SBA Ends National Small Business Week With Swan Song for Karen Mills
June 24, 2013
By Kent Hoover
Washington Bureau Chief, Business Journals
The Small Business Administration is ending its celebration of National Small Business Week with events in Washington, D.C., that serve as a swan song of sorts for SBA Administrator Karen Mills.
Mills has been a strong leader for the SBA at a critical time, strengthening the agency’s role as a source of credit for small businesses when they needed it the most. SBA lenders credit her with bringing in experienced bankers to run its lending programs, being a good listener, and streamlining agency processes.
Mills will soon be headed back to Maine, however, and there’s no word yet on who will replace her. Jeanne Hulit, who heads the SBA’s Office of Capital Access, also is leaving the agency.
Dave Rader, who heads Wells Fargo’s SBA loan division, is eager to meet the new team who’ll lead the agency’s lending programs, but he isn’t worried about the SBA’s future.