Federal SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman visited the Live Free Refillery in Bedford to kick off National Small Business Week on April 30. Courtesy photo/U.S. Small Business Administration

DERRY – On April 30, Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration and the voice in President Joe Biden’s Cabinet for America’s more than 33 million small businesses, kicked off the 2024 National Small Business Week roadshow in New Hampshire, highlighting this year’s theme, Building on the Small Business Boom.

Guzman began her day at Tupelo Music Hall, an entertainment venue that credits SBA pandemic relief programs funded by Biden’s American Rescue Plan for saving their business, where she was joined by U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan for New Hampshire’s 2024 National Small Business Week Awards Ceremony.

During the ceremony, Guzman honored Betsy Harrison and Susan Borchert as New Hampshire’s 2024 Small Business Persons of the Year. Harrison and Borchert’s business, Counseling Associates, offers comprehensive mental health therapy for individuals from all backgrounds and communities. Guzman also presented several other honors, including awards for veteran, woman, and minority-owned businesses.

Guzman then visited Live Free Refillery, New Hampshire’s first zero waste grocery store and one of thousands of businesses to open during the Biden-Harris Administration’s Small Business Boom. At the Refillery, Guzman met with business owner Juliette Buell to learn how the SBA helped her get her start in 2022. Since Biden took office, more than 17.2 million new business applications have been filed, including 44,000 in New Hampshire alone.

In the afternoon, Guzman traveled to the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport for a roundtable with veteran business owners and a tour of the airport. During the roundtable, Guzman highlighted the first anniversary of the Veteran Small Business Certification Program and the 95 New Hampshire businesses certified through the program in its first year.

Guzman then toured the MHT airport, which received $2.8 million from Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support major improvements. Alongside Airport Director Ted Kitchens and Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais, Administrator Guzman also met with Jim Flowers, co-owner of Cindia Jackson’s Fine Gourmet Coffee, a small business located in the airport that brings locally made products to travelers.

From investing in infrastructure at the Manchester Boston Regional Airport to supporting live music venues through the worst of the pandemic, President Biden’s signature Investing in America agenda has ignited an unprecedented Small Business Boom in New Hampshire and beyond.