America’s Great Lakes states are known for manufacturing. Wisconsin’s makers may be mostly small businesses, but they supply the world with advanced controls, bio-health, food processing, and water tech. Nearly 93 percent (7,041 firms) of the state’s manufacturers are small businesses, with 83 percent of those having under100 employees and 45 percent having fewer than ten, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Advocacy. They are fueling America’s pandemic recovery, and under President Biden, our nation’s lowest unemployment since 1970. To strengthen American manufacturing, the Biden-Harris Administration has launched a whole-of-government initiative to enhance federal procurement and other programs; SBA spearheads these efforts.
Many Wisconsin manufacturers have used SBA programs to become a success. For example, Ruth and Matt Johnston of Croix Gear in Hudson nearly doubled their third-generation company’s footprint to meet demand using an SBA 504 loan. SBA partner SCORE mentored Angela Schumacher of Hilbert’s Smoky Lake Maple Products with advice on exporting, pricing, and internal controls, boosting profits on their unique flue pans for syrup production. And Eric Coffman of Graftobian Make Up Co. in Madison used SBA’s STEP program to reach new foreign markets, and he expanded his facility with SBA financing to put manufacturing and distribution in one location.
Small businesses can also grow revenue through free SBA certification to sell to the federal government, ensuring President Biden’s vision of a future made in America by America’s workers. SBA is the only cabinet-level federal agency dedicated to small businesses making goods and services produced in America for America’s consumption, creating jobs, income, and wealth. Providing millions of dollars in financing and federal contracts, plus no-cost business counseling, SBA also supports underserved entrepreneurs such as women, women of color, and rural owners so they may build wealth.
SBA’s products and assistance help entrepreneurs start, buy, grow, expand, and recover from disasters. I encourage all business owners and hopefuls to contact SBA’s Wisconsin District Offices by visiting www.sba.gov/wi. To recover from the pandemic we must buy American, and to do that, our nation’s small businesses can turn to the SBA to help build America.
