Isabel Guzman, US Small Business Administration (SBA) nominee administrator for US President Joe Biden, will be sworn in during a Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee hearing in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, February 3, 2021.
Bill Leary | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Senate plans to confirm Isabel Guzman as head of the Small Business Administration on Tuesday, tasking her with running Main Street beyond the damage caused by Covid-19.
Guzman is now the director of the California office of the Small Business Advocate. She oversaw small business aid for the largest state in the country during the pandemic.
Now she is ready to stand up as an SBA administrator nationwide at a time when small businesses have struggled to keep their doors open. Guzman will oversee the launch of the paycheck protection program and other relief initiatives that have saved companies but are fraught with inefficiency and waste.
“I am confident that the SBA, led by Ms. Guzman, will help small business owners hold onto their dreams until the economy picks up again,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., earlier Tuesday.
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Since the passing of the $ 2.2 trillion CARES bill last March, the agency has administered the PPP, one of the largest amounts of aid that Congress has approved. Since its inception, the program has issued approximately $ 687 billion in inducible loans through March 7, according to the SBA. This year, approximately $ 165 billion in loans were granted.
The current time window for applying for the aid expires at the end of the month. Non-partisan lawmakers in the House and Senate have proposed a plan to extend the program by two months and give the SBA an additional 30 days to process proposals.
Despite the unprecedented aid, small businesses are struggling to stay afloat under economic restraints designed to slow the spread of the virus. A CNBC / SurveyMonkey small business survey conducted in late January found that only 55% of owners believe their businesses can continue to operate for more than a year under current conditions.
In her Senate confirmation hearing last month, Guzman said she was “deeply committed to helping our country’s small businesses and entrepreneurs.”
“You are facing an unprecedented crisis and need our support to survive,” she said.
Guzman added that she will work to improve equity in the distribution of aid to small businesses – a priority for the Biden administration. Critics of the early stages of PPP lending last year said the government had not done enough to bring money to the smallest businesses and firms owned by women and people of color.
Guzman became the director of the California office of Small Business Advocate in 2019. During President Barack Obama’s second term, she was deputy chief of staff at the SBA.
The Senate has approved 17 of President Joe Biden’s cabinet candidates, most recently Deb Haaland as Home Secretary.
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