Al Haut, District Director, SBA ND, Fargo

This year, we celebrate the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 70th anniversary of powering the American dream of entrepreneurship. SBA’s creation was largely a response to the pressures of the Great Depression and World War II.

The agency’s beginnings can be traced back to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in 1932 but got its formal start on July 30, 1953, after President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Small Business Act into law creating the agency. From its inception, the SBA’s mission remains to “aid, counsel, assist and protect, insofar as is possible, the interests of small business concerns.”

For 70 years, the agency has linked entrepreneurs to the funding, counseling, and mentorship they need to succeed. It has also connected small businesses to opportunities for federal government contracts and remains committed to providing low-interest loans to people affected by declared disasters. Since 1953, SBA has approved more than $1.5 trillion in small business lending and assisted almost two million entrepreneurs through training and counseling. During the pandemic alone, SBA dispersed over $1.3 trillion in economic aid to nearly 13 million businesses nationwide.

I am very fortunate to have witnessed many changes from staffing to different programs at SBA for the past 34 of those years. When I started in 1989, we had approximately 18 or 19 employees and maxed out at 21 or 22 in the early 1990s. Today, we serve the entire state of North Dakota with a staff of five.

Over the years, we have transitioned from “paper applications” featuring a stack of forms an inch thick to only requiring two forms – one for the borrower and one for the lender. Today, this information is uploaded into SBA’s online capital access financial system as opposed to mailing the entire paper application to the office.

A notable program change in the mid-1990s involved streamlining the loan application process. At the time this new application, called the Low Documentation Loan program, allowed SBA to approve substantially more loans across North Dakota because of the ease of the application. It was easier for the borrower to complete; it was easier for the lender to review and submit to SBA; and it was much simpler for SBA to analyze and make a quicker decision.

Over the years, the loan sizes have also increased dramatically from a maximum of $750,000 to $5 million.

Programs come and go but one thing remains constant – small businesses are the innovators and job creators – the economic engine of our communities. I’m extremely proud to support our ND small businesses by leading a small but dedicated team at SBA.