CHC Requests Meeting with U.S. Small Business Administrator

Washington, D.C. – The Leadership of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, and Ranking Member of the House Committee on Small Business Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez requested a meeting with U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Linda McMahon to discuss ways of working together to increase support for and create marketplace opportunities for minority-owned businesses.

"The Congressional Hispanic Caucus remains deeply concerned about the SBA's efforts to provide Hispanic-owned businesses with federal resources that are fundamental to improving the quality and scale of their business activities," the Members wrote.

They continued and cited the following statistics: "These [Hispanic-owned] businesses significantly contribute to the U.S. economy, and Congress and the SBA should invest in the continued success and growth of these highly successful industries."

In addition to the Senator Menendez and Rep. Velázquez, the following Members signed the letter: CHC Chair Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM-01); First Vice Chair Joaquin Castro (TX-20); Second Vice Chair Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-07); Whip Rep. Pete Aguilar (CA-31); and Freshman Representative Adriano Espaillat (NY-13).

The official letter can be found here.

May 22, 2018

The Honorable Linda McMahon

Administrator

U.S. Small Business Administration

409 Third Street, SW, Suite 7000

Washington, DC 20416

Dear Administrator McMahon:

We write to request a meeting with you to discuss equitable and pragmatic solutions that will increase access to small business financing and federal procurement opportunities for minority-owned businesses and Hispanic-owned businesses. We also hope to work together to streamline the certification process and improve Small Business Administration (SBA) outreach efforts to small businesses, especially Latino-owned small business across the United States and Puerto Rico.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus remains deeply concerned about the SBA's efforts to provide Hispanic-owned businesses with federal resources that are fundamental to improving the quality and scale of their business activities. These concerns were raised by our constituents who have shared their challenges to accessing small business financing and federal procurement contracts set aside specifically for minority business concerns. Expensive and time-consuming steps for certification, for example, stunt a business' ability to grow and scale up and in some cases makes it difficult to establish innovative startups. Without access to capital, small businesses, particularly Hispanic firms, are at a competitive disadvantage amid an increasingly global and competitive market economy.

A 2015 survey conducted by the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative found that 22 percent of Latino business owners have never heard of the SBA, 51 percent are unaware of Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs), and 56 percent do not know about the Small Innovation Research program (SBIR).^[1] Based on this data it is no surprise that Hispanics have the lowest number of government-guaranteed business loans compared to Caucasian, Asian, and Black-owned firms – even with widespread interest totaling nine times the number of Hispanic-owned businesses that actually have government-backed loans.^[2]

The success of small firms helps grow the economy. Between 2007 and 2012, the growth rate of Hispanic-owned small businesses nearly outpaced the growth rate of non-Hispanic-owned businesses combined.^[3] Without this economic output from Hispanic-owned small businesses during the recession, overall economic activity in the United States would have been weaker and slowed the overall recovery of the American economy.

The most recent census survey data of American business owners found that Hispanic-owned small businesses constitute approximately 12 percent of all businesses in the United States, with a total sale collection of $474 billion across 3.3 million businesses.^[4] Moreover, the United States has experienced an explosion in the number of Hispanic entrepreneurs that far exceed their underlying population growth in the last 25 years.^[5] These businesses significantly contribute to the U.S. economy, and Congress and the SBA should invest in the continued success and growth of these highly successful industries

During your testimony in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business, you vowed to work with Members of Congress to help all American small businesses grow and specifically expressed your desire to serve more minority-owned businesses.^[6] We commend you for your commitment to working together with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Congress at-large to increase access to capital and federal marketplace opportunities for minority-owned businesses.

To schedule a meeting please contact Alma Acosta, Executive Director of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, at Alma.Acosta@mail.house.gov or Angel Colón-Rivera, Senior Advisor to Senator Robert Menendez, at Angel_Colon@menendez.senate.gov. We look forward to hearing from you soon and would like to thank you for consideration of our request.

Sincerely,

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