Isabel Guzman, administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) candidate for U.S. President Joe Biden, is sworn in throughout a Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee verification hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021.
Bill Leary | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Senate prepares to verify Isabel Guzman to head the Small Business Administration on Tuesday, putting her in charge of assisting to lead Main Street beyond the damage wrought by Covid-19.
Guzman now acts as director of California’s Office of the Small Business Advocate. She has actually managed small company relief for the nation’s biggest state throughout the pandemic.
Now, she is set to take the effort across the country as SBA administrator at a time when small companies have actually struggled to keep their doors open. Guzman will manage the rollout of the Paycheck Protection Program and other help efforts, which have actually conserved business however have actually been encumbered ineffectiveness and waste.
“I have every confidence that under Ms. Guzman’s leadership, the SBA will help small business owners hold on to their dreams until the economy comes roaring back,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., stated previously Tuesday.
Since the passage of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act last March, the company has actually handled the PPP, among the biggest pieces of relief cash Congress has actually authorized. Since its creation, the program has actually offered about $687 billion in forgivable loans, according to SBA information through March 7. About $165 billion in loans has actually headed out this year.
The present window to obtain the help ends at the end of the month. Bipartisan legislators in the House and Senate have actually proposed a strategy to extend the program for 2 months and offer the SBA another 30 days after that to go through applications.
Despite the extraordinary relief cash, small companies have actually struggled to survive under financial limitations created to slow the spread of the infection. A CNBC/SurveyMonkey small company survey taken in late January discovered just 55% of owners think their business can continue running for more than a year under present conditions.
In her Senate verification hearing last month, Guzman stated she is “deeply committed to helping to support our nation’s small businesses and entrepreneurs.”
“They are facing an unprecedented crisis and need our support to survive,” she stated.
Guzman included that she would work to enhance equity in dispersing small company help — a top priority for the Biden administration. Critics of the preliminary stage of PPP loans in 2015 stated the federal government did refrain from doing enough to get cash to the tiniest companies and business owned by ladies and individuals of color.
Guzman end up being director of California’s Office of the Small Business Advocate in 2019. She acted as deputy chief of personnel at the SBA throughout President Barack Obama’s 2nd term.
The Senate has actually validated 17 of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet candidates, most just recently Deb Haaland as Interior secretary.
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