Op-Ed: Brett Palmer: How Kelly Loeffler can be a small business champion
Within the SBA, the the Small Business Investment Company program is the epitome of an America First program that Kelly Loeffler can champion, Brett Palmer writes in his latest op-ed.
Small business owners started out 2025 with a surge of confidence in the economy and a renewed faith in their ability to grow and create jobs. The latest National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Small Business Optimism Index reached its highest level in six years and found small business owners are eager to expand their operations.
Former U.S. Senator, business owner, and the likely new leader of the Small Business Administration (SBA), Kelly Loeffler, has an immediate opportunity to help small business owners turn their hopes into action by fully using one of the most successful and least known SBA tools, the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program.
The SBIC program is the epitome of an America First policy. SBICs are private investment funds licensed and regulated by the SBA that invest exclusively in U.S. Main Street businesses. One hundred percent American, one hundred percent small business, with billions of dollars of private capital ready to deploy — these small business investors are designed to renew the American dream. They succeed when the small businesses grow and succeed — a real market-driven partnership.
SBICs are vital in channeling much-needed investment to all of America, especially the rural and underserved areas outside of major private equity and venture capital hubs like New York City and San Francisco. They also invest in industries that are critical to American workers and the nation’s prosperity, like manufacturing. For example, Konza Valley Capital in Overland Park, Kansas, invested in Allegiant Manufacturing, which specializes in metal fabrication, stamping, and assemblies. The investment helped Allegiant grow from 62 to 196 employees, increase revenue from $15 million to $49 million, and expand into a larger facility.
These types of growth investments in middle American small business are of little interest on Wall Street or in Silicon Valley, but for SBICs they are the norm, not the exception. In fact, small businesses regularly add well over 100 new, permanent employees after SBIC capital infusions. Since SBIC investments cannot be used to offshore operations or contribute to unemployment, these jobs are right here in America. SBICs are financing the American renaissance with reshoring and reinvestment.
SBIC funds operate without government subsidies. In fact, SBICs are regularly running over a $100 million-a-year surplus back to the government in excess fees and that does not even factor in the increased taxes from growing businesses and employment. SBICs align the public interest with the private markets and thus generate market-driven returns and repay the SBA in full when they realize their investments. DOGE should look at the SBICs as the model of effective government.
What makes the SBIC program uniquely effective and overwhelmingly successful is the market-driven, public-private partnership with the SBA. Iconic American companies like Elon Musk’s Tesla, which has a market capitalization nearly five times its closest competitor and more than the next 25 largest carmakers combined, benefited from early SBIC investment. As did FedEx, founded by former CEO Fred Smith, which is valued at more than $65 billion. Other companies like Apple, Costco, Callaway Golf, and Intel also received early investments from SBICs. These companies not only grew but also transformed industries and continue to drive American innovation that shapes the global economy. We don’t know who the next great American companies will be, but there is a very good chance they will have been backed by an SBIC.
There is a lot of partisan disagreement in Washington, but not about SBICs. Last year the House unanimously passed the Investing in All of America Act to modernize the SBIC program and enhance support for rural, low-income, and national security investments. The overwhelming bipartisan support for the legislation sets a marker as the new Congress and administration look for ways to modernize government, advance private sector led solutions to economic challenges, and serve taxpayers effectively.
With continued bipartisan support from Congress and the Trump administration, SBICs can further fuel the economy and create jobs nationwide. Currently, SBICs represent over $48 billion in American small business investments, with the potential to deploy an additional $30 billion in the next 12-18 months.
Americans are ready for the government to start empowering small businesses with an America First agenda. Small business investors are ready to be put to good use by the new Loeffler SBA. And the American economy and worker will be better for it. Let’s get this solid nominee in place, ramp up investing in our future, and make the American dream real.
Brett Palmer is the president of the Small Business Investor Alliance (SBIA), the association of senior investment professionals focused on the lower middle market whose members represent the entire private capital ecosystem.
