The agency recently launched a new online tool to help connect small businesses with domestic suppliers.
Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Kelly Loeffler testified before the Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship on Wednesday to share how her agency is supporting the revitalization of U.S. manufacturing and urged Congress to enact the Made in America Manufacturing Finance Act.
The bill, unveiled by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas) on May 1, aims to provide small manufacturers with new capital by doubling the individual loan limit for 7(a) and 504 small business manufacturing loans from $5 million to $10 million. If passed, these SBA loans would see their first increase in more than 10 years, Loeffler said.
During her testimony, Loeffler, a former Georgia senator, highlighted the agency’s new online tool, “Make Onshoring Great Again,” to help small businesses find Made in America inputs and goods. The resource provides public access to three databases that represent 1 million U.S.-based suppliers.
“This bill will supercharge the return of American manufacturing, empowering job creators with needed capital to onshore production and rebuild critical supply chains,” Loeffler said. “These firms represent 99 percent of all manufacturers in the United States, and they are critical across every industry from aerospace, defense and agriculture to electronics, transportation and chips. They build the parts that power our economy, equip our military, and sustain our industrial strength.”
Ernst also called for passage of the Made in America Manufacturing Finance Act during the hearing, decrying the loss of manufacturing capacity in the United States:
“Over the past 40 years, we did not simply lose manufacturing jobs. We witnessed the steady erosion of our industrial sector to China’s delight and advantage. … This is not simply an economic decline. This is a hollowing out. The steady loss of skills, infrastructure, and investment in manufacturing undermines our ability to innovate and scale new technologies, leaving our homeland weakened and vulnerable. The reason for this is not a mystery. Government policies that encouraged offshoring production without regard for the long-term damage done to our domestic productive capacity. Today the consequences are visible in every corner of America. Shuttered plants, decaying factories, and empty parking lots stand as monuments to the multi-generational disintegration of hard-earned knowledge, talent and tradition that once formed the bedrock of our nation.”
Though Loeffler’s testimony focused on expanding the agency’s loan limits, several senators expressed deep concern that the agency had reduced staffing for key programs, such as those supporting women and veterans. Recently, another program, Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), which is run by the Commerce Department and offers significant services for small and mid-sized manufacturers, saw funding threatened as well.
At the end of March, Commerce announced that it would cut future funding for 10 of its 51 MEP Centers around the country. Thankfully, the decision was reversed in April, but the incident underscored the importance MEP Centers play in growing manufacturers and the local economy.
According to a 2024 third-party survey conducted by Fors Marsh with MEP Center clients, the program helped participating manufacturers generate $15 billion in new and retained sales, $5 billion in new client investments, and $2.6 billion in cost savings.
As the Trump administration strikes out against unfair trade, programs such as the MEP offer a stabilizing force for small manufacturers navigating new terrain.