SBA Administrator Guzman Visits The Enterprise Center
On January 26, U.S. Small Business Administration Administrator Isabel Guzman, and Steve Dixel, District Director of the SBA's Eastern Pennsylvania District, joined us for our CEO to CEO roundtable, where CEOs of color heard directly from Admin. Guzman about how the Biden-Harris administration is working to address capital and contracting barriers for diverse businesses.
The CEOs in attendance - leaders of stand-out firms in industries ranging from construction to logistics to cosmetics manufacturing - shared frustrations with red tape and regulations that often stand in the way of obtaining the growth capital that they need. As Kariema Milligan of Milligan Group LLC said, "We need to be able to get loans that will allow us to do multiple jobs at the same time instead of just one."
Later, the Enterprise Center's CEO Della Clark and Administrator Guzman both spoke to the need for more patient capital at the microloan stage - many entrepreneurs around the table credited a loan from The Enterprise Center with helping them to get to where they are today - as well as ensuring that the SBIC program "distributes equity capital more equitably", to quote Administrator Guzman. The CEOs concurred: entrepreneurs cannot grow and scale if their balance sheets are saddled with too much debt.
After the roundtable was over, Administrator Guzman was also excited to see our Biz on Wheels Curbside Business Services vehicle: coming soon to a corridor near you!
Business leaders in attendance:
- Djenane Fleurentin of Esteem Labs
- Ted Taiti of Esteem Labs
- Blane Fitzgerald Stoddart of BFW Group, Construction Project Managers
- Stan Straughter of Africatown
- Noel Lowe of FutureNET inc.
- Antoine Fain of Alpha-Transport
- Kariema Milligan of Milligan and Co.
- Lin Thomas of SUPRA Office Solutions, Inc.
- Brian Starke of Blasco Construction Corp.
