The Small Business Administration is an invaluable resource for those seeking to launch their own business; but many are unaware of how exactly it can help you. Region Five Administrator, Geri Sanchez Aglipay; gives insights on the Small Business Administration and how it can help you.
For information about the services SBA provides, visit: SBA.gov
Like the SBA on Twitter at: Twitter.com/SBAgov
Like and Follow on SBA on Facebook at: Facebook.com/SBAgov
Mason Vera Paine and Geri Aglipay: SBA Transcription
00:00 – Announcer: Mason Vera Paine.
00:01 – Mason: When it comes to entrepreneurship, many people don’t know what resources are available to them and how to utilize them. One of those resources is the Small Business Administration or the SBA. Joining me to speak about this organization is Region 5 Administrator Geri Sanchez Aglipay. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me, Geri.
00:19 – Geri Aglipay: Good to be here. Thank you for having me.
00:22 – Mason: So tell me, prior to joining the SBA, what did you do?
00:25 – Geri Aglipay: I was at a national nonprofit organization where I oversaw field work and policy work for small business and economic development for the Midwest region, but also nationwide for women’s entrepreneurship as well.
00:40 – Mason: Wow. So this sounds like it’s a passion for you.
00:43 – Geri Aglipay: Building wealth and addressing financial insecurity and increasing prosperity is something that is not only a professional interest, but it’s a personal interest and passion as well.
00:54 – Mason: Was there anything in particular that led you to the SBA, though?
00:58 – Geri Aglipay: What led me to the SBA was they were long time colleagues of mine with the federal government. And for a number of years, I had seen what good government does with the SBA field offices. And that’s who I’ve been most familiar with working with, the SBA district offices. And working with them, not only for on the ground work, doing outreach to women and those who are traditionally socio economically disadvantaged, so to speak, really gave me such high regard for my colleagues who I were working with alongside all these years. When the pandemic hit, it was the SBA that I turned to because they were the ones who actually were supporting those small business owners who weren’t prepared with so many of the financial aid and pandemic relief. I turned to them and I said, Hey, the business owners need our help. Can we do more regular partnerships? W e actually worked together before I was at the SBA and did a lot of outreach about how to navigate the pandemic and how to survive it and what are the free, no cost resources so anybody can get help what they need.
2:05 – Mason: Now, it’s funny about the SBA. I know that that is a program that anybody can join, but it wasn’t very well known, I think, before the pandemic. Do you think during the pandemic there was more light shed on those programs?
2:17 – Geri Aglipay: Absolutely. I mean, the Small Business Administration as a federal agency has been around for 70 years since President Eisenhower established it. He established it because he knew, which many economists and now people know more since the SBA became well known during the pandemic, is that small businesses are the backbone of our economy. They are giants of economy as Minister Guzman says. They create two thirds of the job. They also are 40 % of our economic productivity. I think for the SBA, it may not have been as well known before, but after the pandemic, we were the only federal agency, well actually, lender in the world to provide relief to its borrowers where in six months, they did not have to pay the principal, the fees, or interest on their current loans. The SBA is there to establish the level of the field to make sure that people who wanted to be an entrepreneur and had a small business dream, whether it be full or part time, that anybody in America have access to no cost resources, confidential counseling, and affordable financing so that there is a level start to growing their business in the United States and in its territories as well.
3:32 – Mason: Now, the loan programs, I think, were spotlighted because of COVID, and I think of the PPP loans. But are there any other programs that aren’t highlighted that you think are underutilized?
3:43 – Geri Aglipay: I don’t know if it’s underutilized, but more awareness of what we can amplify for our funding programs. The SBA has affordable financing for the right fit, for the right needs for anybody that they have starting up a business or if they want for business acquisition. The benefit of SBA financing, especially in long terms, is that normally you’ll have a term of paying back for five years. With the SBA, you can go longer than that, up to seven years. Then to purchase property, which for many women and small business owners is really an asset to build their equity by owning property. The SBA has affordable financing in which the rates are really attractive. They are a lot less competitive than if you credit card rates. But you can go from 10 to 20 or 25 years back paying for a loan on equipment, but also for purchasing property, too. And what we found with the pandemic was many individuals had wished that they had purchased their property and not rented it so that they can use and build equity out of that in case of emergencies like economic strides, whether it’s on the scale of a pandemic or purchasing a new vehicle for your bakery to deliver goods.
