SBA to Create More Opportunities for Women, Underserved, Veteran Entrepreneurs

Jovita Carranza now serves as the 26th administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Carranza will lead the only federal agency exclusively dedicated to assisting small business owners and entrepreneurs in starting, growing, and expanding their businesses. Additionally, the SBA provides targeted recovery support in the event of a declared disaster.

This is Carranza’s second tenure at the SBA. She served in the George W. Bush Administration as deputy administrator from 2006 to 2009. The president nominated Carranza to lead the SBA while she was serving as the 44th Treasurer of the U.S. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in a strong bipartisan vote of 88-5.

“I want to thank the president for his confidence in me to be an advocate in the Cabinet for our country’s 30 million small businesses, and I want to express my sincere gratitude to the U.S. Senate for confirming me in a bipartisan fashion,” said Carranza. “I look forward to helping elevate female entrepreneurs and our military veterans, expanding access to SBA resources among entrepreneurs in disadvantaged communities, and continuing to prioritize disaster relief.

“I would like to thank former Administrator Linda McMahon for her leadership at the SBA, and the dedicated professionals at the Agency during this transition,” continued Carranza.

Carranza’s experience includes a 30-year career with United Parcel Service, where she began as an hourly dock worker, rose to oversee operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, and ultimately retired as the highest-ranking Latina in the company’s history.

In testimony on Dec. 11, before the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Carranza discussed her hands-on experience in the private sector, public service and the life-changing potential of entrepreneurship:

“Members of this Committee, whatever success I achieved in life has been a function of not only hard work, but also opportunity, guidance and advocacy I received from others.

… I will leverage the power of this agency to continue to provide the same kind of support that I received, to entrepreneurs who need it most. I intend to put particular emphasis on opening more doors for women and for entrepreneurs in underserved communities, including military families and veterans. And I intend to prioritize disaster preparedness.”

Carranza earned her master’s of business administration from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla., and received executive, governance, management and financial training at the INSEAD Business School in Paris, France; Michigan State University; and the University of Chicago.