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NAFCU Congressional Caucus attendees Wednesday heard from Small Business Administrator (SBA) Isabella Casillas Guzman as she touted the hard work credit unions have done over the course of the pandemic crisis and expanded on what’s to come for small business relief. 

During her remarks, Guzman celebrated National Small Business Week and thanked credit unions for their efforts in helping guide small businesses during prolonged closures. “You have done some great work, particularly over the past 18 months,” said Guzman. “You have worked hard to extend the financial lifelines that have allowed millions of small businesses to open their doors, to meet another day.”

On the outlook of the financial marketplace, Guzman noted that the SBA “is committed to being your partners as we continue on this path to economic recovery.” She also pointed out that the nation is experiencing unprecedented economic growth, a rate that has not been seen in many years.  

Guzman announced that the SBA has delivered more than $1 trillion in combined emergency relief, including the paycheck protection program (PPP), to small businesses in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. She noted that early rounds of the program missed some of the smallest businesses and explained that SBA worked hard to ensure that did not happen again.

“SBA’s changes [to the PPP] focused on the smallest entities,” remarked Guzman. “Now I’m committed to delivering on the promise of the PPP, which is forgiveness. We launched a streamlined online portal to rush relief to small businesses owners,” said Guzman.

Guzman encouraged credit unions to continue helping members by becoming SBA lenders. “Helping small businesses continue to access capital is crucial to helping economic recovery,” she concluded. “Our priority now is to grow small dollar loans at scale.”

Closing out her remarks, Guzman announced SBA’s efforts to create a direct lender program saying, “I want the SBA to create new channels to offer direct lending, that’s what being considered in Congress right now.”

NAFCU’s advocacy team is working with SBA and Congress to ensure that SBA continues its partnerships with community financial institutions, including credit unions, but does not become a direct lender itself.

“We strongly support efforts to ensure the nation’s Main Street small businesses have access to the credit they need to finance their operations,” stated NAFCU Director of Regulatory Affairs Ann Kossachev in response to Guzman’s announcement. “While we do not believe the SBA should be making loans directly, we stand ready to work with Chairwoman Velazquez and Chairman Cardin to make it clear that the SBA should continue to partner with credit unions and other community financial institutions. We look forward to helping them achieve their goal of getting additional credit to small businesses.”

NAFCU’s Caucus wrapped up Wednesday. You can find the latest recap from each day here.