4:57 – Geri Aglipay: Having that asset and that equity and owning property is an asset for small business owners. It’s also being a small business, it’s the next best way to building wealth next to owning a home. But if you also build up that equity through property, it’s an added boost for that small business owners for their wealth building capacity to pass on to their families and the next generation as well.
5:18 – Mason: Yeah, I think a lot of people didn’t realize how important ownership was. Even though you own the business, not having ownership of the property, not having ownership of your equipment, it really started to hinder your profits.
5:32 – Geri Aglipay: Yeah. And the other thing with the other loan programs that we have, our flagship loan programs, we have micro loans where individuals who are just starting out, maybe they don’t have great credit, the SBA understands that life happens. And so there are loans available for as low as $500 as well. And as they need to build their credit, and as they build their credit with our no cost resources and our partners as well, they then will strengthen their ability to be bankable as a small business owner and eventually get the commercial funding that they need for their business. But we also have funding for loans of people who want to purchase up to $5 million of equipment or property or working capital as well. So we help all small business owners, and they don’t just have to take a loan. One of the things that we also advise them on, and again, our counseling is free and confidential and no cost through ourselves and our research partners because we are the federal government, is that they can also, what we call stack, they can stack that capital of a loan, but they can diversify it with also equity based financing that they have or with savings.
6:42 – Geri Aglipay: And so what we do is we also help them to navigate how you can fund your business, not just by one product, but how do you manage the money that’s coming in and manage the depth as well. One of the things about the small business administration is we have free trainings online digitally, but we also have them in person. A gain, those are confidential with our staff and our resource partners across the country.
7:06 – Mason: Wow. I didn’t realize that you guys had those types of programs. That’s actually so helpful for someone who’s willing to take the chance on themselves, but they didn’t really understand the small little intricate parts of a business. You guys help fill in those blanks.
7:22 – Geri Aglipay: Yes, we fill in those blanks. Our resource partners, not only do we have competent staff at our field district offices, we have resource partners at the small business development centers. We have them at the women’s business centers, which there’s one in every state and territory now in the United States, and at veterans business opportunity centers as well. Veterans business centers, there’s a lot of females, but there’s also a lot of military wives as well who may want to start their business. Our resources aren’t just for veterans. It’s also for their spouses, too, who can take advantage of that and start their business as well. There’s also training programs such as the Thrive program that’s similar to an executive management leadership program, which easily at a university would be $20,000 to $40,000. Ours is of no cost as we select people for that management program to get an executive certificate. Some people like to call it a mini MBA, so to speak, but it gives them the boost they need to further scale and grow. Many of our small business award winners nationwide and here in the Great Lakes region have actually gone through the Thrive program and have grown their revenues after going through the Thrive program as well.
8:38 – Mason: Now, I’m a little curious, does the SBA help get you certified for things like government contracts, or is that something you’ll have to navigate on your own? Oh, really?
8:48 – Geri Aglipay: No, we don’t need people to navigate that on their own. We actually do have the resources and the staff who can help them navigate. One, to be certified, get ready for certification, because certification in in itself actually gives small business owners a price advantage. And I don’t think a lot of small business owners understand that. Before you even do business with the federal government, the certification provides a benefit of getting price advantages already. Second, to do business with the federal government, which is the largest purchaser of services and goods in the world, we have set aside with that. We can help them learn how to compete for the federal government, how to set up their accounting and their books to do business with the federal government as well. The benefit of doing business with the federal government with certification and contracting, federal government makes actually small business owners get paid on time. It’s reliable revenue. They don’t have to worry about an invoice going 90 days out with doing business with the federal government. So it’s something that they can rely on in order to pay the bills and making sure that those bills are going to be paid when they do provide those services are good.
