▶ 0:18:17Good morning everyone. I now call the committee on small business to order and without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess of the committee at any time. I now recognize myself for my opening statement. Welcome to today's uh hearing connecting SBA to Main Street examining the SBA's office of field operations. First, I want to thank our witness, Associate Administrator Shimkett, for appearing before the committee. Thank you for being here.
▶ 0:18:42And I'd also like to thank her family uh for joining us today to see the committee in action. Uh today the committee will review the activities of the SBA's office of field operations, the office directly responsible for delivering resources to small businesses across the country. Through its network of 68 district offices and 10 regional offices, the office of field operations connections connects entrepreneurs with counseling, contracting opportunities and access to capital.
▶ 0:19:09And just as uh importantly, their offices have as a front door to the SBA at connecting small businesses with resource partners like small business development centers. The SBA's field office staff works directly with small businesses. They hear entrepreneurs concerns firsthand, help them navigate federal programs, and ensure that the SBA's services each reach committee uh communities across the country.
▶ 0:19:34Uh this personal connection to Main Street is why it has been a priority to get the SBA out of Washington DC and closer to the entrepreneurs and communities it serves. Small businesses should not have to navigate a distant bureaucracy to access the programs meant to help them succeed. In 2025, SBA field staff hosted more than 30,000 local events and connected with family with nearly a half a million entrepreneurs across the country.
▶ 0:20:00Field staff also plays a critical role in the federal disaster response efforts by connecting affected businesses with the financial assistance they need. Field officers are also played a key role in promoting Americanmade manufacturing through their made in America manufacturing initiative and road show events held across the country over the past year.
▶ 0:20:19In the last year, the SBA's helped connect small businesses with opport opportunities to strengthen American supply chains and promoted the newly launched Make Onshoring Great Again portal, which includes more than 1 million US suppliers. Somebody want to say something while I'm moving this piece of paper. Here we go.
▶ 0:20:47The portal helps businesses find American partners and reduce reliance on the on foreign production. This is just one of the resources that the SBA's district offices ensure Main Street is aware of. Thank you for joining us today, Associate Administrator Shimkett. I look forward to hearing about the accomplishments of the Office of Field Operations and how Congress can continue to strengthen the SBA's presence in communities across the country. With that, I yield to my friend and our distinguished ranking member from New York, Miss Velasquez, for her opening remarks. Thank you, Mr.
▶ 0:21:16Chairman, and good morning. Uh, and Miss Shinka, thank you for testifying today. The district offices serve as the AY's boots on the ground, and they are vital in connecting small business owners with the resources they need to succeed.
▶ 0:21:34I applaud the heart the hard work of SBA field staff and commend them for their [clears throat] ability to do more with less, especially when small employers are dealing with uncertainty and increase costs. My Republican colleagues were so focused on influ in inflation last Congress.
▶ 0:21:57But despite promises to lower costs on day one, small businesses are dealing with rising costs, shrinking margins, and mounting anxiety about watching years of hard work disappear. Instead of focusing on affordability, we now have a fight on tariffs, which has driven up costs for small businesses.
▶ 0:22:21And if that is embarrassing, [laughter] we now have increased energy costs for small businesses and disrupted global supply chains due to the Iran war. The cost of gas alone has increased by more than 80 cents from a month ago and is still spiking. We have a lot of ground to cover today.
▶ 0:22:44And first and foremost, I would like a commitment that you will work with this committee and provide us with answers. We couldn't get a straight answer for the from the administrator when she testified, nor have we received adequate responses to our letters. Mr. I would like to enter the letters and substandard responses into the record.
▶ 0:23:15Today, I plan to discuss the administration chaotic staffing cuts. On one hand, the administrator promised to put more people in the field, but in reality, the number of employees in the field dropped 27% in the first nine months of 2025. That is not just contradictory. It is deeply concerning that small businesses will have to pay the price with longer waiting times and less reliable customer service.
▶ 0:23:44I am troubled by the administrator's decision to relocate regional and district offices in major cities with high concentrations of Democratic voters, which is a blatant weaponization of the agency for political gain.
▶ 0:24:02I want to learn what studies, if any, the SBA has conducted to inform the decisions of relocating field offices in these cities and how you plan to maintain services to small businesses in these major economic hubs. I also learned that the Washington Metropolitan Area District Office is being moved to Hearndon, Virginia, which is about one hour away depending on traffic.
▶ 0:24:31I am hardpressed to understand how a small Main Street business in Prince George's County will be able to partake in workshops and events in a distant suburb. And finally, I would like to hear more about the importance of collaboration between the district offices and the resource partners.
▶ 0:24:55In 2019, we heard testimony from Mike Valente, your predecessor, your predecessor under the first Trump administration, who said that any time that they held events with the resource partners, there was a synergy that helped to create a better business climate and a better opportunity for businesses to succeed.
▶ 0:25:18But it is hard to host this type of events when SBA is low walking the dispersement of funds to the resource partners and in some instances withholding money altogether. SBA has withheld $10 million to score which hasn't received reimbursement since last March and is furiously close to running out of money.
▶ 0:25:42SBA is also lagging behind on payments to the SBDC and WBC's and the FY2025 step grants funds still having been released. Given your previous experience as Iowa SBDC director, you must be incredibly frustrated with with SBA most recent decision to postgrant payments while it upgrades its system.
▶ 0:26:12Let me be clear. SBA is completely out of step with the challenges small businesses are dealing with on the ground. Rising cost, shrinking margins, mounting anxiety, and the mass deportation machine that is impacting small businesses in this country. I look forward to your testimony. Thank you. I yield back.
▶ 0:26:34Lady yields back. [snorts] I will now introduce our witness, Associate Administrator Lisa Shimit. Uh, Associate Administrator Shimit leads the Office of Field Operations for the US Small Business Administration. She oversees 68 district offices and 10 regional offices across the country where she leads the SBA's nationwide field network ensuring a small businesses have access to vital capital contracting assistance and business development programs.
▶ 0:27:01Before her work with the SBA, associate administrator Shimkett uh served as state director of America's small business development center in Iowa, uh providing business counseling and support, disaster recovery efforts in rural business development to foster small business growth. Associate Shimkett earned an associate of arts degree from Iowa Central Community College and later uh received her bachelor's degree in Master of Business Administration from Iowa State University. Thank you for joining us today.
▶ 0:27:28look forward to meaningful conversation and I would like to remind you that your old testimony is restricted to five minutes. If you see the light turn red in front of you, it means that your five minutes have concluded and you should wrap up your testimony. And I now recognize administrator uh associate administrator Shimut for her fiveminut opening
▶ 0:27:51Chairman Williams, Ranking Member Velasquez, members of the committee, thank you for this opportunity to testify today. on behalf of the US Small Business Administration. My name is Lisa Shimcad and I'm honored to serve as the associate administrator for SBA's Office of Field Operations. In this role, I oversee the AY's nationwide field network of 68 district offices and 10 regional offices, which serve as the frontline connection between SBA and America's small businesses.
▶ 0:28:21Before taking this position, I served for more than a decade as the state director of America's small business development centers in Iowa, where I led a network of 15 centers dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs across the state. During that time, our centers assisted more than 24,000 entrepreneurs, supported the launch of 2500 new businesses, helped create more than 18,000 jobs, and secured more than 900 million in capital infusion for small businesses.
