New SBA administrator takes charge: Aida Alvarez positions organization to increase opportunities for small business - Small Business Administration - Small Business News

Black Enterprise, July, 1997 by Joyce Jones

When Aida Alvarez was appointed to the helm of the U.S. Small Business Administration in February, many minority entrepreneurs wondered one thing: with a new face in the organization, what would be the fate of the 8(a) program?

Some have called 8(a), one of the nation's largest federal procurement programs available to minority businesses, an SBA disaster. The agency itself--while seen as essential to the development of small business--has come under fire many times for ineffective management and lack of focus.

Alvarez will acknowledge that "there probably has been some legitimate criticism," of 8(a), but she also says she hopes to strengthen the feasibility of the program by adding new staff and upgrading its computer system. This includes making 8(a) applications available electronically so that the agency can review and handle more applicants. To achieve those goals, Alvarez has asked for a $1.9 million increase in the budget to make improvements.

Rep. Floyd Flake (D-New York) says the program should be a priority. "Alvarez should take a close look at the survival rates of 8(a) graduates and whether or not we are incubating the right businesses for the technical age in which we live."

Alvarez, a former journalist and investment banker, has come a long way since she helped out in her mother's Brooklyn, New York, restaurant as a child. While the business proved to be successful, like most start-ups it experienced problems. "There was no SBA that we were aware of," recalls Alvarez, "so eventually, my mother decided to get a regular paying job and close the business down." Now, Alvarez is administrator of the very agency that might have kept her mother in business.

Before joining the SBA, Alvarez worked as a director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, an independent regulatory office that oversees the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. Alvarez says her broad range of experience will make her an effective administrator. But it won't be easy. Her predecessor, Phil Lader, spent much of his two years in office defending the agency against congressional efforts to limit its size and focus. And during her first month at the SBA, Alvarez testified at three Senate hearings on behalf of the SBA's $705 million budget request for fiscal year 1998. "[The budget] is expected to expand access to capital, assist disadvantaged small businesses and provide education and training," she says.

"Her biggest challenge will be to bring credibility to the SBA so the Republicans do not continue to believe it's an agency that has outlived its usefulness," says Flake, who sits on the House Small Business Committee.

Alvarez comes to the SBA relatively unknown to the small business community. Between hearings and visits to recent disaster sites (for which the SBA provides funding), she has been meeting with members of trade organizations in hopes of increasing her presence.

So far, Weldon Latham, a member of the SBA's national advisory council who represents an organization of minority entrepreneurs, is impressed with her work. "The positive thing she brings to the SBA is an understanding of the capital needs of business owners because she was an investment banker," says Latham.

In addition to improved technology, Alvarez also plans to upgrade the agency's human resources division to ensure that the SBA staff has the expertise required to assist business owners effectively.

Improved access to capital and micro loan credit is also high on Alvarez's to-do list. "Let's face it," she says. "Minorities are still at a tremendous economic disadvantage and discrimination still exists, so it's very important to make that extra effort."

Alvarez hopes to have regular meetings with people in the business community. "I have an opportunity to influence the administration, be a voice for the community and hopefully affect the way other agencies use small business." For more information on how your trade group can meet with Alvarez, call D.J. Caulfield at 202-205-6740.