The National & Hyperlocal Mission of the US SBA
It's been a bit of a US Small Business Administration summer for me, and really interesting to see how such a big national mission focused on entrepreneurs & small businesses is expressed in different ways, places, & people. It's framed my mindset and made me critically think about how our own initiatives can and should come to life.
First of all, big congratulations to SBA Deputy Administrator Bill Briggs for stepping into his new role there in Washington few weeks ago! (Btw I already shared the below photo from his swearing-in reception on Capitol Hill via the Texas Venture Newsletter this morning, so use the link below to make sure you're subscribed if you want to see more updates). The Texas Venture Alliance shared an endorsement letter in support before his confirmation a few months ago, and we know he'll carry the Texas flag well over there!
On the Texas Venture Gala & Forum 2025 page, we shared a recap including my interview with keynote Presidential Cabinet Member, the SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler (pictured below). She was really wonderful and so easy to chat with despite my nerves to talk with her at all + let alone in front of the whole Forum for almost an hour 😅 It was such a huge moment to have our statewide innovation ecosystem gather around her, and was a big deal personally that felt surreal.
Few weeks later I had the chance to learn from (and be roasted, in front of the ENTIRE conference THANKS... though I was kinda expecting it and bracing myself, hah) by Judge William Gravell heading up Region 6 territory (includes Texas). He's a hilarious speaker that catches you off guard and will probably pick on you, so kind of like if you're at a comedy show, just hide behind others and you'll be fine :) We both had panels/speeches at the Texas Chamber of Commerce Executives Conference followed by the next day's Texas Economic Development Council Conference.
And finally I moderated / was learning on-the-fly while on stage guiding a Texas SBDC panel, which is the SBA's way to be more hands-on locally with a lot of their different offerings. Made many new friends from their team hailing from all over the state and saw how they work with their communities.
When I look at the operation we run and what we're building for the future, hangin' with the SBA over this summer was unintentionally probably the biggest surprise & influential experience via national & hyperlocal mission I've had in my career. If you have any questions, I'm happy to share. And of course we're brewing up an exciting way to make sure to promote them on our massive 3,000+ Texan and largest statewide business networking event, the 4th Annual Texas Venture Fest so entrepreneurs know what all's available to them!
Texas Venture Newsletter: https://texasventurealliance.org/newsletter