▶ 0:28:48My experience reinforced everything I see every day in my current role. Small businesses succeed when federal programs support rather than hinder innovation, growth, and entrepreneurship. The SBA's field staff are the boots on the ground ambassadors executing the vision and agenda of the Trump administration's SBA under the leadership of administrator Kelly Leler.
▶ 0:29:11Under administrator Leler, the agency moved the vast majority of its workforce to the field, strengthening on the ground delivery and improving access for entrepreneurs in America's main streets. After years of mission creep characterized by bureaucratic expansion and a politicized agenda, administrator Leler fundamentally realigned the agency to serve its local lenders, job creators, and taxpayers.
▶ 0:29:35Today, 97% of SBA Office of Field Operations employees are located outside of Washington DC, serving entrepreneurs through our regional and district offices across this great country. Through this robust nationwide network, SBA field offices remain deeply engaged with the lending community, small businesses, and other stakeholders under Administrator Leler's leadership. Since January 20th, 2025, our field network has hosted over 30,000 events connecting with nearly half a million small business owners and entrepreneurs.
▶ 0:30:06These engagements include lender outreach, training opportunities, and partnerships with chambers, resource partners, and state and local economic development organizations to ensure that small businesses have more access to capital, training, and contracting opportunities. The agency also shifted field resources to rural and veteran communities that were ignored by the previous administration. This fresh approach has produced real results.
▶ 0:30:29In FY25 alone, the SBA delivered 7.1 billion in lending to rural small businesses and nearly 1.5 billion to veteranowned small businesses. Additionally, we're putting SBA staff back in the field where small businesses Our district teams are spending more time in the field training the lenders. visiting manufacturers, restaurants, family farms, and startups in their communities to share the resources that the SBA provides at no cost to small business owners.
▶ 0:30:59These visits allow us to hear directly from the small businesses about the barriers they face under the pre previous administration and highlight how rolling back 110 billion dollars of burdensome regulations can support their growth as we continue the economic comeback under President Trump. Additionally, SBA staff are promoting the newly created Red Tape Hotline, which provides a direct channel for small businesses to report burdensome, duplicative, and costly regulations that negatively impact their success.
▶ 0:31:29As responsible stewards of American taxpayers, the SBI identified identified opportunities to eliminate wasteful contracts and consolidate leases, including the closure of 19 offices that housed either zero or only one full-time employee that were not effectively serving small businesses and often working from home.
▶ 0:31:48The agency announced last year it would relocate six of its regional offices out of sanctuary cities to prioritize the safety of our SBA employees and the small businesses we serve with a focus on less costly, more accessible locations that comply with federal immigration law. Most importantly, through roundts, community visits, small business tours, and direct engagement, our field teams gather feedback and listen to entrepreneurs and small business owners across the US about the support they need from SBA to succeed.
▶ 0:32:17America's 36 million small businesses are the backbone of our economy and the SBA field network plays a critical role in ensuring those entrepreneurs have the resources they need to start, grow, and compete. In closing, I want to thank this committee for its continued partnership and oversight. Together, we can ensure SBA's Office of Field Operations remains a strong bridge between Washington and Main Street, delivering meaningful support to the entrepreneurs who power America's economy.
▶ 0:32:46Thank you and I look forward to your questions.
▶ 0:32:52Thank you. And we will now move to the member questions under the five-minute rule. I recognize myself for 5 minutes. Associate Administrator Shimcat 2023 Government Accountability Office report found that under the Biden Harris administration, the SBA headquarters operated at just 10% capacity. At the same time, the majority of the SBA's workforce is based in Washington DC rather than in the field.
▶ 0:33:14Fortunately, the Trump administration reversed the often abused work from home policy and a majority of the SBA staff have been moved into the field closer to the small businesses that they serve. So my question is, can you explain how those changes have improved responsiveness and accountability for small businesses?
▶ 0:33:35Thank you, chairman, for the question. as we moved our teams out into the field and as I said the office of field operations has 97.98% of our folks are out in the field. Uh that way we can be the boots on the ground talking to the small businesses to get them to the right resource that they can use. We had a lot of offices. You saw the the famous video of the administrator walking the halls, the empty halls.
▶ 0:33:59So getting people back into the office, getting them back out into the field so we can actually get the d ground truth of what small businesses need has been critical to not only our success but being able to advocate better for small business.
▶ 0:34:11U Associate Minister Shimit the SBA field staff are critical when disaster strikes and in 2025 the agency deployed 381 field staff to 117 disaster centers and conducted more than 31,000 direct contacts with disaster survivors. So, can you describe how the boots on the ground role of district offices allows the SBA to quickly reach small businesses and communities recovering from disasters?
▶ 0:34:39Thank you for that question. And this is something that is a little bit even more unique under the Trump administration with Kelly Leler, administrator Leler leading the SBA. We've been able to eliminate those silos and working closely with our office of disaster, we've been able to do some shared positions and when there is a disaster headed to an area, our field offices are the boots on the ground so they can give that ground truth.
▶ 0:35:02They can tell them ahead of time and after the disaster what resources are needed, get them the information so that the office of disaster recovery and resilience can allocate the resources needed to better serve those small businesses and get them the help they need more quickly. Uh under administrator Leler's leadership, the SBA uh has been heavily involved in onshoring and rebuilding the American manufacturing base. As part of this priority, the office of field operations has played a major role in the administrator's Made in America road show.
▶ 0:35:32In 2025, SBA field offices hosted 683 Made in America events where you and other SBA representatives uh engaged directly with Main Street. So, what has Main Street's what has Main Street's reaction been to strengthening domestic supply chain and how are district offices helping small businesses access the tools available to uh carry out this
▶ 0:35:54Thank you for that question. We had a roundt actually in Newark, New Jersey, and the administrator was sitting there. On one side, we had a business say, "I can't find any suppliers here in the United States. I'm going to have to continue to source from China." And on the other side of that same table, somebody raised their hand and said, "Well, I produce that." That was an aha moment for the administrator, for our team that we needed to be that conduit, that concier service to really connect folks, to find suppliers so that we can focus on onshoring.
▶ 0:36:23At the same time, we put together our onshoring portal, which is able to connect over a million suppliers on there so that people can source American products, American companies. We also have an onshoring handbook and other projects that we've done with our latest was last week in Charlotte. We did a uh supplier matchmaking expo. So there's a lot of excitement and a lot of positiveness around being able to onore and utilize American companies.
▶ 0:36:47Uh I now thank you for that and I now recognize the ranking member for five minutes of questions.
▶ 0:36:53Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, I just would like to remind you um that Democrats led the efforts during the 117 Congress 118 119 to enhance I led the efforts to enhance with Miss Goodlander and Mr. Gordon the Office of Rural Affairs and we codify the office of na native American affairs.
▶ 0:37:22Those efforts were led by Democrats. So we do care about rural America. Um SBA post grant payments until May. Well, they upgrade system, but with FY2 2025 payments already delayed, another long interruption will hurt small businesses that depend on the resources uh resource partners
▶ 0:37:53services. Given your experience leading the Iowa SBDC and your current role, how do you reconcile this funding delays with the need to support small firms?
▶ 0:38:07Ranky member, thank you for the question. I am here today to talk about the office of field operations and what you're talking about is within the office of entrepreneurial development, OEED is what we call it at
▶ 0:38:20I know that. I know that. But I do know that the resource partners help SBA achieve the goals of providing resources and educational uh and capacity building for small businesses. In fact, uh you just uh mentioned where was it? And uh the matchmaking ma manufacturing matchmaking export event in North Carolina.
