The Best Kept Secrets Of The Small Business Administration

A Conversation with Georgia District Director Terri Denison.

You don’t have to spend much time with Terri Denison to see her passion for her work as Georgia District Director of the United States Small Business Administration (SBA).

“I knew I wanted a career in public service,” Denison says. Growing up in Corpus Christi, she headed to Cornell in upstate New York when she graduated. “As a child of the Great Society, I benefitted from government programs. I wanted to give back.”

“I thought I would end up with a job in some local government planning or economic development commission,” she recalls. But it was the ‘80s and the savings and loan debacle was raging in Texas. Local governments were not hiring.

After completing her graduate work in San Antonio, Texas, Denison decided to accept a position with SBA. “I thought it would be a good way to fill out my experience for a couple of years.” That was more than 30 years ago, and she is still going strong.

When I sat down with Denison, I wanted the best kept secrets that most of us may not know about this federal agency. Here is what I learned: At its essence, SBA is about the three C’s.

Capital access

This is the one many people think of when thinking SBA. Disaster recovery or the COVID-19 assistance comes to mind. But SBA helps companies with funding to start and grow businesses. They provide commercial lenders with a guaranty of a large percentage of a loan, so banks are more likely to lend. Domestic loans receive a guaranty of up to 75%-85% depending upon the type of loan and the amount. SBA also helps with global trade, especially exporting goods and services. The Export Working Capital Program (EWCP) and 7(a) International Trade loans provide lenders with up to a 90% guaranty.

The Microloan program provides loans up to $50,000 to help small businesses and certain not-for-profit childcare centers start up and expand. SBA uses designated intermediary lenders who are nonprofit community-based organizations. A few of these include Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corp, CDC Small Business Finance Corp, and Eastern Maine Development Corp. In addition to supporting businesses, SBA also guarantees surety bonds for small construction firms.

Counseling and education

The list of what is available here is staggering. Whether researching a business idea, or taking an existing business to the next level, there is a lot to reference. The SCORE organization connects people with online or live mentorship with retired and current business owners and executives. Small Business Development Centers, hosted by colleges and universities, offer one-stop assistance to individuals and small businesses by providing a wide variety of services.

Women Business Centers provide counseling and training to the fastest growing small business segment in the country. Veterans have the power of 22 organizations participating in SBA’s Veterans Business Outreach Centers (VBOC) program. These entities only scratch the surface of online, live, organizational support and help that is available through SBA at no cost to business owners.

Contracting

There is help for those who are interested in doing business with the federal government. Trying to work your way through the government agencies, how each one is structured (yes, they are all different), how they purchase goods and services (no, they don’t use one system or database) can be enough to make some small business owners throw their hands up in defeat. A sweet spot for SBA, each of those government agencies have someone designated as an SBA contact point to help navigate the process.

This only begins to describe how SBA helps business owners across the country. As you delve deeper into the different resources and programs offered, you will see the fruits of years of work that Denison and her colleagues at SBA have outlined for your success.