Shaheen Meets with SBA Administrator Nominee Isabel Guzman
Shaheen discusses the challenges small businesses are facing amid the COVID-19 pandemic with Isabel Guzman, President Biden’s nominee to serve as Administrator of the Small Business Administration
**Shaheen led negotiations on the small business assistance provisions in the COVID-19 relief legislation signed into law last month, building on the successful small business programs she helped create in the CARES Act**
(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, issued the following statement after meeting this afternoon with Isabel Guzman, President Biden’s nominee to serve as Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA):
“Small businesses are the lifeblood of New Hampshire’s economy, fostering economic growth, creating jobs and promoting innovation in Granite State communities. With our local businesses and workforce continuing to endure the devastating economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the mission of the Small Business Administration – to protect and assist America’s small businesses – has never been more important,” said Shaheen. “In my meeting with Isabel Guzman this afternoon, I raised a number of critical issues, such as ensuring assistance from SBA programs like the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans swiftly reaches those hardest hit by the pandemic and improving SBA outreach to underserved and underbanked communities in New Hampshire. We also discussed the importance of cutting red tape for businesses seeking to reach foreign markets through SBA’s export assistance program. I appreciated hearing more about how Ms. Guzman’s extensive career serving small businesses in the public and private sectors has prepared her to lead the SBA and look forward to her testimony and consideration before the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee.”
Senator Shaheen once again led bipartisan negotiations on the small business provisions in the new COVID-19 relief signed into law in December. The legislation, which includes provisions from Shaheen’s HEROES Small Business Lifeline Act, provides $284 billion to extend the Paycheck Protection Program and allow many small businesses and nonprofits access to the second round of PPP loans announced today. The legislation also expands PPP eligibility for 501(c)(6) nonprofits, including tourism organizations and local chambers of commerce, and makes critical policy changes to the program to better serve the restaurant and hospitality industries, which have been among those hardest-hit by the pandemic. To date, nearly 25,000 New Hampshire small businesses and non-profits have received over $2.5 billion in PPP assistance.