▶ 0:38:49And I understand that you receive a tremendous amount of technical and logistical support from the local SBDC. So events like this won't be able to take place with this funding delays. that that is why I'm raising the issue of delays on payments uh for our resource partners once again
▶ 0:39:16and at least look what I want is if you commit yourself to raise this issue directly with the administrator because it's hurting our resource partners. The event in North Carolina was a fantastic event and we we utilize Apex as well.
▶ 0:39:33My question is would you commit yourself to share this issue with the the delay on payments to the resource
▶ 0:39:46I can answer any questions with regards to the office of field operations. It is just so funny you know in the previous uh administration when the administrator Democratic administrator came before this committee and we were discussing any other topic that was not related to taxes. The whole member on this side, the all the members raised the issue of taxes.
▶ 0:40:11And when she said she wasn't here to discuss taxes, everyone said, "Yes, you need you are the voice of small businesses and you have to commit yourself to share this information with the president of the United States. I'm just asking you to raise this issue with the administrator because it's impacting the work and the services that are provided by our resource partners.
▶ 0:40:41It's quite simple. Last March uh the administrator announced an agencywide reorganization including c uh cutting ta staff by 43%. Last year, the number of employees in the field offices declined by 27% without a clear transition plan, leaving critical positions on field.
▶ 0:41:06What specific steps are you taking to ensure staffing reductions do not undermine services to small businesses?
▶ 0:41:16Thank you for that question. And our focus in the field has also been as I said administrator Leler had all of the associate administrators look at our programs. How can we streamline? How can we do business differently so we can be more effective? And as we did that, we're looking at all of our SOPs. We've been able to cut some of the process time and we've been able to make sure that our teams have the resources they need in the field.
▶ 0:41:40Yeah. Okay. Um, so every poll that is taken with small businesses, they are raising the issues that are impacting them today, the rising costs of gas, the rising cost of the tariffs, the fact that they cannot find workers. And you're telling me that with a 27% cut and 43% previously, you're going to be fine.
▶ 0:42:10that small businesses are going to be fine because when they call the regional offices, they are going to get a phone call answer.
▶ 0:42:21I yield back.
▶ 0:42:22Gentle lady yields back. Uh I now recognize uh Mr. Muer from the great state of Pennsylvania for 5
▶ 0:42:31Thank you, Chairman. Thank you very much, Mr. Shimcat. We really appreciate you being here and your opening testimony was very clear uh and um um confidence inspiring. So Um my my office has had a very good relationship up in Pennsylvania uh with in particular Mike Kaine and Steve Dixel um helping us uh with small businesses, loans, investments with with the SBDC's particularly at Bucknell and Kutztown.
▶ 0:43:02Uh so they they work very well [clears throat] particularly during the period of COVID uh by the way um and um well not from them but there was a high level high level of frustration for four years during frankly during the Biden administration which is amazing that would be brought up because the metrics well metrics don't lie right
▶ 0:43:23uh during prior to the Biden administration coming in there were 2700 people at employees at the SBA DA. Then it went up to 6,500. I don't know where they hired so many. 6,500. And by the way, we did a field trip over there one day. They knew we were coming.
▶ 0:43:41And I think they maybe had 10 12% of the employees there informing us, by the way, by the SBA administrator that within 6 months they're going to be up to 40% of of people showing up for work. So absolutely remarkable.
▶ 0:43:57We're now down once again to 2,700 uh where from from 6,500 as as you probably know or in in that range and yet loans on 7A and 504 are up almost 15% slightly less and SBIC investments are up over 15%. So you're doing a lot more with less.
▶ 0:44:21uh and um and it's highly effective and it's highly noticeable which is most important when we when we work with all of our our small businesses. So maybe you can just expand upon
▶ 0:44:31uh the work you've done with the field office how the improvements have have uh expanded obviously the experience uh that you brought to it has made had made it that much more effective just over the last 14 months. So maybe just talk about the field operations.
▶ 0:44:45Absolutely. I [clears throat] appreciate the question. Thank you very much. Um, one of the things that we have done, especially out in the field, and as you mentioned, the SBA guaranteed $45 billion last year, the most ever in our 72-year history. So, the amount, the volume is going up. When it comes to field operations, we've been getting out there and talking to small businesses, which has been critical.
▶ 0:45:07And one of the small businesses we actually spoke to in Rhode Island, if I could share a story on them, is we spoke to her about it's a foodbased product and in Pucket, Rhode Island. She said, "Do you know the cost of liquid eggs at the end of the Biden administration was $5.29 a pound and in one year the cost of liquid eggs is down to 99 cents a pound." And she said for the first time she's getting ready to hire employees. So, we're starting to see that optimism out there.
▶ 0:45:34Um, with our field staff as well, we're making sure that we have that partnership. As I said, we are working together in SBA and across the federal government. Uh through, you know, under the Trump administration and and administrator Leler, being able to work across the federal government has made it easier for us to get information and to get resources more quickly to react to what small businesses need
▶ 0:45:56and you are of course a small business advocate as we are all are. And that's why when you talk about competitive tax rates like when we passed the tax cuts for for working families act for small businesses 199A 20% reduction bonus depreciation no tax on tips uh which certainly helps the workers for small businesses no tax on overtime. You're not responsible for taxes but my guess is you're an advocate for competitive
▶ 0:46:27I'd imagine so. Okay. Uh but why that should be something that would be a surprise is um well a bit of a surprise uh from from previous administrators. Anyway, um uh how did Chairman Williams legislation on 7A and 504 loan limits um to $10 million for small manufacturers? Can you discuss the impact this increase uh will have on small business ability to access capital?
▶ 0:46:52Absolutely. Thank you for that question. Uh this actually came up last week at our event in North Carolina at the supplier expo in speaking with a couple of the lenders and some of the folks there. You know the the one big beautiful bill being able for the you know depreciation or expensing it 100% and some of the other items there are helping. They're getting the equipment etc. But a big expansion costs a lot more. And to have those higher loan limits has been uh a topic that has come up over and over.
▶ 0:47:20In fact, one of the lenders that was there said, "I'm going to send you some examples of deals we couldn't do because we're not at those levels." And that's what we hate seeing.
▶ 0:47:28That's fantastic. And thank you very much for the make on great again portal. We're hearing very good things about that. So, thank you very much for being here. And I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 0:47:37Gentleman yields back. I now recognize Mr. Tran from the great state of California for 5 minutes.
▶ 0:47:43Thank you so much, Chairman, and uh ranking member for convening today's hearing. Uh thank you administrator uh Shimcat for being here. The Small Business Administration has unfortunately undergone several chaotic changes in the last year. For example, SBA SBA announced the relocation of half a dozen regional offices without seeking any stakeholder input, then announced several district office relocation via tweets.
▶ 0:48:09The agency also issued reduction in force, publicly rescended them, and then reversed those decisions. once reversing course in just one day. Such actions hurt the SBA's credibility and its credibility takes another hit when it unnecessarily stops supporting small business partners. Administrator Shimcat, as you know, the Small Business Development Center program is a vital federal program that provides technical assistance and training to entrepreneurs and small business owners throughout the nation.
