Senate confirms Mills to head SBA

The Senate unanimously confirmed the nomination of Karen Gordon Mills to be administrator of the Small Business Administration on April 2. As administrator, Mills, an entrepreneur from Maine, will be an advocate for the nation’s 27 million small businesses.

Mills has served as president of MMP Group Inc., a private equity investment and advising firm, and sits on the nine boards of directors, which include nonprofit organizations and for-profit companies. Upon confirmation, Mills said she would resign from these boards. Mills also is a founding partner and was managing director of Solera Capital, a New York-based venture capital firm primarily run by women, said Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), chairman of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, at Mills’ nomination hearing April 1.

Among Mills' priorities would be “assisting women and minority entrepreneurs and making sure small businesses can access credit in these trying economic times,” Landrieu said.

Landrieu said Mills would be a strong leader for SBA, which needs to be empowered to carry out its lending, technical assistance and entrepreneurship programs. The Bush administration slashed the agency’s funding by 28 percent, the biggest cut of any agency, she said.

“The agency was relegated to the back benches during important policy debates on health care, trade and technology innovation, to name a few,” Landrieu said.