Hector Barreto, head of the Small Business Administration (SBA), has announced his resignation. The White House "immediately" announced the nomination of his successor, Steven C. Preston.
Neither the New York Times nor CNNMoney.com seem to think small business owners (or the SBA or our country) will be losing out by losing Barreto. It's understandable that there would be criticism of the agency after Hurricane Katrina and the ensuing bottleneck of loan applications which were processed at what many felt was too slow of a rate.
My question, however, is why are all these agencies (the SBA, FEMA, etc) being blamed for moving too slowly when we all know they are bureaucracies? (In some cases, red-tape nightmares straight out of the cineplex.) At what point do we, the small business owners, step forward and say, "Wow...the government wasn't as prepared as we'd have liked, but neither were we." Are the complaints entirely justified, or is the little guy playing the blame game?
My secondary concern here is the quick note mentioned near the end of the Times' article, regarding Mr. Preston. As opposed to the outgoing Director, whose family apparently owned a restaurant, this nominee has spent "nearly all his career with large corporations." How familiar will he be with the trials and triumphs of the micro- or small business? What about solopreneurs? Will he have a learning curve as he tries to figure out what "the little guy" really needs from the SBA?
What do you think?
» Heads of SBA Resigns from Business Opportunities Weblog
Hector Barreto, head of the Small Business Administration (SBA), has announced his resignation. The White House announced the nomination of his successor, Steven C. Preston. NY Times: Hector V. Barreto, the embattled head of the Small Business Admi... [Read More]
Tracked on: April 27, 2006 9:05 AM | Permalink to Trackback