🔒McMahon’s Hartford visit solicits small business needs, challenges

Taxes, regulations and healthcare costs have long been thorns in the sides of many small businesses in Connecticut and elsewhere, and they are chief complaints Small Business Administration Administrator Linda McMahon is hearing on a nationwide tour to solicit feedback from entrepreneurs and CEOs.

McMahon has been on her “Ignite” tour since being sworn in as SBA's chief executive Feb. 14. She'll be visiting all 68 SBA district offices across the country and her latest stop brought her to Hartford where she sat down with nearly a dozen small business owners during a roundtable discussion at cabinet maker Express Kitchens, located in the city's North Meadows section.

McMahon, a well-known entrepreneur in her own right, was accompanied by U.S. Senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal as part of a bipartisan effort to promote SBA's programs and services and to learn about ways to improve the federal agency.

In an interview with the Hartford Business Journal, McMahon said her goal is to take intel she collects in Hartford and elsewhere and share it with the Trump administration to help shape tax, regulatory and other policies.

“The SBA can be helpful in advocating on behalf of small businesses,” McMahon said.

Among other concerns she's been hearing nationwide is a dearth of skilled workers, an issue that has plagued Connecticut's manufacturing sector.

Blumenthal and Murphy also said concerns were raised about the high costs and fees of SBA's lending programs as well as general paperwork headaches.

“They all had strong feelings about how much it costs to get the loans,” Blumenthal said, referring to the small business roundtable participants, whose companies all previously received SBA funding.

There was, of course, a bit of irony in the joint session between McMahon and the two Democratic senators. McMahon ran against Blumenthal and Murphy in two separate failed U.S. Senate campaign bids, which become tense and heated at times.

But Murphy said he's been able to find common ground with McMahon — a Republican appointed to the SBA by President Trump — on her quest to promote small business and entrepreneurship.

“She's intent on running the SBA, whereas some of the people who are at these (federal) departments don't believe in the mission,” Murphy said. “She believes in the mission. She actually wants the SBA to work.”

Boosting participation

SBA lending in Connecticut has remained relatively flat over the last few years, after experiencing a rebound following the Great Recession. The SBA's Connecticut District Office supported $284 million in loans through its three main loan programs in 2016, compared to $287 million in loans in 2015 and $286 million in loans in 2014.

Additionally, over 30,000 clients in the state were counseled and trained by the SBA and its partners in 2016.

Instead of selling body slams and knockouts as former CEO of Stamford-based World Wrestling Entertainment, McMahon's main role now is to pitch SBA's lending, mentoring and federal contracting programs, all aimed at helping small businesses grow and add jobs. She said she hopes to boost SBA participation around the country.

“I want to help more people know the breadth and scope of the SBA and what we can do so we can get more entrepreneurs to utilize our services,” McMahon said. “Ultimately it's businesses that will create jobs, not the SBA.”

Meantime, McMahon said she heard mixed reviews about Connecticut's small business climate. Some roundtable participants said they were doing fine in the state, while others said the state's tax climate and budget stalemate have hurt their bottom lines.

She also weighed in on Trump's recently released tax reforms, arguing the plan's early framework has several benefits for small business, including making it easier to file a tax return and lowering to 25 percent from 39.5 percent the tax rate for pass-through businesses, whose owners report profits on their individual returns.