Massachusetts Native Promises Biz Friendly SBA | Karen Mills takes on Obama's charge to spur economic revival
Photo/David Rodgers
Karen Mills takes her New England sensibilities to Washington as head of the SBA.
Just who the U.S. Small Business Administration should support and how has been the subject of debate nearly since the administration was founded in 1953.
And a native of Wellesley — Karen Gordon Mills — is now tasked with heading the SBA and negotiating the many political land mines associated with such a high profile Washington job.
Mills takes the helm as administrator of the SBA as President Obama charges the agency with reviving small businesses, which employ more than half of the country’s workforce, to aid the nation’s economic recovery. Many believe that Mills’ ties to a region like New England, with its plethora of small businesses and Yankee ingenuity, bodes well for her leadership of the administration. But restoring faith in an agency that in recent years has suffered drastic budget cuts and accusations of mismanagement will prove no small feat for Mills.
On The Agenda
Among Mills’ top priorities in her new role is customizing the agency to respond to small businesses’ varying financial needs. In what she calls the “next evolution of capital,” the SBA is considering a number of concepts to differentiate Main Street businesses like car repair shops and restaurants from high-impact businesses experiencing more rapid growth.
In a recent interview, Mills said that the SBA has “made it our mission to be accessible to small businesses.”
“We need to provide important oversight of taxpayers’ money and we work very hard to oversee lenders and our products to make sure that we are mitigating our risk. But that said, we also need to make sure that we give small businesses the help that they need through the right loan products,” she added.
The SBA is working with other agencies, including the commerce and energy departments, to ensure small businesses have access to new technology and programs throughout the federal government, Mills said. Such breaking down of silos echoes Mills’ earlier work in another area — economic cluster development.
Mills was appointed by Maine Gov. John Baldacci to chair his Council on Competitiveness and the Economy in 2007. Her name became inseparable from discussions on clusters — geographically concentrated businesses, educational institutions and other entities within complementary industries — because of her personal support for them and her authorship of an April 2008 Brookings Institution report titled “Clusters and Competitiveness: A New Federal Role for Stimulating Regional Economies.”
In nominating her for the administrator position, President Obama spoke of her real-world expertise. “With Karen Mills at the helm, America’s small businesses will have a partner in Washington to create jobs and spur growth,” Obama said. “As a venture capitalist who invests in small businesses, Karen understands the challenges faced by both small business owners and the workers they employ.”
Among those challenges is completing the often cumbersome eligibility requirements for SBA programs. Mills pledges to improve turnaround times on loan packages, improve accessibility to government contracts and put more information online for small business owners. “We need to give them all the tools that we can give them in as efficient a manner as possible,” she said.
But the paperwork pales in comparison to what Mills identifies as the “number one concern” for small business owners today: health care. Calling the current situation “untenable,” she’s adamant that if small businesses are going to help lead us out of the recession, some resolution on health care is critical.
“They want to provide it, they just don’t have access,” Mills said of small business owners.
Jackie Farwell is a staff reporter at Mainebiz, a sister publication to WBJ.
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