A New Voice At The SBA
New Administrator Joins Presidential Cabinet
When Aida Alvarez took the oath of office as the Small
Business Administration's (SBA) new administrator in
March, she became the first Hispanic woman and the first person of
Puerto Rican heritage to hold a position in the President's
Cabinet. She also became a member of the White House economic policy-
making team.
Alvarez, 47, knows about running a small business from
personal experience. Born in rural Puerto
Rico and raised in New York City, she helped her mother operate her
own small restaurant. Alvarez waited tables during lunch breaks and
after school. Her parents used the earnings from the business to
finance college educations for themselves and their six children. "What
worked for the Alvarez family has worked for millions of Americans," said the
new SBA administrator. "Small business is the incubator of America's
entrepreneurial spirit, a spirit that is the envy of the world."
After graduating from Harvard College, Alvarez worked as a
print and broadcast journalist for 11 years in New York City. She also served
two years as a vice president at the
New York City Health and Hospitals Corp., the nation's largest
municipal health care system. Alvarez gained financial experience as an
invest-ment banker for two Wall Street firms, which led in 1993 to
her appointment as the first director
of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO).
OFHEO was the government's first effort to regulate
the nation's two largest housing finance companies, the
Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae)
and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac).
"I had no budget, no staff, no permanent
office space," Alvarez said about her challenge at the
new agency. "I was about as close
as it gets in the federal government to being an entrepreneur."
Although OFHEO existed in legislation only when Alvarez
was appointed director, she transformed the agency into a fully
functioning organization.
Now Alvarez has accepted a new challenge. As chief executive
of the SBA, she has pledged to streamline regulations and
paperwork for small businesses. She has also stated that she will work
to ensure that the SBA operates as a disciplined, sophisticated
financial institution, without losing sight of
its larger mission. "I want the SBA to be on the leading edge
in financial management, particularly as it expands its reliance on private
sector partners. In addition, I will be a strong advocate
for small business, an effective voice
within the Administration and a champion for the SBA's mission."
In the several months since taking office, Alvarez has
already spoken out about small-business issues she wants to see the
SBA address. She said the agency needs to find new ways to help
provide access to credit, capital, procurement opportunities and
business development training for people who have been underserved
in those areas in the past.
"No matter the obstacles, small firms will continue to play
an important role in job creation, contributing to innovation and
technology and representing the can-do values
that have guided me and my family," Alvarez said. "As every
entrepreneur believes, the American dream is still achievable."
Return to the table of contents
|
"I will be a strong advocate for
small business, an effective voice within the
Administration and a champion for the SBA's mission."
Aida Alvarez
SBA Administrator
|
