Entrepreneurship

Over the past few months, Small Business Majority hosted a new small business engagement series with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Deputy Administrator Dilawar Syed, who is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the agency, alongside the staff in the office of the Administrator, and the Associate Administrators across the SBA’s core program offices. At each event, small business owners learned about a different pressing issue and had the opportunity to ask questions and engage in conversations about the SBA’s impact.

On May 31, Small Business Majority network members, alongside other small business owners and advocates attended the White House’s Midwest Regional Small Business Summit. The entrepreneurs met with U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman and other Biden-Harris administration officials to discuss the administration’s work to keep up America’s small business boom.

When we last spoke with Jaja Chen in 2020, her business was adapting to survive the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. She and her husband and co-owner Devin started Waco Cha as a pop-up in the Waco Downtown Farmers Market in 2018 and later obtained a food truck. In March 2020, they opened their first storefront in Waco. However, opening in the middle of the pandemic was difficult, especially as they couldn’t open for dine-in until late summer.

Small Business Majority’s Outreach Team supports entrepreneurs on two fronts: It advocates for policies that benefit small businesses and it offers webinars and in-person events that help entrepreneurs grow their businesses. We have found this work to be even more important as small businesses experience rising inflation, supply chain disruptions and workforce challenges in the aftermath of the pandemic.

We are spotlighting Hunter Nelson, Small Business Majority’s new Colorado Director, to let small business owners know how our team members can assist them.

As Sylvie Hutchings approached 50, her professional growth began to stall at her corporate job. Feeling like there were fewer opportunities as she got older, the former fraud analyst decided it was finally time to realize her lifelong dream of becoming a small business owner. She searched for a franchise she could purchase so she could focus on running the business rather than worrying about creating her own marketing and building name recognition.

On March 15, Small Business Majority network members, alongside other small business owners and advocates, attended the White House’s inaugural Regional Small Business Summit. The entrepreneurs met with U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman and other Biden-Harris administration officials to discuss how to help Main Street thrive.