Marianne Markowitz, a regional administrator for the Small Business Administration, took over as acting administrator of the SBA on Feb. 10.

     She is filling in temporarily while the Obama administration waits for a Senate vote on the confirmation of Maria Contreras-Sweet, who was nominated on Jan. 15. The Senate held a confirmation hearing on Feb. 14 but as of press time had not scheduled a vote.

     Markowitz is the second executive to serve as acting administrator since former administrator Karen Mills announced her departure in February 2013.

     Mills stayed on until August to ease the transition, and was followed by Jeanne Hulit, who had been in charge of the SBA’s lending programs.

     Hulit left on Feb. 7 to become president of community banking for Northeast Bank in Maine.

     Markowitz previously was regional administrator in charge of lending, training and government contracting efforts for the Midwest bureau of the SBA. Before that, she served as the chief financial officer for Obama’s first presidential campaign. She also has held positions with Syngenta Inc. and Express Scripts.

     The Senate is on a holiday for President’s Day this week.

More information:
Washington Post article: http://goo.gl/axAmK8