White House’s small business chief visits Dallas to spark entrepreneurs

U.S. Small Business Administration chief Isabella Casillas Guzman came to Dallas Wednesday to congratulate entrepreneurs on a job well done.

The past few years have laid out tough economic conditions for small business owners. It’s been a three-year-long roller coaster, with a global pandemic followed by supply chain issues, inflation and ongoing labor shortages.

But new firms continue to open their doors. During the last three years, 12.2 million new business applications have been filed across the country, according to the SBA. In Texas, there’s been 1.1 million.

The member of President Joe Biden’s cabinet met with leaders of The Dallas Entrepreneur Center Network to discuss how the SBA can continue to support small Dallas-Fort Worth businesses by connecting founders to mentorship and investments.

The goal of the Community Navigator pilot program is to strengthen outreach to underserved businesses by partnering with organizations like The DEC Network, that have deep roots within a community.

The local nonprofit is a “standout grantee” of the 51 community navigators supported by the SBA, Guzman said. In Texas, $5 million has been dispersed to small businesses to gain or maintain economic momentum. Nationally, the program allocated $100 million from the 2021 American Rescue Plan towards these efforts.

“Businesses are being primed to access capital and capital is the lifeblood for entrepreneurship,” Guzman said Wednesday at Dallas College’s Bill J. Priest Institute, its hub for workforce and economic development.

Through the Community Navigator Program, The DEC Network’s clients are 70% female entrepreneurs and more than two-third are Black, the agency said.

Kimberly Matthews, a co-founder of Holy Rollie Pastry Shop in Las Colinas, started making cinnamon rolls for sale with flavors like peach cobbler, strawberry and red velvet in September of 2020.

As a chemist with a master’s in business administration, she had some expertise to start her own store but needed help. Her sister recommended free opportunities for mentorship and advising.

She got connected to The LiftFund Dallas/Fort Worth Women’s Business Center, a partner of the DEC Network, and was able to secure additional capital to open a brick-and-mortar in April.

“It gave us the buffer so we could actually take a deep breath and just focus on operating the business instead of looking and being stressed about the financials,” Matthews said.

Since June 2022, Texas’ employment has grown by more than 540,00 positions, the largest annual increase in the nation. Dallas-Fort Worth had the second-largest year-over-year increase in the number of jobs across the country.

Mirroring the level of jobs added, the seasonally adjusted labor force grew by 30,500 people during the month of June, reaching north of 15 million, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. The number of employed people also reached a new record high at more than 14,429,900.

Guzman said they have doubled down on reforming capital programs so that the products offered by the agency meet the needs of small businesses.

“We’re investing in building the economy from the middle-out and the bottom-up,” Guzman said. “There are contracts and infrastructure building happening across Texas. There are opportunities to manufacture and be part of the supply chain network as we make in America again.”