▶ 0:48:37I'm proud to represent Orange County in Inland Empire SBDC network at California State University Fullerton, which is why I want to raise a serious concern about the reliability of the Small Business Administration support for local partners. Last year, SBA and the Office of Management and Budget withheld over three million in funding from the Orange County Inland Empire SBDC. Thankfully, my office successfully fought to release those funds to the community, providing muchneeded relief.
▶ 0:49:07However, the SBA is withholding millions of dollars in funding from its resource partners, including the mentorship program, SCORE, women business centers, and the state trade expansion program that helps small which helps small businesses trade internationally. This creates financially difficult uh and harm and harms programs ability to provide services to thousand entrepreneurs across the country. It shouldn't take a member of Congress to fix this.
▶ 0:49:34It is literally SBA's job to disperse this congressionally appropriated funding. So my question is what safeguards are you and SBA providing to ensure that grant payments to resource partners are delivered on time and without unnecessary political or administrative delays. Thank you for your question. As the associate administrator for the office of field operations, I wouldn't have insights into that.
▶ 0:50:00That would be my colleague at the office of entrepreneurial development, but I'm happy to answer questions with regards to the office of field operations.
▶ 0:50:06So, h how does your office interact with making sure that these funding gets dispersed? You don't you don't interact with that at all?
▶ 0:50:13Our office does not.
▶ 0:50:15All right. Can you answer this question? SBA has paused all grant payments uh to update its grant solution system and may not resume until late May. Uh we should be very clear about this. A system upgrade does not justify cutting off funding to small business support programs across the country. You would agree with that?
▶ 0:50:35I can't offer any insight into that. I don't have any of the particulars. As the administrator for the office of field operations, that is where I can answer questions for you. Miss Shima, I represent California's 45th Congressional District, an in international hub for America's small businesses. Over 90,000 small business businesses call Orange County home, including many in Little Saigon.
▶ 0:51:01Our opportun our entrepreneurs grow their businesses and bring in more to our community by exporting and importing goods and working with partners Small businesses benefit immensely from international trade. That's why I'm proud to have co-led the small business advoc advocacy improvement act. My bill would provide small business with small businesses with improved access to international markets by expanding SBA's office of advocacy.
▶ 0:51:27What can the office of field operation trade specialists do to help small firms maintain the benefits of international trade as they navigate the president's reckless tariff and licensing pro
▶ 0:51:41Sure. I can uh answer that question to the point of we we don't have trade specialists under the office of field operations but have
▶ 0:51:48we have uh within our offices we will work and point people to the folks that with our resource partners state partners etc. And one of the things that I want to make sure as you spoke about especially on international trade, we have an amazing onshoring portal and we want to make sure that if a business is not listed there, an American business is not listed on that portal.
▶ 0:52:08We need to get them on that portal so that they have more opportunities to be able to have other companies look to them to be able to utilize them as an American resource within their own supply chain. Hopefully, we can fill those supply chain gaps. We've had over 56,000 hits on that website to date for the onshoring portal.
▶ 0:52:29Chairman, are you about?
▶ 0:52:32Gentleman yields back. I now recognize Miss Van Dy from the great state of Texas for five minutes.
▶ 0:52:37Hey, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. It's great to see you again. Um um M Shimot, it's really good to see you again. Uh we first met uh last August when you had the pleasure um and we had the pleasure of hosting you at our annual job fair.
▶ 0:52:54Um it's amazing to hear some of the com the comments from uh the other side of the aisle talking about how employers uh cannot find workers and yet what we do in our office maybe it's different than what they do in theirs but what we do with ours is we partner with SBA we partner with our chambers and we try to get these these employers uh workers and we try to get folks in our um in our uh uh uh district jobs. And so in fact uh you know uh we had the largest job fair in the country last year as you saw.
▶ 0:53:23We had 35,000 people come out and I think that just shows the strength of the economy. I think it shows the strength of uh Texas that policies actually matter and people are moving into our state and you saw it firsthand. You know you had people who were looking for jobs. They want to see you know better pay, more benefits, more flexibility and you saw that job market hiring like crazy. So that was our fourth annual job fair and I think it always stands out to me just seeing that the direct connection between the job seekers and the employers.
▶ 0:53:53Uh small businesses, trade programs, large employers are all in one place, you know, and they're creating these real immediate pathways to employment. And it's to me it's one of those things that we can actually do that's very successful that doesn't take an act of Congress. And I think there's a little bit of confusion um about what your office does, at least the questions that I'm hearing asked of you.
▶ 0:54:13Um can you you know it's great that you are actually thinking outside of DC recognizing the fact that the the the government can actually help people where they live um going to them as opposed to uh everything being DC based. Can you just tell me a little bit about what you what your office does?
▶ 0:54:31Absolutely. No, and and thank you very much for that question. our office with our 68 district offices across the United States. What we're able to do is meet with small businesses to find out what are the challenges, what is standing in your way. And we'll walk a plant floor uh in De Moine, Iowa, and talk with someone who says, you know, Power Brace, the the owner said, you know what, this part right here used to be made in China. Guess what? No more.
▶ 0:54:55Now, I'm going to supply that for folks here in the United States to a coffee shop uh in uh Canapapolis that I was in last week that spoke about how uh so many of the regulations that came on uh in 2021 2022 was hurting her business. We can take that information and what we do is we work with the national ombbuds office.
▶ 0:55:17We work with the office of advocacy so that we can also work with other agencies to hopefully shorten the runway to success for a lot of those small businesses so that they can see financial success. They can see success with finding employees. Uh under administrator Leler's leadership, we also have anou with the department of labor because we can't talk small business without talking workforce.
▶ 0:55:40So you speaking of local events and what you're doing. So in 2025 alone, you guys hosted over 30,000 events. Yes.
▶ 0:55:4730,000 events uh across the nation. Can you walk us through what kind of events and and and uh uh support that the SBA has and how that benefited small businesses directly?
▶ 0:55:57Absolutely. Uh thank you for that question. One of the things as you said there's sometimes a misconception with the office of field operations. Our focus is lender engagement. We are working with lenders to help them uh take on more notes to take on more loans with small businesses so we can get capital in the hands of small businesses who need it to look for expansions uh to look for purchasing of equipments uh equipment.
▶ 0:56:21So uh that is what we see is a lot of lender engagement but then also uh in partnership maybe with our disaster office uh boots on the ground to get information to the communities. Uh I did a presentation in a rural community that had had a disaster and it was under a thousand people there and I had somebody say you know what for the first time we feel heard and that is what our job is is to get the information out because while a lot of the decision-m is done here in Washington DC the information to make those decisions is out in the field and
▶ 0:56:51that's what we need to do is to continue to strive to be that voice for small business. I app really appreciate that answer. And uh um just real fast when when you talk about like the numbers, have those increased? Have they decreased? Our numbers have actually increased. It has been absolutely phenomenal. We are looking for consistency across all of our presentations across the United States, but also making sure that we're focused on what we're good at and what we need to do and then utilize others.
▶ 0:57:18I I want to give you props as well with your job fair that I was at. I took some of the best practices there for our event in North Carolina so that we could put everything in one area so people had resources, they had what they needed so that one-stop shop and then get them going on success.
▶ 0:57:35I love it. Well, we're planning our next job fair in August of this year and I look forward to seeing you and uh uh Secretary Leler. Thank you.
▶ 0:57:41Thank you.
