02.03.2021

Shaheen Questions SBA Administrator Nominee Isabel Guzman during Committee Confirmation Hearing

**Shaheen is a senior member of the Senate Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee**

(Washington, DC) – This morning, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) questioned Isabel Guzman, nominee to be Administrator of the Small Business Administration, during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee (SBC). During the hearing, Shaheen – a senior member of the SBC – questioned Guzman on a number of priorities, including the need to expedite the allocation of relief for small, live entertainment venues that was included in the emergency COVID-19 relief package signed into law last December, to resolve ongoing issues Granite State small businesses face accessing the SBA’s export assistance program and the need for increased cooperation and transparency between the SBA and Congress.

Shaheen’s questioning can be viewed here.

Shaheen said, “No federal agency has a more important role in helping our small businesses get to the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic than the Small Business Administration. At this critical time, the SBA needs experienced and dedicated leadership to ensure relief is quickly reaching our hardest-hit small businesses, and works to promote a recovery that fosters economic growth, creates jobs and promotes innovation in Granite State communities. I appreciated the opportunity this morning to follow up on our previous meeting and hear more from Ms. Guzman on her vision for how the SBA can best protect and assist Main Street. During my questioning, I raised a number of priorities crucial to our state’s small businesses, including the need to cut red tape for entrepreneurs to access the SBA’s export assistance program and to release guidance that would allow our live venues to apply for PPP funding that they need to keep their doors open. Additionally, I was pleased with her commitment to bolster transparency and cooperation between the SBA and Congress. I look forward to seeing her nomination advance to the full Senate and working with the Biden administration to ensure every possible assistance is rendered to our small businesses during this challenging time.”

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.