LV firms raise issues to U.S. SBA

Kevin Ferguson

Thursday, Aug. 30, 2001 | 11:06 a.m.

Las Vegas-area small business owners Wednesday vented to a federal official about various business concerns, ranging from difficulties in getting their tortillas on store shelves to federal agencies bundling contracts and making it difficult for small businesses to get certain projects.

But Hector Barreto, the recently appointed administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, had few answers, and said he would have to research the issues before resolving them.

Barreto has had just over a month to get briefed on his new role, heading the federal agency that directs low-interest loans to entrepreneurs to help spur business development.

The U.S. Senate confirmed Barreto, a Bush administration nominee for the post, as the U.S. SBA administrator on July 25.

Dianne Fontes, president of the Nevada Minority Purchasing Council, said she was trying to organize through Barreto's predecessor an affiliated national advisory group of state nonprofit groups to certify minority-owned or women-owned businesses to sell products and services to the federal government.

She urged Barreto to continue working with her group in order to help it reach its goal.

Barreto said he would look into it, adding that he would like to establish good communication with the Southern Nevada business community about SBA programs.

Tony Lopez, fleet manager of Fairway Chevrolet, complained about the "lack of" minority-owned local car dealerships, while Gustavo Gutierrez of Tortillas Inc. said he has had trouble getting his tortillas in local stores.

"We're the No. 1 seller of tortillas but we can't get them in certain markets," Gutierrez said, noting his company has been successful with getting contracts in hotels.

Most of the 30 or so business leaders in Wednesday's meeting were from minority-owned businesses or groups, like the Latin Chamber of Commerce.

Baretto said he plans to work with the local division of the SBA to find a resolution to the issues raised.

His goal as the SBA administrator is to promote SBA low-interest loans and help track SBA's success rate.

"In the past, the SBA has been good at input, but hasn't tracked the outcome," he said, noting that the SBA has not tracked the growth rate of a business years after receiving an SBA loan.

Last year, the SBA guaranteed 50,000 loans totalling $11.5 billion to small businesses, Barreto said.

John Scott, SBA director of the Las Vegas division, said that included 450 loans totalling $135 million that went toward Nevada businesses.

Barreto said he expects about the same amount of funds to be available for the coming year even though the Bush administration has cut the federal budget.