▶ 0:57:42Gentle lady yields back. I now recognize Miss McCyver from the great state of New Jersey for five minutes. Thank you uh so much chairman and ranking member for convening this hearing today and thank you administrator Shimcat for being here to answer our questions today. America's small business owners have seen better days for sure. In February the United States lost 92,000 jobs 92,000 jobs and this year we have seen the unemployment rate rise to 4.4%.
▶ 0:58:13We continue to hear non-stop concerns from small business owners who do not know how much longer they can keep the lights on. If there was ever a time for the SBA to step up, it is truly now. The SBA has cut staff and proposed relocating offices away from the very communities they are meant to serve. These decisions are making it harder for entrepreneurs to access the support they need to start and grow a business.
▶ 0:58:40The American people deserve to know what the SBA is doing to help them out, not make things harder. With that, Administrator Shimcat, I wanted to piggyback off something you talked about. You talked about the SBA roundts that you've been hosting. Um, and you mentioned um the largest city that I represent in New Jersey. With these roundts that you host, do you ever invite members of
▶ 0:59:04Um, thank you for that question. And uh with each of our roundts uh we do have staff that show up uh as we are out there. Uh many times you guys are in session. So
▶ 0:59:18but do we get an invite? The question is do our offices get an invite to the roundts that you host.
▶ 0:59:26I'm going to answer that with
▶ 0:59:28I mean I hope you're going to answer because it's in your field of what you do. So you've been talking about what you don't answer because it's not in your department but I want you to answer something that's in your field. Absolutely. No, I appreciate the question very much and yes, there are times that uh invitations do go out. Sometimes we could have a workshop that we have for lenders ad and maybe a lender requested a uh for their market, maybe they're commercial lenders only. So there are times when there would not be an invitation going out, but we are always happy to work with
▶ 0:59:56how do you deter who gets an invitation or not? When you go to Republican locations, do you invite members from the Republican party to these invites? Because I can tell you the one that you had in New York, New Jersey, my invitation must have got lost in the mail cuz my staff didn't get an invite and I did not get an invite to this big round table that you had in the city of Newark which is the largest city in New Jersey that I represent. I knew nothing about that round table.
▶ 1:00:19So I'm asking how do you deter if we get an invite or not that we are included on this side of the aisle because we are members of Congress. How do you determine that?
▶ 1:00:30Thank you for pointing that out. And what our focus is is to make sure that we are serving that small business owner, that we are getting in front of the lender and we're getting the information there. What we want to make sure that we also do, I I wanted to also say with our some of our relocations when we talked about different offices, a horrific example was in Portland as we are relocating some of these offices. So, first of all, I'm not interested in that.
▶ 1:00:55I asked you specifically about the invites that go out to members of Congress because we all represent multiple districts across this country and I find it very unfair that you all decide to invite members of the other side of the aisle in this body and this chamber but you don't invite us to events that you're hosting which is very inappropriate and unfair. So I want to point that out once again.
▶ 1:01:18you brought it up that you hosted this huge roundt that was such a success in a city that I represent with 400,000 residents and I did not get an invite and my office was not notified about the event. I find that to be very unfair and it's very disappointing and disheartening. With that, you talked about decisions to relocate offices that have been tied to so-called sanctuary cities policies despite these regions contributing significantly to national economic output.
▶ 1:01:45Do you believe small business owners in these communities deserve fewer federal resources because of local political disagreements? Yes or no?
▶ 1:01:54Our office of field operations when we are looking at
▶ 1:01:57it's a yes or no. Do you believe that these these businesses in these so-called sanctuary cities deserve less federal support? Do you believe that? Yes or no?
▶ 1:02:06I focus on employee safety when we are
▶ 1:02:08it's a yes or no thing. So obviously you believe yes they do deserve less federal resources. How does that align with the SBA's mission to serve all businesses? Once again, you don't get to decide which businesses you choose to support. Whether they are Republican, Democrat, or independent, or hell, don't know what they are. You all don't get to decide who you serve.
▶ 1:02:32So, how does that align with your mission to serve all The district offices do not have a large walk-in population and we work with all of the resources out there for SBA to make sure those small businesses get what they need.
▶ 1:02:47I I disagree. First of all, my time is expiring, but I disagree with what you're saying. It's not right and you're choosing who to serve underneath the SBA with taxpayer dollars. With that, I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 1:02:59Thank you. The uh chair now recognizes Miss King Hines from the Northern Marinana Islands for 5 minutes. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Associate Administrator Shima, for being here and allowing me the opportunity to have a conversation with you. Uh, first of all, I appreciate how um you are prioritizing getting the SBA field office employees out into the field from DC and for prioritizing rural and veteran communities.
▶ 1:03:25Um I come from a very remote jurisdiction with a very high um enlistment rate per capita in the country and so I appreciate the the work that is focused on um prioritizing those communities.
▶ 1:03:42So last year uh when we were figuring out how to right size and right fit government uh the Guam SBA field office was was shut down and there's only one staff member there which was laid off. So that field office handles SBA matters not only in Guam but also the district that I represent the CNMI the freely associated states um the FSM and the Marshall Islands. So basically it's like for the entire region, right?
▶ 1:04:12And um now the local SBDC matters are handled by the Hawaii field office uh which is a 7-hour flight away on a good day. On a on a bad day, it's about 9. And sometimes businesses and banks who are instructed to dial um a number in Texas, which is eight time zones away, for advice and services that used to be provided by the Guam field office.
▶ 1:04:39And so I was just wondering, I I know that there's been movement in with regards to reinstating that position, but um I kind of wanted to elevate that issue because it is a concern for folks on the ground and see where we're at with that.
▶ 1:04:55Absolutely. Thank you for that question and yes we we do have uh what we have call a procurement center representative uh that also works with businesses with regards to government contracting etc. So we do have someone boots on the ground in Guam and the Guam office yes also works with the SBA district office in Hawaii. Uh also our office just recently has uh probably over the last six months been working with CNMI with regards to our office of capital access.
▶ 1:05:23As I said, we're working across the agency to work with the team uh there as well as economic developers on onoring. That has been a huge conversation point on how we can onshore, how we can work together with your existing infrastructure there. And in fact, I think there was a team that was just here uh not that long ago and uh we were able to meet with them as well as capital access. So, uh, we are listening to, uh, what we need to do to make sure that we have somebody there so that services are available.
▶ 1:05:53Yeah. And I appreciate all the effort that, uh, the administrator and yourself has put into trying to figure out how to make sure that we provide, you know, access on a regular basis to folks on the ground. Um, and I I I do understand the need to right size and right fit, but my concern is is that, you know, when when folks are having to call different time zones or, you know, having to to wait until certain times to be able to have access to somebody to either discuss their loans
▶ 1:06:23or or or things of that nature. Um and so I would like to work with you to figure out how we can um you know find what an appropriate structure looks like to ensure that our small businesses there are taken care of. Um and then you know one of what one of the asks basically from community members is you know what what would it look like and is it feasible to add a commercial loan officer to uh the field office?
▶ 1:06:53Should we get the Guam field office operational? And I don't expect an answer. Uh this is just something uh that I wanted to raise and flag for you and perhaps in the future um sooner rather than later we we can have a conversation as to you know what what the unique challenges are with regards to the region in general.
▶ 1:07:15Happy to work with your office anytime.
▶ 1:07:17All right. Thank you. Appreciate that. And with that I yield back.
