SBA boss pays visit to state
Businesses’ needs in NW area focus
The U.S. Small Business Administration’s lead official spent Friday in Northwest Arkansas visiting with small-business owners and economic development leaders to get feedback on the agency’s pandemic-focused stimulus programs.
U.S. Rep. Steve Womack was host for the visit and joined SBA Administrator Isabella Guzman in discussing economic relief plans for small businesses, restaurants and venues affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Friday’s visit was beneficial to learning more about the needs of entrepreneurs and small businesses in the region, Guzman said. “This region … has so many critical entrepreneurial efforts and we want to make sure we can continue to support them.”
Having an opportunity to visit in-person with Guzman and Womack is positive for the cultural arts community in Northwest Arkansas, said Martin Miller, executive director and producer of TheatreSquared, a performing arts organization in Fayetteville.
TheatreSquared hosted one of the meetings focused on SBA’s Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program. The organization received about $350,000 through the program and a total of about $1.1 million through all SBA initiatives, including the Paycheck Protection Program and the Eco
nomic Injury Disaster Loan program.
“Our whole philosophy was just to not let covid win,” Miller said Friday. “We took advantage of everything we possibly could to keep our team engaged and to keep producing.”
SBA funding was essential to keeping the TheatreSquared team together during the pandemic, Miller said.
“We would have survived as an institution but perhaps not as a company” without the support, he said. “And what I mean by that is that the company is its people. Having these programs available meant we could keep our talented team intact, and that means everything.”
The meetings should help Guzman learn more about the ongoing needs of small businesses in the region as the pandemic continues to disrupt economic activity, Womack said, noting that Guzman heard about the efforts to forge public-private partnerships and got a feel for the overall entrepreneurial spirit of business leaders devoted to incubate startups that add jobs.
At the same time, Womack said, covid-19 is continuing to hamper economic activity and Guzman received feedback on what SBA might do to continue support of small businesses.
“It’s obvious to me at this stage of the game we’re not out of this thing yet,” he said Friday after spending the day touring the region with Guzman. “There may indeed be more needs to surface that Congress will have to take a look at helping with.”
Meetings and discussions focused on the two primary stimulus initiatives to help small businesses survive economic losses suffered from the pandemic — the restaurant revitalization fund and the shuttered venues operating grants. “I think from all angles it was a huge success,” Womack said.
Guzman said she came to the area to gain more information about trends in small business and economic development as well as entrepreneurial efforts.
“We wanted to learn from them and understand what was beneficial and what the impact of our funding delivery has been … and what their thoughts are on the future and how they’re going to position their businesses for recovery,” Guzman said.
Business owners noted the continued economic difficulties created by the delta variant of the coronavirus, Guzman said. “They are already seeing the impact of delta on their businesses,” she said. “There is still some uncertainty and our small businesses are often times the hardest hit.”
One key takeaway for SBA is to make sure programs are designed to be “customer centric” and make it easy for businesses to participate. Working with small businesses “and meeting them where they are with these programs and using technology to simplify the process” is vital going forward, she said.
“We need to make sure we reach all of our communities,” she said. “We know that ideas come from anywhere and everywhere.”
SBA has poured substantial funding into the state through its pandemic-relief efforts.
The agency’s largest initiative during the pandemic, the Paycheck Protection Program, ended May 31. In Arkansas, the agency made 43,669 loans to small businesses valued at $3.3 billion. All loans were forgivable and do not have to be repaid.
The restaurant program and shuttered venue efforts are grants to businesses and also do not have to be repaid. More than 500 grants have been made to Arkansas’ restaurants valued at $93.4 million. About 65 Arkansas venues — which includes museums, music clubs and theaters among other arts and cultural organizations — have received grants valued at $42.2 million.
Guzman’s swing through the region is part of a nationwide tour that has included stops in Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Overall, Guzman’s visit will help the region, Miller said.
“We’re really grateful that the administrator and the congressman took time to make sure that Northwest Arkansas is recognized as a participant in the cultural economy,” he said. “Having these national figures come here and walk through our beautiful space and understand why it is worthy of support is good for Northwest Arkansas.”