Wendell G. Davis | U.S. Small Business Administration New England regional administrator
1. You’ve held the position for four months now, what are your responsibilities? As SBA’s New England regional administrator, I oversee six district offices in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island, [as well as] SBA programs providing capital, contracting and counseling to 1.4 million small businesses.
2. Is it difficult to juggle programmatic delivery to Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island? The administration’s policies have made my job easier. Small businesses are excited about our pro-growth policies, and [their] concentration on tax simplification and regulatory reduction has had a positive impact on small business.
3. For 15 years, you were a small-business owner. What type of firm did you lead, and did you have any dealings with the SBA? I owned and managed a small law firm. Other than closing SBA loans, I didn’t have any direct dealings with the agency. I thought the SBA was simply a loan-guaranty program.
I have come to realize the SBA is so much more.
In keeping with Administrator [Linda] McMahon’s desire to make sure that the SBA is not the “best-kept secret,” I am working daily to make the SBA the best-known agency in America. [For example, the SBA offers] loans to help small [businesses] export their products and services overseas; helps prepare for and obtain the 20 percent of federal contracts set aside for small businesses; and we counsel small-business owners and help them develop business plans, obtain access to capital and technical assistance.
4. How will that experience lend itself to support and inform your current position with the SBA? New England entrepreneurs truly epitomize the American dream and personally identifying with their experiences is extremely helpful. When I meet with small businesses, familiar themes arise. I always hear the story of their journey to success, the uncertainty in laying everything on the line, the daunting responsibility of caring for employees.
5. Looking forward, how will you prioritize outreach into the small-business community? My goal is to help start and grow businesses, create jobs and strengthen our economy. In fiscal 2017, the SBA approved 5,231 loans [representing] $1.5 billion in lending to New England small businesses. I want to increase those numbers across all sectors, but particularly I want to grow our loans in minority communities [and among] women, veterans and in rural communities.