▶ 1:07:20Thank you. The chair now recognizes Mr. Sheski from Maryland for 5 minutes.
▶ 1:07:25Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to Ranking Member Velasquez, and thank you um, Deputy Administrator uh, Shimcott for being here today. I appreciate your time. I look forward to a constructive conversation how we can work together as we have uh, SBA district office in Baltimore just outside my congressional district. Um, I want to begin by entering a few letters into the record uh addressed to the administrator, administrator Laughafler that have gone unanswered regarding both the score and the step programs at SBA.
▶ 1:07:54Uh, committee staff has these letters and I ask unanimous consent to add them to the record. I'm guessing that's approved. I hope so. Uh, without objection.
▶ 1:08:06Thank you, Mr. Chairman. [laughter] Um, and I I enter these because as administrator, it is her responsibility to make sure that we have a working relationship with this committee. And I think a conversation and responding to communication is one of the most basic things that we can ask for. And so I would ask first that you please extend and urge extend our request to and urge the administrator to answer the questions that this committee sends to her. I'm hoping that that's something you can do for us.
▶ 1:08:34I will pass on information through our office.
▶ 1:08:37Thank you. I I I appreciate that. I also wanted to point out I know you mentioned that the agency has shifted resources from rural and veteran entrepreneurs which were quote ignored by the previous administration. Um I believe it's true that the Biden administration actually proposed to increase funding for veterans business outreach centers in fiscal 24. Are you aware of that?
▶ 1:08:59I couldn't speak to that. I'm I am not aware of that.
▶ 1:09:02Okay. And I it's also my understanding that the Trump administration proposed to zero that funding out in fiscal year
▶ 1:09:09Once again, I have to speak to Office of Field Operations, but that's why I'm here today. I'm happy to answer questions with regards to that.
▶ 1:09:15Okay. But I'm just saying I think it's important to have the context of the full agency before we make these kind of blanket blanket statements about what the past and current administration does. I think all of these facts are important parts of that dialogue. Um, I mentioned SCORE and steps specifically because I am concerned that there have been cuts in this space. More importantly, there have been withholding of funds um from the American people for programs that have proven to support Americans.
▶ 1:09:39Last June, I received countless outreach from constituents regarding the SCORE program that has since 1964 helped more than 17 million entrepreneurs start, grow, or exit a business. Uh, there are 10,000 volunteers who provide free expert mentoring, resources, and education. uh score served over 400 clients in my district alone with 818 mentoring sessions.
▶ 1:10:01So with all the benefits that the program brings to Main Street businesses, I would think that you can understand our shock that almost $10 million from SCORE is still being withheld by this administration. And can you can you agree that that might be problematic for folks who are looking to grow a business?
▶ 1:10:18I can say that the Office of Field Operations stands ready to help small businesses get them to the resources they need to get to. Okay. Um because I I do commend you. I want to commend you. I know that you did a lot of work with 15 regional centers in your state back home. Uh I understand that resource partners like SBDC's work hand inand with the field office and I know that you are aware of the importance of this partnership. Um some SBD DCs are on the verge of closing their doors due to receiving no funding since March of 2025.
▶ 1:10:49I guess my question is what good does it do for American small businesses to have SBA's reliable and trusted resource partners close their doors
▶ 1:10:58for the Office of Field Operations? I can only speak to that. I don't have any insight onto the funding under Office of
▶ 1:11:04I'm I'm actually glad that you you said that because I know you you said you can't discuss SBDC's etc because that's an OED, but my colleague Mr. Muser asked about loans and that was an answer that you gave. Um my understanding is that loans sit in OCA. So if you're going to be prepared to talk about loans and other issues outside of your purview, I would suspect that you would be able to have that same conversation outside of purview for questions that Democrats in this side of the aisle might have for you as well or frankly that all of my colleagues might have.
▶ 1:11:35I I am happy to answer any questions with regards to field and our offices work with lenders to not only lender engagement but also lender re-engagement when we have a lender that maybe hasn't engaged for a while and to teach them about the mark loan, our manufacturing loan that's out there with a line of credit so that we can help capital stack with small businesses to help make them successful. That's where we get involved with our uh partners out there.
▶ 1:12:01Okay. Okay. Well, I I think the withholding of funding that's happened in these critical programs is is one way that we can help folks be successful, too. So, I'll have my staff follow up. Um and and the spaces where we can't get questions today, hopefully you can help facilitate um some answers and and in the future, hopefully if we're going to go outside of scope, we do it for everybody and not just for select answers. But appreciate and I yield
▶ 1:12:22Thank you.
▶ 1:12:24The chair will now recognize myself for five minutes. Uh, Associate Administrator Shima, thanks for coming. And you know, the Trump administration has made it clear that public safety and responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars must go hand in hand. In northern Minnesota and across my congressional district, the eth district of Minnesota, families expect government to protect workers and use their hard-earned tax dollars wisely.
▶ 1:12:49On March 6th of 2025, Administrator Leler announced that the SBA will relocate offices out of sanctuary cities. Can you explain how these relocations help protect SBA employees while also ensuring taxpayer dollars are being used more efficiently?
▶ 1:13:07Absolutely. Thank you for that question. And I'm actually going to start out with one of the most horrific examples that we have as I had started was in Portland. Uh, we had one of our employees get into the elevator. Homeless man got onto the elevator with her, made threatening remarks. She rode the elevator up, was able to run into our office and lock the door and hide. She called law enforcement. Law enforcement got there, found him passed out in a bathroom with fentanyl on the counter.
▶ 1:13:35That is absolutely unex acceptable and and scary for a small business. Uh, for the SBA, we need to prioritize, and I think everyone can agree on that, prioritizing employee safety. We also had our um uh New York district office had eight closures and one of them was due to a white substance that was delivered to ICE. So we looked at all of our locations across the United States and we looked at uh where we had employee safety issues and that's where we needed to focus. That was our number one priority.
▶ 1:14:04But then also taking those offices and looking at what footprint we need. We have an office that we have 20 cubicles that are open and empty and have been for four years. We have another office that was in Pennsylvania that for the since uh uh the last four years, nobody's been in there to the cost of $60,000 per year plus internet, plus heat. And we kept that office open. We closed, we have now since closed it. That's one of those 19 offices.
▶ 1:14:30So, we focus on employee safety and being able to move at the speed of business, especially under administrator Leler's leadership to do what is right to be good stewards of the taxpayer dollars. So for each lo relocation, what specific steps are being taken to ensure the new office locations ultimately reduce cost while still allowing SBA to effectively serve small businesses across across the country, including those in rural communities like the one I represent in northern Minnesota.
▶ 1:14:57Absolutely. No, I thank you for that question. And we, as I said, we looked at uh where all the locations are in accessibility. We looked at the number of walk-ins. Uh, you know, New York District Office has had five walk-ins so far this year. Uh, we've had
▶ 1:15:11Wait a minute. Say that again.
▶ 1:15:12The New York District Office has had five walk-ins so far this year.
▶ 1:15:16They've had five walk-ins.
▶ 1:15:19Go ahead.
▶ 1:15:20And so what we needed to do was return our offices to Main Street. Uh, we have some locations where parking, especially if it's on a baseball day, and no disrespect to baseball, but on a baseball day, the parking could go over $50. And if you have a small business owner that maybe is the only or sole proprietor and they're already shut down because they're coming to meet with someone but then to have to pay parking on top of etc.
