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Wendell Davis
Title: New England Regional Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration
Age: 52
Experience: 15 years
Earlier this year, Wendell Davis became the new regional administrator for the New England region of the U.S. Small Business Administration. In this role, he oversees the management of capital, contracting and counseling programs to the 1.4 million businesses in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island. Additionally, Davis serves as the eyes and ears for U.S. SBA Administrator Linda McMahon, and president across New England as it relates to small business and economic development. Prior to his current role, Davis was managing partner at DCB Law Group LLC in Connecticut, where he established the firm’s commercial transactions practice group and telecommunications group. He holds an undergraduate degree from Central Connecticut State University and graduated from the University of Notre Dame Law School. Banker & Tradesman caught up with Davis to discuss the small business climate in the U.S., and how financial institutions can work with the agency.
Q: What are some of your goals as New England’s administrator?
A: My goal at the SBA is to get more dollars into the hands of New England small business owners. I want to help start and grow businesses, create jobs and strengthen our economy. In 2017, SBA approved 5,231 loans supporting $1.5 billion dollars in lending to New England small businesses. I want to increase that, across all sectors but particularly, I want to grow our loans in our minority communities, loans to women, veterans and in rural communities.
We can do this by leveraging our partnerships across the region with our resource partners – SCORE, Women’s Business Centers, Small Business Development Centers and the Veterans Business Outreach Center, state and local economic development organizations and of course our lending partners. In addition to that, I want to get out there and spread the word to the lending community that the SBA is here to help them make loans they might not be able to do conventionally, that there may be a way to get that “yes” answer.
Q: How would you describe the small business and small business lending environment in New England right now?
A: New England is known as a high-tech haven for small firms. According to data from SBA’s Office of Advocacy, in 2014, it ranked number two in small software publishing firms per capita, double the national average. It ranked third in small aerospace manufacturing as well as architecture and engineering firms per capita, with almost 100 small aerospace firms and over 5,000 small architecture and engineering firms.
Looking at New England SBA loan data right now, there has been an overall increase in lending the first four months of our fiscal year. We are currently up 9 percent over the same time last year in number of loan approvals and up 10 percent in dollar amount. I’m optimistic that this will continue as the year progresses. In particular, across New England there has been a lot of SBA loan activity in the construction sector, which is currently our top SBA lending industry across the region, which isn’t surprising given the number of new construction projects popping up daily. Following that, accommodation and food services and retail trade round out our top three industries for SBA lending.
Q: How can the SBA better help these institutions?
A: The SBA is here to help lenders make loans that they might not ordinarily be able to make without the government guaranty. One of the biggest things the SBA can do to help lenders increase their loan portfolios is to help them meet potential clients. Our Lender Match tool does exactly that. Lender Match is an online referral tool that connects small business borrowers with participating SBA Lenders. The free online tool allows small business owners to fill out a quick online form, without registration and then connects them with lenders within 48 hours. This is an upgrade to the previous program, Leveraging Information and Networks to access Capital, introduced as a pilot in 2015. There are fewer, more relevant questions and lenders are now able to better filter the referral they are sent resulting in more viable matches. So far, we are hearing positive feedback about this tool and it is resulting in new potential clients for local lenders.
Q: How do you hope to see the relationship between financial institutions and the SBA progress during your tenure?
A: Ultimately, I want to see more banks across the region using SBA products. In fiscal year 2017, we had over 220 lenders make at least one loan with us. Currently we are at about 150 participating banks for the year. I want this to increase and we are well on our way to beating the 2017 number.
More and more banks are contacting us asking how they can get involved in the SBA lending process – which is encouraging. When a lender sits down with a client and sees the potential of the business and can tell that the business can grow and be successful and create jobs if only that business had necessary financing, but they know they wouldn’t necessarily be able to make that loan under conventional methods, I want that lender’s first thought to be, “Maybe we can get this deal done with the help of the SBA.”
Five Ways Financial Institutions Can Work With the SBA:
- If you aren’t already, sign up to be an SBA participating lender – the SBA provides free support, including training.
- Sign up for Lender Match, a free referral source for lenders.
- Refer clients who aren’t quite ready for financing to the SBA for counseling, so it can help them get ready.
- The SBA has the answers – if you have a question on a loan, contact your local SBA lender relations specialist.
- Make the ask! The SBA is available and accessible to lenders and has tremendous resources that will help them grow as a bank and as a leader in their respective communities.
