Your next infusion of capital could come from an SBA “speed dating” event

For small businesses leaders searching for capital is about more than locating a sum of money at the best interest rate. That is important to be sure, but success is built off of more than numbers alone.

As much as it is about the numbers, the search for a lender or grantee is about finding the right person and organization, finding a space where there is mutual trust and respect, and ideally some shared enthusiasm about the end goals. Searching for that match is vital, and not unlike trying to establish a romantic relationship.

Catherine Marx, the Connecticut District Director for the US Small Business Administration (SBA) was at the Fairfield Public Library on May 13 to let the world know about an upcoming event designed to facilitate just the right mix of interpersonal and business connection to make for a successful relationship.

“We’re here today to announce and promote a very important event that will happen in Fairfield on Tuesday, June 4,” Marx said at the announcement “That event is an access to capital which we call Capital Matchmaker. It’s one of the largest that happens in Connecticut.”

“It’s very important because it’s what entrepreneurs need,” Marx added, emphasizing the value of one-on-one meetings with lenders, alongside an expo of lenders and a series of break-out workshops all at Fairfield University’s Dolan School of Business.

“We are trying to reach entrepreneurs that maybe don’t know about all of these services, and they should know that they are out there through the federal government, through the state government, and through their towns and their chambers of commerce.”

US Senator Richard Blumenthal noted that capital is perhaps the most important resource that the SBA can assist local businesses in acquiring. “You can’t do anything unless you have the resources to hire, to manufacture, to sell, to promote, to distribute. Capital makes for the success of small businesses and matching capital to entrepreneurs is what the SBA does now.”

The senator praised the work of the SBA and Director Marx, making the case that the Capital Matchmaker event is a direct continuation of their work during the Covid pandemic.

“It literally saved thousands of businesses by distributing billions, that’s right, billions of dollars here in the state of Connecticut. The Small Business Administration is a vital force, it is a source of knowledge and expertise as well as real dollars that can help small businesses.”

Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) Deputy Commissioner Paul O. Robertson pointed out that the DECD highlighted that the Capital Matchmaking program is complimented by the Connecticut Small Business Boost Fund, which features many of the organizations that will be participating in the event.

“We’ve partnered with many lenders, including the SBDC [Conneticut Small Business Development Council], MCC [Minority Construction Council], the Women’s Business Development Council, and many members and lenders that have distributed more than $56 million dollars in loans to over 450 businesses and nonprofits in the state,” Robertson said.

Robertson also noted that as the Boost Fund is nearing its third year in operation, they were preparing to reach the milestone of 500 loans granted and reiterated the value of attending the Capital Matchmaker event.

Fairfield Chamber of Commerce president Beverly Balaz thanked the SBA both for launching the Capital Matchmaking event and its vital assistance to local businesses, crediting them for helping many weather Covid and shape the current economic climate.

“I think last year we had over 80 or 90 ribbon cuttings,” Balaz said, “Yet some of the small business didn’t understand what SBA offers, so I love that we have this coming up and we’ll be able to have lenders there and to really talk about the benefits of it.”

State Senator Tony Hwang described the Fairfield Library as an apt location for the announcement as both businesses and libraries are central parts of local life.

“Small businesses are community, based, locally based, and entrepreneurial based. It’s so important that financing is part of their lifeline,” Hwang said. “A Goldman Sachs study just came out that said nearly 77 percent of small businesses look at financing as their most important priority moving forward and nearly 70 percent of businesses in the same study said they have less than four months of cash for their operating expenses.”

Hwang hailed Aquila’s Nest winery, launched by a pair of recent immigrants shortly before the outbreak of Covid, as a prime example of what the SBA and associated programs can accomplish.

“With no experience and no portfolio of business you would say that was a risk. But through the conduit of small business loan officers and the relationship and understanding we were able to support the business to create a world class operation that is now recognized as manufacturer of the year in Connecticut,” Hwang said.

“That is the success story that we in Connecticut need to articulate,” he added “Because when small business succeeds in Connecticut, Connecticut succeeds.”

For further details and event registration, visit https://ctsbdc.ecenterdirect.com/events/75340910