WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Roger Williams (R-TX), Chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, held a hearing titled “Connecting SBA to Main Street: Examining the SBA Office of Field Operations” to review the mission of the Office of Field Operations and its outreach to small businesses over the past year.

“The U.S. Small Business Administration’s job is to be a voice and an advocate for Main Street,” said Chairman Williams. “Unfortunately, under the Biden-Harris Administration, the SBA was centralized in Washington, D.C. and out of reach for many entrepreneurs. Thanks to the leadership of President Trump and Administrator Loeffler, the agency has returned to its intended mission: working for small businesses—moving employees out of D.C. and into Main Street America, where they can be a resource for the hard-working men and women who drive our economy.”

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Watch the full hearing here.

Below are some key excerpts from today’s hearing:

Chairman Williams: “Under Administrator Loeffler’s leadership, the SBA has been heavily involved in onshoring and rebuilding the American manufacturing base. As part of this priority, the Office of Field Operations has played a major role in the Administrator’s Made in America Roadshow. In 2025, SBA field offices hosted 683 Made in America events, where you and other SBA representatives engaged directly with Main Street. So, what has Main Street’s reaction been to strengthening the domestic supply chain, and how are district offices helping small businesses access the tools available to carry out this mission?” Ms. Shimkat: “Thank you for that question. We had a roundtable—actually in Newark, New Jersey—and the administrator was there. On one side, we had a business say, ‘I can’t find any suppliers here in the United States. I’m going to have to continue to source from China.’ On the other side of that same table, somebody raised their hand and said, ‘Well, I produce that.’ That was an aha moment for the administrator and our team: we needed to be that conduit, that concierge service, to really connect folks with suppliers so we can focus on onshoring. At the same time, we put together our onshoring portal, which connects over a million suppliers so people can source American products from American companies. We also have an onshoring handbook. Other projects that we’ve done—our latest was last week in Charlotte. We did a supplier matching making expo, so there is a lot of excitement and a lot of positiveness around being able to onshore and utilize American companies.”

Rep. Van Duyne: “It's great that you are actually thinking outside of D.C., recognizing the fact that the government can actually help people where they live, going to them as opposed to everything being D.C.-based. Can you just tell me a little bit about what your office does?” Ms. Shimkat: “With our 68 district offices across the United States, what we’re able to do is meet with small businesses to find out: what are the challenges? What is standing in your way? We'll walk a plant floor in Des Moines, Iowa, and talk with someone who says… ‘this part right here used to be made in China. Guess what? No, more. Now, I’m going to supply that for folks here, in the United States.’  A coffee shop in Kannapolis—that I was in last week—spoke about how so many of the regulations that came into effect in 2021, 2022 were hurting her business. We can take that information and work with the National Ombudsman Office. We work with the Office of Advocacy—we also work with other agencies—to hopefully shorten the runway to success for a lot of those small businesses so that they can see financial success, they can see success with finding employees.”

Rep. Meuser: “Maybe you can just expand upon the work you’ve done with the field office, how the improvements have expanded. Obviously, the experience that you brought to it has made it that much more effective just over the last 14 months, so maybe just talk about the field operations.” Ms. Shimkat: “As you mentioned, the SBA guaranteed $45 billion last year, the most ever in our 72-year history. So, the volume is going up. When it comes to field operations, we've been getting out there and talking to small businesses, which has been critical. One of the small businesses we actually spoke to in Rhode Island, if I could share a story on them. We spoke to her about it’s a food-based product in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. She said, ‘Do you know the cost of liquid eggs at the end of the Biden Administration was $5.29 a pound, and in one year, the cost of liquid eggs is down to 99 cents a pound?’ She said, for the first time, she’s getting ready to hire employees. So, we’re starting to see that optimism out there. With our field staff, as well, we’re making sure that we have that partnership. As I said, we are working together in SBA and across the federal government. You know, under the Trump Administration and Administrator Loeffler, being able to work across the federal government has made it easier for us to get information and to get resources more quickly, to react to what small businesses need.” 

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