great Lakes region, Geri Aglipay. In 2021, the Centrepolis Accelerator was named a winner of the SBA’s Growth Accelerator Fund Competition, conducted by the Office of Innovation and Technology.
Administrator Guzman, Reps. Lawrence, Tlaib and Stevens, Lt. Gov. Gilchrist, and Regional Administrator Aglipay participated in a roundtable discussion with women business leaders and owners in Detroit. In the roundtable, Administrator Guzman highlighted the assistance SBA offers to help women and minority-owned businesses now and in the future.
“I was honored that Administrator Guzman was able to join me for a roundtable with some of the incredible women small business owners in Southeast Michigan. Especially in the past few years, it was small businesses owned by women and people of color who bore the brunt of this pandemic,” said Rep. Lawrence. “This is why, amid Women’s History Month, we hosted this roundtable to discuss the challenges they were facing and how Congress and the SBA can work together to help our women entrepreneurs and small business owners succeed.”
“I was honored to join Administrator Guzman, Rep. Brenda Lawrence, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib for a roundtable focused on women-owned small businesses in Oakland County, Michigan. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, but unfortunately, women-owned small businesses have been greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Rep. Stevens. “As part of my Women-Owned-Wednesday initiative, I hear from female small businesses owners in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District about the challenges that they face and how the federal government can help them succeed. These visits inspired me to introduce my Increasing Developing Entrepreneurship Access (IDEA) Act. This legislation will create a grant program to develop a network of business accelerators that promote growth for minority-owned businesses through enhanced access to capital, business networks, and supply chains. I am proud to partner with the SBA as they work to empower small business owners and help them thrive. When women succeed, it leads to stronger communities and a robust economy across the nation.”
Following the roundtable discussion, Administrator Guzman also toured the K-TEC Systems assembly facility with Lt. Gov. Gilchrist and met President and CEO, Catherine Koch. K-Tec Systems is a women-owned manufacturer of test equipment, temperature sensors, wire harnesses, and control systems. During the COVID-19 pandemic, K-Tec Systems got funding from Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP) and the COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan (COVID EIDL), which helped sustain payroll and pay back a debt to her bank and help expand her talent pool. Prior to this, they also benefited from funding from the SBA’s 7(a) Loan Program.
Administrator Guzman ended her trip by meeting Bobcat Bonnies restaurant owner Matt Buskard. Currently, Bobcat Bonnies have over 200 employees and six locations. During the pandemic, Bobcat Bonnies benefitted from funding from the SBA’s PPP and COVID EIDL programs. They used funding from PPP to bring back and keep staff on and a small percentage to pay vendor bills, and COVID EIDL funding to pay bills as they went through shutdowns and limited capacities and expand their outdoor dining options.
This visit marks the Administrator’s second official visit to Detroit, MI. In her first year in office, Administrator Guzman has visited 26 states and U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico, and over 41 cities.
Photos from the trip are available below.
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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.
SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, and Reps. Brenda Lawrence, Rashida Tlaib, and Haley Stevens participate in a roundtable discussion with women business leaders and owners in Detroit, MI.
SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman and Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II tour the K-TEC Systems assembly facility and talk to President and CEO, Catherine Koch. During the COVID-19 pandemic, K-Tec Systems got funding from PPP and COVID EIDL.