Guzman outlines plans for SBA’s govcon, entrepreneurs in 2023

Requests $5M more for 8(a), HUBZone & WOSB staffing; seeks 17% increase for entrepreneur development

      Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman provided details of the Small Business Administration’s fiscal 2023 budget request before a House panel on April 27.

      In wide-ranging testimony, she gave an overview of the SBA’s annual budget submission to the House Small Business Committee. Committee Chair Nydia Velazquez, D-NY, also published a hearing memo with more information.

      The SBA’s request covers traditional loan programs, disaster and pandemic aid programs, and programs for small business federal contracting, entrepreneurial development and other areas.

      Overall, the SBA is seeking $1.06 billion in budget authority in fiscal 2023, including $914 million for small business programs and $143 million for major disasters under the Stafford Act.

      Here are details of the SBA’s 2023 budget request and related plans revealed at the hearing:

• $9.8 million--an increase of $6.3 million over fiscal 2022 enacted levels--to “scale up training to help an estimated 9,500 small, disadvantaged businesses better prepare for federal contracting opportunities”;
• $5 million in additional funds for staffing to be divided between the 8(a) Business Development, HUBZone and Women-Owned Small Business Program, according to Velazquez’ hearing memo;
• $20 million is requested to manage the transition of the Veterans Affairs Dept.’s Center for Verification and Evaluation to the SBA, starting Jan. 1, 2023; and
• SBA will expand its Veterans Business Outreach Center Program to 34 locations nationwide, up from 22 locations.

      The SBA’s network of resource partners--including Small Business Development Centers, SCORE and Women’s Business Centers

• provided assistance to 1.2 million entrepreneurs in fiscal 2021. These owners obtained nearly $8 billion in loans to start nearly 26,000 new businesses;
• SBA opened its 141st Women’s Business Center in Alaska and now has a WBC in every state, including DC and Puerto Rico; and
• The SBA is proposing a $318 million budget for entrepreneurial development, a 17% increase above the fiscal 2021 enacted level. The fiscal 2022 enacted level was not immediately available.

      SBA’s Small Business Investment Companies in fiscal 2021 provided more than $4 billion in debentures to more than 1,000 small businesses. The 2023 budget proposal is for $5 billion, consistent with the fiscal 2022 authorized level and a $1 billion increase from fiscal 2021.

More Information:
Guzman testimony: https://bit.ly/3MWTfuH
Hearing memo: https://bit.ly/3KTjqks

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