▶ 1:15:43So we're trying to make it more accessible and we don't not having a lot of walk-ins we're able to look at where it makes more sense so we can get those services out there.
▶ 1:15:54Um so for many small business owners in northern Minnesota their first interaction with the federal government often happens through an SBA field office. Can you speak to how the office of field operations has benefited from moving more SBA staff closer to the communities communities they serve and again particularly small businesses in rural districts like mine in Minnesota's 8th congressional district?
▶ 1:16:17Absolutely. No, I appreciate the question. Coming from a rural state myself and growing up in in rural America, it is so important that there is a voice out there. So many times, you know, they refer to our state as a or as a flyover state. So, we wanted to make sure that we are located where businesses are, the main street businesses, the forgotten ones. Um, and as our field operations folks are out there, they're talking with them. What are their needs? What are their pain points?
▶ 1:16:42Uh, we had a business saying, you know what, I'm running into uh burdensome regulations with regards to uh PAS. What do I need to do? Or labeling on my product. What do I need to do? We can take that information back. We get it to the office of advocacy. We get it to uh our ombbuds office. so that they can help them out from there.
▶ 1:17:00Thank you. And then how do you work with administrator uh Leler to prioritize where the staff relocations and new hire areas should be placed especially again in rural under served regions where entrepreneurs may not have the same access to resources as businesses in some of our major cities.
▶ 1:17:16Absolutely. No, I appreciate the question. Our first focus is on employee safety. That has to be number one. We have to keep our employees and our workforce safe. Uh after that we look at what is our footprint. What do we need to do and where do we need to be located with regards to access? Is there parking? Is you know things that seem so simple but can be the reason why somebody comes to the office or doesn't.
▶ 1:17:38Thank you very much. And my time is up. I now recognize uh Mrs. Morrison from Minnesota for 5 minutes.
▶ 1:17:45Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you uh Chairman Williams and Ranking Member Belasquez for holding this hearing. And thank you, Associate Administrator um Shimcat for taking the time to testify. I appreciate that during your testimony, you stressed the importance of keeping um SBA staff in the field and acknowledge that keeping staff close to the small businesses they serve helps deliver better results for our small businesses.
▶ 1:18:06That's one of the reasons I was deeply concerned to hear that after Renee Good, an American citizen and a motan, was killed by federal agents, administrator Leler announced that she had ordered Minnesota's district office to be relocated. Uh the Minneapolis metro area is home to more than 375,000 small businesses. Uh more than 70% of small businesses in the entire state.
▶ 1:18:28Since 3,000 agents descended upon our state, overwhelming local law enforcement agencies, the small businesses in my district have been reaching out asking for assistance to deal with the drastic loss in revenue that they've experienced during these past months. Small businesses across my district sustained 50 to 75% losses in sales and revenue. They're being forced to scale back services or considering closing. They are in short in dire need of assistance. Now more than ever, it's crucial for the SBA to provide assistance to Minnesota small businesses.
▶ 1:18:59Is SBA planning to relocate Minnesota's district office? We are looking at all of our district offices. We looked at every single location out there. We did have to close the Minnesota District Office multiple times because of protests that were located right by the the building that they are in. And employee safety is our number one concern.
▶ 1:19:20And respectfully, the the irony of that saying that the reason it was closed is to prioritize safety is that in Minnesota, small businesses have employees that are too afraid to show up to work because they fear for their safety due to this administration's actions. How is relocating offices protecting their safety?
▶ 1:19:41We are looking at relocation of our offices to areas that uh were able to better have safety protocols in place. We're looking at uh accessibility. Many times, as I said, parking becomes an issue. Once you get past employee safety, we run into parking constraints. we run into uh small businesses uh sometimes especially in rural small businesses going into a city sometimes can be intimidating.
▶ 1:20:10So we want to make sure that we take that off the table and look for ways that we can get out there. Now also our field offices focus on lender engagement. So the uh individualized meetings with small businesses uh aside from roundts etc. uh we don't see as much of that but we have had ex a lot of success when we're working with them with regards to our expo with regards to some of the other projects we put together. It's been fantastic.
▶ 1:20:36Thank you. Can can I ask you to commit to keeping Minnesota's district office in Minnesota?
▶ 1:20:42Do your question is to keep it in the state of Minnesota.
▶ 1:20:45Yes, please. Uh, I will uh definitely put that on the table as we continue to move forward.
▶ 1:20:50Wonderful. And if will you commit also to following up with my office with more details regarding the plans for the Minnesota District Office?
▶ 1:20:57Happy to work with your office.
▶ 1:20:58Thank you so much. Um, and as I'm sure you're aware, last December, Administrator Leler announced that the SBA would halt dispersement of 5.5 million to SBA resource partners in Minnesota. Most notably, SBA has withheld over $2.2 million in funding from Minnesota small business development centers. I've been in touch with the director of Minnesota's small business uh development center and I know they've been working hard to be good partners with SBA and ensure there are no issues with financial misuse of funds. Despite this, funding for these crucial programs has remained frozen.
▶ 1:21:29What steps does Minnesota Small Business Development Center state office need to take in order for SBA to release the funding they have been guaranteed so that they can continue to deliver for Minnesota small businesses? Congresswoman, I appreciate the As a reminder, I am here today for the Office of Field Operations. I don't have insights into the Office of Entrepreneurial Development. It's outside my scope, but happy to answer questions today regarding what we're doing here. Appreciate
▶ 1:21:58Will you commit to working with Associate Administrator Paul Fitz Fitzpatrick to get my office an answer on this, please?
▶ 1:22:05We will always stand ready to work with your office.
▶ 1:22:08Thank you very much for your testimony and thank you, Mr. Chair. I yield back.
▶ 1:22:12Thank you very much, chair. And now recognizes Miss Sculton from Michigan for 5 minutes.
▶ 1:22:18Thank you so much, uh, Mr. Chair, and thank you, uh, so much uh, Madame Administrator, for joining us here today. Over the past year, we've seen significant reductions, uh, in SBA staff, as we've talked about today. Uh while administrator Leler has highlighted her goal of strengthening the agency uh in the field, these things uh seem to be inconsistent to me.
▶ 1:22:43Um in Michigan, our main SBA field office is located in Detroit all the way uh across the state with a virtual office in my district in Grand Rapids. We know that by September of last year, agencywide staff reductions had reached 27%. Can you share how the Detroit SBA field office has been impacted by these staffing cuts, including any delays in wait times for counseling?
▶ 1:23:09Uh, thank you for the question. And for uh weight times in counseling, we don't do a lot of small business counseling uh because our offices are more focused on uh as far as the office of field operations, more focused on lender engagement, lender re-engagement and also uh being that voice for small businesses that maybe are struggling with regulation. And I do know this that uh in
▶ 1:23:35what does that mean if if I may being that voice for for small businesses what what does that what does that mean in
▶ 1:23:42Sure. So uh as I'm out in the road and uh you know administrator Leler has also taken charge and and been out there and a strong advocate walking the plant floors. What are the pain points for these small businesses so we can figure out what those are and get them back here to DC and get the information out. So then uh we can look at is this a regulation that maybe doesn't need to be a regulation anymore. Does it need to be modified? Because we can't have regulations. Obviously we want safe product.
▶ 1:24:13We want safe processes but not having regulations that effectively zero out the ability for a small business owner to compete.
