Photo by Jon Anderson
Megyn Rodriguez, an outreach and marketing specialist for the U.S. Small Business Administration's Alabama district office in Birmingham, speaks to the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce at the Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, March 11, 2025.
There are multiple ways the U.S. Small Business Administration can help businesses in Vestavia Hills, the agency’s outreach and marketing specialist for Alabama told the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce Tuesday.
Megyn Robinson, who also serves as the public information officer for the Alabama district office, told chambers members during their March luncheon that one of the big things the SBA does is provide access to capital.
There are three main programs that help provide money businesses need to either get started or grow: 1) microloans (which are for $50,000 or less): 2) 504 loans (long-term, fixed loans up to $5 million for major fixed assets; and 3) 7(a) loans (which can be loans of up to $5 million for multiple purposes, such as refinancing debt, purchasing new equipment or furniture, or acquiring, refinancing or improving real estate.
But one thing many small businesses may not think about is that the U.S. government could be one of their customers, Rodriguez said. The U.S. government is the largest provider of goods and services in the world, and 23% of government contracts by law must go to small businesses, she said. The SBA has a program to introduce people to the world of government contracting, she said.
The SBA also has programs to help people obtain grants, get into exporting to global markets, find investors to help support them, obtain help with bonding, or bounce back from disasters, such as fires, hurricanes, flooding or tornadoes.
The SBA has a new administrator, Kelly Loeffler, who just released a 15-point list of priorities under President Trump’s administration. Those priorities include increasing U.S. manufacturing, cutting down on fraud, firming up loan payments, cutting red tape for businesses and improving customer service, technology and cybersecurity, Rodriguez said.
Six of the SBA’s 10 regional offices across the country are being relocated away from major cities, including the regional office in Atlanta that covers Alabama, Rodriguez said. Where that office will go has not been announced yet, she said.
Trump’s effort to cut back on the U.S. government’s workforce already has hit the Alabama office, which was reduced from six employees to four, Rodriguez said. “We’re all here because we want to see businesses succeed,” she said.
Rodriguez also shared an example of how the SBA was able to help a Vestavia Hills business. Leaf N Petal, which has garden shops in Cahaba Heights, Mountain Brook, The Summit and the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, worked with the Small Business Development Center network to gain access to capital, she said.
Leaf N Petal owner Jamie Pursell worked with a counselor to find a lender for a 504 business loan, she said.
For more information about the SBA and its programs, go to sba.gov.
