U.S. Small Business Administration Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman visited the Fresno area Thursday.

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman visited the Central Valley Thursday to celebrate the 7th annual Power of Women in Business Conference hosted by the Fresno Area Hispanic Foundation.

Prior to the event, Guzman sat down with The Business Journal to discuss the small business atmosphere post-pandemic, as well as SBA loan and disaster relief options available to small businesses and their employees.

Post-pandemic economic recovery and disaster relief options:

“As a result of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) and fighting the pandemic and leading to the historic economic recovery we’ve seen a small business boom,” Guzman said. “In the first two years of the president’s term we’ve seen 10.5 million new business applications — and that’s 1 million in California.”

Guzman said the influx of new business applications reveals a large number of entrepreneurs either reentering the business landscape or entering it for the first time.

Guzman credits these potential new business owners as the nation’s job creators.

“It’s why we’ve seen, as well, this historic economic recovery with 12.7 million jobs created,” she said.” At the SBA we’re all about that American dream of business ownership and making sure they have the capital and the technical assistance to be successful.”

With that in mind, the SBA hopes to provide a safety net for businesses, offering several low-cost, long-term disaster loan options for individual renters, homeowners and both for-profit and nonprofit businesses, enabling expedited and affordable recovery options.

“Preparedness is key,” she said, referencing the past years of fire-related disasters, as well as recent flooding in the Central Valley. “California is impacted dramatically by climate change and the effects of natural disasters.”

The SBA provides these loans with assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), hoping to reduce the financial damage caused by natural disasters, as well as expedite recovery.

Building a business during times of economic uncertainty:

Guzman provided a positive outlook on the current economic situation pertaining to small businesses, specifically highlighting investments creating the potential for improved state infrastructure.

In addition to infrastructure improvements, these projects also drive job creation, helping rebuild an economy facing potential uncertainty.

Expanding on that further, Guzman said she sees a positive future economically, citing last year’s announcement of 166 different infrastructure projects, adding that more than $18 billion has been invested in infrastructure spending.

“That means contracts for small businesses and local jobs and people who will then spend locally,” Guzman said. “That’s opportunity.”

Business post-pandemic and the importance of transparency:

With 12.7 million jobs created since President Biden took office, Guzman said job growth across all sectors has seen improvement — specifically, infrastructure improvements and tech improvements.

“We’ve seen growth across sectors,” she said. “There are some of those opportunities happening with the infrastructure build, but remember there are also massive investments in broadband.”

Infrastructure improvements are improving access to high-speed broadband for smaller communities like Kingsburg and the local rural and foothill regions.

With that in mind, the SBA also seeks to educate business owners in all aspects of business ownership, from the process of starting a business to maintaining financial transparency in bookkeeping.

“It’s really important that entrepreneurs get that training, which is why the SBA supports an incredible resource partner network,” she said, highlighting the importance of small business development centers and centers like Fresno’s recently opened women’s business center.

Guzman and the SBA hope that the both prospective entrepreneurs and current business owners take advantage of education programs and assistance the SBA offers.

“As SBA rolls out reforms and updates its systems to ensure that, as the president says, we’re able to make sure that ideas from everywhere and anywhere have the opportunity to thrive, they should count us as part of their team as small businesses and reach out to SBA.gov for resources.”