▶ 1:24:22Absolutely. and and and listening of course would seem to be a critical point the the first essential step in being a voice right we know as representatives we got to go back listen to our constituents and then come back take that message administrator Leler is one person right covering the entire United States I guess my question is to be that voice to do your job effectively almost a third of the staff being reduced that's less listening that's less resources So,
▶ 1:24:52what what what I'm asking is, you know, how and and feel free to speak nationwide, but I do want to know about Detroit specifically and and our office in Michigan. How can you continue to do that job effectively with a third of of the people being the voice, you know, being cut?
▶ 1:25:09Absolutely. And a fair question. Appreciate that. And actually in FY25, we had the highest number in four years of events that we had put together. Mhm.
▶ 1:25:19So we have really streamlined what we need to do, how we need to do it so that we can be more effective and also looking at doing business differently. uh under administrator Leler's leadership, she has done a fantastic job of allowing us to work at the speed of small business and that's been very important for us and and I I can't stress enough that
▶ 1:25:39you know I'm sorry to interrupt again but do you have any any data or um results that you can share about how you have worked at the speed of of small business? What what in particular have you the speed of which have you increased? Are you you know is there have you how many visits has she done? Is it more than the past administration? How many cases have you resolved?
▶ 1:26:01Do you have publicly facing data you know metrics that we can we can look to to show that you're able to do more with
▶ 1:26:11Absolutely no. And that's a great question. Uh what we've been able to do and I I have the number of states that I've been to. Uh we also have the information of the number of hits through our red tape hotline. That's been a really great tool for small businesses to have that voice. Many times before they said, "Oh, it's so intimidating if I have to write a case out and things like that." But red tape at sba.gov. I apologize.
▶ 1:26:34I don't remember the 800 number, but I do remember the email red tape at sba.gov, which is a tool where all they need to do is shoot an email to us saying, you know what, here's my
▶ 1:26:44And I'm familiar I am familiar with the hotline and and I, you know, we we've had hearings on it before. I think it's really important. But again, the metrics, the publicly facing metrics, I think again the concern that so many of my colleagues have raised here today is we're talking about in some field offices a 50% reduction, 100% reduction. And we want to make sure that there are those eyes and ears. We agree with you 100% the voice of small business elevating their issues.
▶ 1:27:13How are you able to do that with less? And if you're saying we are now moving at the speed of small business, we want some demonstrable metrics, publicly available metrics that we can look to and say that's not just, you know, speech. There's actually data to show that you are doing it. So we you can submit those um afterwards because I did not hear any metrics in your response, but that is what we're looking for. Thank you. I yield back.
▶ 1:27:40Gentle lady yields back. I now recognize Miss Goodlander from the great state of New Hampshire for 5 minutes.
▶ 1:27:46Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to our ranking member. Thank you to our witness for being here today. I I appreciate I want to start by saying I couldn't agree with you more that the most effective place for for the SBA workforce to be is is where our boss is and that is in the field offices and on the ground. Um we agree on that point. Do you agree that we should be adequately staffing our field offices?
▶ 1:28:14Thank you for that question. And I feel that we are adequately staffing our field offices.
▶ 1:28:19Okay. Can I ask you um in in New Hampshire, how many how many field staff how many how many staff are are in the field office in New Hampshire? What's been the reduction in force?
▶ 1:28:29Um I can get you that information off the top of my head. I can tell you that it it started at 10 last year and we're now down by 60 to 70%. Does that strike you as adequate? A 60 to 70% cut in in the district the field office workforce. Thank you for that question.
▶ 1:28:52And what I have to look at is what do we need to do at the end of the day to move the needle for small businesses and making sure that our staff that we have in the field offices are trained the way they need to be trained and getting the information out working across the SBA with eliminating those silos which the Trump administration has done for this and administrator Leler eliminating those silos has made us way more effective out in the field for the field operations.
▶ 1:29:17Well, I can tell you that small businesses in New Hampshire are suffering because you haven't adequately staffed our field office. And I want to point out that on June 4th of last year, Administrator Leler came before this committee. She testified and gave us her commitment that we would get a full update on your plan to fully restaff district offices, including in New Hampshire. And we still don't have that update.
▶ 1:29:41So, can I get your commitment to giving me a full update on your plan to fully restaff New Hampshire's district
▶ 1:29:49We will always stand ready to work with your office and at times though we have to also make sure that when it comes to HR, there are certain things that we have to keep confidential, but uh looking forward to continuing to move
▶ 1:30:03I do too because that was nine months ago when administrator Leler was before this committee and this is an urgent moment for our small businesses. They've never felt more uncertainty. Uh the cost of doing business has never been higher. And so I I just want to confirm that I have your commitment to work with my team and with me to make sure we have a plan in place to fully restaff and adequately staff the district office in New Hampshire.
▶ 1:30:29We're uh always ready to stand ready to work with your office and and just as a reminder, the office of field operations, our focus is on lenders and lender engagement and lenders are the constituents I hear from most on this front. They are suffering the most because of a lack of staffing in the field and on the ground. So, I I appreciate your commitment to working with me on this. You know, you and I share a commitment to cutting red tape and to making sure that regulations work for small businesses.
▶ 1:30:59Uh you're uh running the office of manufacturing and trade within the SBA. Is that
▶ 1:31:06I am the acting administrator for the office of manufacturing and trade. Yes.
▶ 1:31:10And and that office is uh its mission is to make sure that small businesses can compete in the global marketplace.
▶ 1:31:17Um yes, that is the mission. But as today, I'm here in regards to my position under the Office of Field
▶ 1:31:25Okay. Well, I I you've said in that capacity, too, you're committed to cutting red tape and to making sure regulations work for small businesses. What is what is the SBA's plan? When I hear from what I hear from my small businesses, number one, uh the president's unconstitutional tariffs have been one of the biggest impediments to success. They've driven small businesses out of business.
▶ 1:31:48What is your plan to work with small businesses across the country and in my state of New Hampshire to make sure that they are reimbursed in the money that was unlawfully taken by the president's
▶ 1:32:00I appreciate your question. I want to start with saying what I'm hearing out in the field is vastly different from that. What we're hearing is uh small business acurounds.
▶ 1:32:10I'm sorry. You're hearing that small businesses are in favor of this unconstitutional tariff regime. I am saying that small businesses Acur's a small business manufacturer in Massachusetts said that tariffs have been a net positive for their business.
▶ 1:32:23Well, that is a first. I have not. This is a first um in in in the last year that I've heard from count small businesses. I'm asking you, what is your plan to address the concerns and the needs and the money owed to small businesses who are looking for refunds from these unconstitutional tariffs?
▶ 1:32:42Well, I'm very happy to say working under the Trump administration and under uh administrator Leler's leadership with regards to this the focus on not only the feedback we get from power brace out of de mo.
▶ 1:32:54So you don't have a plan. Is that what I can take?
▶ 1:32:56We have put together the onoring portal which is another way for your manufacturers and and I hope your manufacturers have all got listed on there so that we can help build back the American industrial base so that folks look local first. They look to America
▶ 1:33:12Time is up.
▶ 1:33:13Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
▶ 1:33:18Okay. I'd like to thank Associate Administrator Shimkit for her testimony and for appearing before us today. Without objection, members have five legislative days to submit additional materials and written questions for the witnesses to the chair which will be forwarded to the witness. I ask the witness to please respond promptly. If there's no further business without objection, the committee is adjourned.