The administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration spent her Friday morning at a climbing gym in downtown Vancouver.
But she wasn’t there to climb. Isabel Guzman, who has led the federal agency since 2021, spent the day in Vancouver and Portland to visit small businesses and talk to their owners and local leaders.
“It’s remarkable to see the city with Mayor Anne (McEnerny-Ogle)’s investment in Main Street to revitalize it, and make sure that the American Rescue Plan dollars that were given to the city are deployed to help build businesses to the future,” Guzman said.
Guzman visited Source Climbing Center, Divine Consign and Kilnfolk Clay Studio in Vancouver. She was joined by McEnerny-Ogle and U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, who was recently appointed to the House Small Business Committee.
“It’s a big deal that we got Administrator Guzman down here. That’s a big win for us to highlight the work that we’re doing in Southwest Washington,” Perez said. “I think it’s clear that she wants to be a partner in growing our resilient economy and supporting our small businesses.”
Guzman’s visit was intended to highlight the impacts of the 2021 American Rescue Plan on local economies and hear the experiences of business owners in Vancouver and Portland.
At their first stop, Source Climbing Center, Guzman and Perez spoke to co-owners Michael Lary and Hanz Kroesen about their experiences with the COVID-19 relief funds.
“The Economic Injury Disaster Loans and all the emergency funding that we got through COVID, it was pretty easy to get,” Lary said. “I was really grateful that me, just being a small-business guy, was able to manage and get through the process.”
At the climbing gym, Guzman also received a crash course in scaling a rock wall.
Since the onset of COVID-19, the Small Business Administration has funneled hundreds of billions of dollars to businesses in COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loans and Payment Protection Programs.
Since her appointment, Guzman has led the agency in increasing the disaster loan cap, instituting anti-fraud measures and eliminating a backlog of more than 1 million loan applicants.
Now, she plans to enhance accessibility to federal programs and tell small-business owners that the government wants to hear from them.
“That’s why I’m here today, to make sure that we get the word out that the SBA is here to support,” Guzman said. “We want to make sure that businesses get their resources that we deploy, for free in many cases, for their technical assistance and the consulting that they can get.”
