Texas Border Business
HARLINGEN, TX– U.S. Small Business Administration Regional Administrator Yolanda Garcia Olivarez will be in the Rio Grande Valley March 25 and 26 to meet with economic development organizations and small business owners to promote SBA’s programs and services.
Her itinerary will include a keynote address to Asociacion de Empresarios (AEM), and visits with Dr. Mark Kroll, Dean, School of Business, UTB; Dr. Lily Tercero, President, TSC; the Brownsville Chamber of Commerce; the Port of Brownsville; the Women’s Business Center; Rio South Texas Economic Council and will conclude with a tour of the VA Clinic in Harlingen where a SBA 8(a) certified contractor retains the maintenance contract.
Additionally, while visiting the Brownsville Chamber of Commerce and Rio South Texas Economic Council, Strategic Alliance Memorandum (SAM) signing ceremonies will be held in support of increased collaboration.
“The SBA is very pleased to collaborate with these two organizations,” Olivarez said. “The SAM is designed to spur economic development and job creation through small business growth, and to improve entrepreneurial education which advances greater access to capital, expanded technical assistance and access to procurement programs.”
Olivarez was appointed by President Barack Obama and former SBA Administrator Karen Mills in 2009. She leads Region VI in the delivery of SBA’s financial, entrepreneurial development, government contracting and international export initiatives in five states and 10 district offices.
“I truly look forward to my visit to the Valley; I especially look forward to meeting all the great business leaders and officials who support small business in the area,” Olivarez said. In Fiscal Year 2013, borrowers were approved for 166 loans valued at $57.2 million growing 50.8% from 2012. These loans helped create and/or retain 2,125 jobs.
The SBA consists of 10 regions with 68 district offices in the United States all with the mission to support small business in the district. The Lower Rio Grande Valley District Office covers 14 counties and serves 149,350 small business firms.
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 as an independent agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise, to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation and to help families and businesses recover from national disasters.