9:56 – Mason: I remember I had a friend who was trying to get government contracts during COVID, and her business wasn’t certified correctly, and I was trying to help her do it. And it was so many things I didn’t realize that a business needed, even though you start a business up and you think, Oh, I got the name and I started my accounting books and I’m doing all my sheets. And it’s like, Well, did you get certified in your city? Did you get certified in this area? Did you do this? Did you do that? And I’m like, Is this really a business without these certs?
10:24 – Geri Aglipay: It is a business without the certs, but certifications helped, again, level the field and get gives folks some advantages, especially if you’re a woman, because so long… Women tend to not have as much contracts as the federal government. And what we’re doing is we want to reach that goal of the set aside that the President has had so that women actually know about certification and know about business with the federal government. Let me tell you, the NAICS codes, those industry codes under President Biden, they grew from 1,000 to 6,000 so that more women and small business owners actually, whatever they make or provide, can do business with the federal government, from supplying bread for the government cafeteria to software coding, to so many things, doorknobs, you name it. And those codes were expanded. So, there’s a lot of things and services that people don’t necessarily think of when they think that federal government buys. So, if you ever walk onto a federal government facility and you just look at every physical thing and think things that you don’t see that are provided, like software and programming and security and such, that’s a lot of business that the federal government does, and they want to do more with small businesses.
11:41 – Mason: Now, I know your title is the region five administrator, and I have to ask, does each region have different types of programs?
11:49 – Geri Aglipay: I’m the regional administrator for region five in the Great Lakes region, and essentially, I oversee the field offices. We have different divisions, and I’m in the division, so to speak, or office of the field operations. So there are 10 regional administrators. I’m one of 10 regional administrators overseeing the Great Lakes regional field offices in the region, and I cover six states of the Great Lakes states that hug the Great Lakes area. I have to say I’m very proud to be a regional administrator. We’ve got the most diverse regional administrator cohort than any presidential administration has seen. So it really is making sure that the people in the field are reflective of the population that we serve as well. And also the management of our field offices, too.
12:37 – Mason: And lastly, what advice do you have for someone who wants to start a business and has never done it before?
12:44 – Geri Aglipay: Oh, go to SBA.GOV for the small business administration. I ardently feel working with SBA all these years and now being regional administrator that it is the beacon federal agency, and it actually is the only federal agency that is a cabinet level agency uniquely positioned to help every small business owner or those who dream of owning a business actually have that reality come true or grow that business. SBA.GOV Is a place to start. From there, we can connect individuals to our resource partners through the free training and our programs online as well, our funding mechanism for anybody in any industry, even in the STEM industry. With the President, we’re seeing a reinvestment in our infrastructure and innovative technology. There are a lot of diverse people working in for big companies who may want to strike out on their own for owning a business that’s innovative, science based, or technology with the green sustainability and the new economy. Those are individuals that we also want to confirm with them, yes, you have this dream to be a small business owner. We have the resources for you, and it’s not going to cost you a thing.
13:57 – Geri Aglipay: And it shouldn’t cost you a thing because the return on investment in that individual by us at the federal government is going to pay off exponentially by them not only building wealth for themselves, but also contributing to the economic multiplier effect of the community as well by creating jobs, and those jobs will then create more economic activity in their neighborhood. So the return on investment of owning a small business that’s sustainable is immense through the small business administration.
14:27 – Mason: Well, thank you, Geri, for coming on to the show and to explain what the SBA does. I think small business is the backbone of America and more people should know about it.
14:36 – Geri Aglipay: Thank you very much. We hope more people come to us, .SBA.GOV You may be seeing our commercials nationwide as well. I’ve seen it air on national TV about; SBA.GOV Hopefully, they’ll hear more about us because we are coming on our 70th anniversary. So stay tuned for more about SBA.
14:56 – Announcer: This has been the Mason Vera Paine Show. Thanks for listening.
Like Mason on Facebook at: Facebook.com/MasonVeraPaine and follow on Twitter at: Twitter.com/MasonVeraPaine. Interested in being a guest on the show or wish to send pitches contact us at: Contact@Masonverapaine.com