By Natalia Olson-Urtecho
Our nation’s veterans have served our country proudly and bravely. They are true American heroes, and we must make sure that we’re doing everything possible to support them once they return to civilian life.
That’s why, starting January 1, 2014 and for the rest of the fiscal year (FY), the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has set the borrower upfront guarantee fee to zero for all veteran loans approved during that timeframe under the SBA Express program, which supports loans of up to $350,000.
This program, called SBA’s Veterans Advantage, is available to small businesses owned and controlled by veterans, active-duty military participating in the Transition Assistance Program, reservists, National Guard members or their spouses or the widowed spouses of service members or veterans who died during service or as a result of service-related disabilities.
Our nation’s veterans are highly-skilled and highly-trained leaders in their communities, and so it makes sense that after serving their country, veterans would become entrepreneurs and small business owners. Our job at the SBA is to make sure that veterans and their families have the tools and capital they need to start and grow a business.
Of all SBA loans that go to veteran-owned businesses, 73 percent are $350,000 and below. The SBA Express Loan Program, is SBA’s most popular loan delivery method, with nearly 60 percent of all 7(a) loans over the past decade being approved through the program. Since the program’s inception, it has also been one of the most popular delivery methods for getting capital into the hands of veteran–owned businesses.
Earlier this fall, we also announced that for FY 2014, the upfront guarantee fee on all 7(a) loans of $150,000 or less are set to zero. These initiatives make the loans cheaper for the borrower, another way SBA is looking to serve small business owners as they look for ways to access capital.
SBA is dedicated to helping veterans, providing them access to business counseling and training, capital and business development opportunities through government contracts. In FY 2013, SBA supported $1.86 billion in loans for 3,094 veteran-owned small businesses, and since 2009, the dollar amount of SBA lending support to veteran-owned firms has nearly doubled.
We strive to support veterans and members of the military in as many ways as possible. That’s why SBA also supports a direct working capital loan program for small businesses with an essential employee who is a military reservist called to active duty. These Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loans (MREIDL) provide funds so that these small businesses can cover operating expenses the company would have been able to cover had the essential employee not been called to active duty. This way, our brave men and women in uniform don’t have to choose between serving their country and growing their communities.
We thank our veterans and their families for their commitment to our country and way of life. As regional administrator for the Mid-Atlantic Region, I am proud that the SBA fully supports our veteran entrepreneurs. We look forward to continuing to reach out to them through our 68 field offices across the country, including those that are here in West Virginia.
About the Author
Natalia Olson-Urtecho is the regional administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration. She was previously founder, president and CEO of EG, a company dedicated to helping public and private entities become more profitable through environmentally friendly and socially responsible planning and strategies. Before founding EG, Olson-Urtecho was a transportation and land use planner at the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission and was director of global initiatives at H2L2. Olson-Urtecho has more than 15 years of experience working with international, regional and local entities. She was previously appointed to the U.S. Innovation Advisory Board and to the Philadelphia City Planning Commission and Zoning Code Commission. Olson-Urtecho received the Business Journal 2010 Minority Business Leader Award and in 2009 received the Women of Distinction Award for her work toward building a green economy. She has lived in seven countries and speaks Spanish, French and Portuguese. She holds a master’s degree in city and regional planning from the University of Pennsylvania, School of Design, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Northeastern University. She has been a guest lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University.
