small business administration - Delaware Business Times

Banking, Government, News, Statewide

Harris takes lead at state SBA office

Jacob Owens April 12, 2022

WILMINGTON – Michelle Harris has built a career around opening opportunities for small business owners, especially those from underrepresented populations. The 33-year civil servant spent time at the Delaware Office of Supplier Diversity, which ensures ...

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Government, News, Nonprofit

Wilmington Strong Fund gives out $151K, eyes future

Guest Writer August 24, 2021

WILMINGTON – As the COVID-19 pandemic has stretched on, a coalition of city partners has awarded 52 additional grants to small businesses totaling $151,000 after disbursing an initial $98,000 round last year. Created by the ...

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Sen. Chris Coons

Coronavirus, Economics, Government, News, Small Business

Coons seeks to prioritize small businesses with staggered PPP window

Katie Tabeling June 4, 2020

WASHINGTON D.C. — Right after the U.S. Senate passed a bill that makes sweeping changes to the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Senator Chris Coons says he wants to add more funding to ...

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Coronavirus, News, Small Business

Delaware gets $1.1B out of PPP before funds run dry

Peter Osborne April 20, 2020

WILMINGTON – Ed Osborne, owner of Osborne’s Auto Repairs in Wilmington, was one of 5,171 Delaware business owners who was able to secure a PPP loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration, getting $19,800 from TD Bank. ...

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Economics, News

Export Delaware invests federal grant in boosting exports, jobs

Alex Vuocolo October 14, 2019

The Delaware Department of State has received a State Trade and Export Promotion (STEP) award from the U.S. Small Business Administration for the fifth year in a row. The award this year totals $268,096 and ...

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WILMINGTON – Michelle Harris has built a career around opening opportunities for small business owners, especially those from underrepresented populations. [caption id="attachment_222112" align="alignright" width="272"]

Michelle Harris | PHOTO COURTESY OF SBA[/caption] The 33-year civil servant spent time at the Delaware Office of Supplier Diversity, which ensures diversity in the state’s procurement efforts; the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, an arm of the secretary’s office that ensures each of the operating administrations of the department – highways, airports, transit, etc. – achieve their small business goals and policies; and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), where she worked the 8(a) Government Contracting and Business Development program. Those experiences will suit her well as the state’s new SBA district office director, replacing longtime director John Fleming who was recently promoted by President Joe Biden to overseeing the region’s operations. “When this particular opportunity came up as the district director, it just really spoke to my passion for working with small businesses,” Harris told Delaware Business Times. “I can make sure that in my own backyard, the state of Delaware, the small businesses in my community know what we do, have access to our tools and services, and a real opportunity to grow and scale their businesses.” In moving to the Delaware SBA office, it will mark a welcome return home for Harris, who had been commuting daily to Washington, D.C., where she last worked at the federal Department of Transportation. She is taking over the office after two years in which thousands of businesses made their first contacts with the SBA through the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that doled out millions to businesses at the height of the pandemic. Harris said she plans to leverage that contact to extend offers about the SBA’s traditional products, like microlending and low-interest 7(a) loans. “It's through all of this outreach that we're doing now that we're really pushing that message out there to the small business community,” she said. In particular, Harris said she hopes to identify and contact those businesses that were forced to close permanently during COVID. “We want to find out where they are and who they are because I believe that entrepreneurs have an entrepreneurial spirit. Just because one business may not have worked out, they don't just typically walk away,” she said. [caption id="attachment_222113" align="alignleft" width="300"]

(L-R) Business owner Lanice Wilson, Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, SBA Delaware Director Michelle Harris, and Women's Business Center Director Sara Crawford talk at a March meeting. | PHOTO COURTESY OF BLUNT ROCHESTER OFFICE[/caption] Even for those businesses that did survive, the SBA is helping them to retool and rethink their futures in a post-pandemic environment. Harris pointed to The Juice Joint, a women-owned small business that she recently visited in Wilmington’s Riverfront, that is rethinking its business plan after opening during the pandemic. Harris’ office is doing that through its existing resource partners, including the Women's Business Center and Small Business Development Center, as well as a new Community Navigator program, where trained resource professionals walk candidates through the administration’s offerings. She also intends to grow and strengthen the relationships with its lenders, who facilitate the government-backed loans and grew dramatically in number and in workload during the pandemic. She also aims to expand outreach with underrepresented entrepreneurs, and she’s been working with the Delaware Black Chamber of Commerce on new programs. One of Harris’ specific goals is to expand the number of women-owned small businesses that export their goods. Currently, only about 14% of U.S. exporters are women-owned small businesses. “We are really looking at how we can expose women-owned small businesses that are ready to compete in a global environment to the tools and resources necessary to actually take the step,” she said.