August 22, 2024
Recently, Golden LEAF President, Chief Executive Officer Scott T. Hamilton sat down with Mike Arriola, District Director, U.S. Small Business Administration via Zoom and filmed an episode of Critical Conversations. In this series, Scott talks with professionals about economic development issues affecting the state.
Created in 1953, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) continues to help small business owners and entrepreneurs pursue the American dream. As the nation’s only go-to resource and voice for small businesses, the SBA provides counseling, capital, and contracting expertise so businesses can confidently start, grow, expand, or recover.
As the SBA District Director for North Carolina, Arriola leads an office that drives economic development by helping entrepreneurs to start and grow their businesses. He directs the implementation of SBA programs related to financing, business advising, and government contracts. Arriola has been with the SBA since 1998. In 2004, he opened an SBA satellite office in Asheville. He moved to Charlotte to become the Deputy District Director for the state in 2014. Arriola was named District Director in May 2021, overseeing the Charlotte district office and the satellite offices in Asheville, Raleigh, and Wilmington
Arriola shared that small businesses are the “giants of the economy”. He added that through small businesses ownership, the majority of new jobs are created. The SBA’s funding is focused on small businesses. Arriola added that generally nonprofits are not eligible for funding unless they have a for profit subsidiary.
There are many informational events held to keep business informed of available funding. North Carolina SBA informational seminars can be found by clicking here.
Much of SBA’s funding comes in the form of loans to small businesses. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) helps small businesses get funding by setting guidelines for loans and reducing lender risk. These SBA-backed loans make it easier for small businesses to get the funding they need. The SBA website provides a Lender Match to connect small businesses to potential funding with competitive rates and fees.
Limited grants are available, primarily for resource partners, said Arriola, which include the Small Businesses and Technology Development Centers, Women’s Business Centers, chapters of SCORE and the Veterans Outreach Center. Small Business Development Centers provide counseling and training to small businesses including working with SBA to develop and provide informational tools to support business start-ups and existing business expansion. Women’s Business Centers (WBCs) are a part a national network of entrepreneurship centers throughout the United States and its territories, which are designed to assist women in starting and growing small businesses. SCORE, the nation’s largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors, is dedicated to helping small businesses plan, launch, manage and grow. The Veterans Business Outreach Center (VBOC) program is designed to provide entrepreneurial development services such as business training, counseling, and resource partner referrals to service members, veterans, National Guard and Reserve members, military spouses, and family members interested in starting or growing a small business.
Arriola added that there are a few competitive grant programs that North Carolina organizations have been the recipient of in recent years. The Program for Investors in Microentrepreneurs (PRIME) grant has been received by Mountain BizWorks. He said that each of the funding recipients must focus on the metrics provided in their reporting. With loans, the requirements are the same for any other loan such as regular submission of financial statements and adherence to the agreement. The SBA’s goal is to be a good steward of taxpayer money.
Learn more about the SBA by visiting sba.gov and sba.gov/nc.