First stop on Investing in Rural America Tour
KANE—On Friday, May 17, the top official of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman, and Senator Bob Casey traveled to Kane to kickoff the “Investing in Rural America Tour”. Guzman is the voice in President Biden's cabinet for more than 33 million small businesses in America.
Administrator Guzman and Senator Casey discussed the state of rural business in the PA Wilds region with Kane's Mayor Brandy Schimp and Kane Area Development Center (KADC) Executive Director Kate Kennedy prior to departing on a walking tour of Kane. They stopped at three local small businesses to meet the owners that had benefited from SBA resources and to hear about their perspectives and challenges as rural entrepreneurs.
When asked why they chose Kane as the first stop on their tour, Senator Casey said, “Too often when people travel from Washington to a state like Pennsylvania, they tend to go to a big city or a town adjacent to a big city. I wanted to make sure that we got to a small town in a rural area. We've got a lot of places in our state that need the investment that SBA has been providing but there's nothing like being here and listening, and hearing what both the opportunities and the challenges are.”
Guzman said they saw the revitalizing main street and wanted to make sure that local businesses knew about the resources that can help continue the progress.
The discussions were held at Six&Kane, a model for revitalization and the first commercial Passive House retrofit of a building over 15,000 square feet in the country.
As they left on their walking tour they passed the Laughing Owl Press, and Guzman was aware of and commented on how the owners had won the BIG Ideas Contest in 2019. The contest was sponsored in part by the Clarion University Small Business Development Center (SBDC). Many local businesses have received free guidance and assistance from the SBDC which is under the umbrella of the SBA.
From SBA,gov, “The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) administers the Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) Program in a cooperative effort with the private sector, the educational community, and federal, state, and local governments to provide management assistance to current and prospective small business owners.”
They continued to walk down Fraley St. to reach their first stop, Lobo Fitness, and met with owner Jillian Chittester. They were given a tour of the facility and discussed how Chittester got started. She explained that she has been a personal trainer for about 10 years and opened the gym in 2019. Kane embraced the idea and she had to quickly expand into additional space in the building.
Chittester took advantage of the SBA loan for the capital to open up but said she slightly underestimated the costs. Administrator Guzman shared that the SBA has reworked requirements to allow for more money to be borrowed without collateral, a move that aims to open up easier access to capital for startups.
Before they left Lobo Fitness for the next stop on their tour, they asked Chittester what she needed now. She said the gym is doing well but shared a non-gym related quest to place automated external defibrillators (AED's) at locations across Kane. The search for grants for the cause is ongoing. Senator Casey said he would like to see if they could help.
On their way to the next business they made a brief stop at the O.G. Crawford Park amphitheater which is said to be the catalyst for Kane's “Main Street” revitalization. They discussed the busy schedule of the events this summer and the growing need for visitor accommodations in Kane.
The officials headed into their next stop, The Crooked Hem, where they met owners Julie Jackel and her husband Thor. The couple had moved back to Kane after leaving Las Vegas to start the clothing and accessory store in 2021. They said the services from the SBA were very helpful in starting their store, which was their first venture into business for themselves.
Guzman asked what it was like starting a business during the pandemic and working with the SBDC.
Julie said, “They were fantastic. They just made it so much easier.” She explained how a law student from Penn State helped them fill out all of their paperwork, as part of the services from the SBDC. She added, “We did it through Zoom because we were still living in Las Vegas at the time.”
Thor said, “It was a fantastic resource.” He explained that starting a business for the first time was complex and they helped them learn what they needed to do.
When Guzman asked what is the most challenging now, Thor mentioned e-commerce as something that is very complex. Guzman suggested some of the digital tools available on SBA.gov through the SBA's Digital Alliance. “They're giving you free trainings. You can even get certificates on how to be an e-commerce expert.” Guzman said the service has 300 free tools on how to operate your business leveraging technology.
Before departing, Guzman purchased a pair of earrings and chatted with Julie about the clever name of her business. Guzman shared a similar catchy name of a store she frequents in Washington D. C., called “Clothes Encounters”.
The entourage crossed the street for their final stop, Table 105 restaurant. As Guzman and Casey chatted with the owner, Riki Tanaka, their team picked up takeout lunch. After relating the origins of his discovery of Kane, Tanaka shared that he used an SBA loan for his first business in Pennsylvania in Port Allegany back in 2003. As a younger man just getting established, it was tough to secure financing. The government backing of the loan helped to make it possible at the time. Since then Tanaka has started several businesses and currently employs over 100 people.
Administrator Guzman is working in partnership with Senator Casey to make sure they're not only visiting but leaving behind resources and connections so that people can reach out. Guzman said, “I'm really interested in making sure rural communities, that really depend on small businesses
even more so than other places, have access to SBA's funding—our loans, our investments, our grants to incentive innovation.”
The SBA supports nearly $1 Billion in funding in just their loan program alone in Pennsylvania.
Guzman explained, “We know great ideas happen everywhere and anywhere, as President Biden said. He believes in these possibilities of America—but we need to find those great ideas and make sure they have the capital they need and connect with the resources of the federal government.” She
directed people to the organization's website, SBA.gov, for more information on those resources.
Being on the radar of any official is important, but having a cabinet member pay a visit to Kane to recognize the efforts of its community and offer support is a great honor. KADC Executive Director Kate Kennedy said after the visit, "It was an amazing confirmation, and I hope so many business owners here in Kane feel proud. It's because of the businesses that are here and the people that support them.”