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FROM WARRIORS TO ENTREPRENEURS: BUSINESS 

OPPORTUNITIES FOR VETERANS 

FIELD HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS AND 

ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

NOVEMBER 8, 2013 

Printed for the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

( 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov 
(II) 

COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS 

MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana, Chair 

JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho, Ranking Member 

CARL LEVIN, Michigan 

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington 

MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas 

BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland 

JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire 

KAY R. HAGAN, North Carolina 

HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota 

ED MARKEY, Massachusetts 

CORY BOOKER, New Jersey 

DAVID VITTER, Louisiana 

MARCO RUBIO, Florida 

RAND PAUL, Kentucky 

TIM SCOTT, South Caarolina 

DEB FISCHER, Nebraska 

MIKE ENZI, Wyoming 

RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin 

JANE CAMPBELL Democratic Staff Director 

SKIFFINGTON HOLDERNESS Republican Staff Director 
(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

OPENING STATEMENTS

Page 

Pryor, Hon. Mark L., a U.S. Senator from Arkansas ........................................... 1 

WITNESSES

Hulit, Jeanne, Acting Administrator of the Small Business Administration, 

Washington, DC ................................................................................................... 5 

Kidd, Kevin, Taco Kidd, Jonesboro, AR ................................................................. 12 

Coleman, Damian, Marquette GIS, Little Rock, AR ............................................. 14 

Wallace, David, Wallace Staffing, Leachville, AR ................................................. 14 

Roderick, Janet, State Director, Arkansas Small Business and Technology 

Development Center, Little Rock, AR ................................................................ 19 

Nelson, Linda, District Director, Small Business Administration, Little Rock, 

AR .......................................................................................................................... 23

Meador, Itzel, Vice President, Arkansas Capital Corporation, Little Rock, 

AR .......................................................................................................................... 25

Montgomery, Anita, Boots and Bras, LLC, Watson, AR ...................................... 29 

Fitch, Esther, Army veteran ................................................................................... 32 

Frisby, Jeff, Enlisted Association of The Arkansas National Guard ................... 34 

ALPHABETICAL LISTING AND APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED

Coleman, Damian 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 14 

Letter dated November 5, 2013, to Lena Postanowicz .................................. 52 

Fitch, Esther 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 32 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 33 

Frisby, Jeff 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 34 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 35 

Hulit, Jeanne 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 5 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 8 

Kidd, Kevin 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 12 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 13 

Meador, Itzel 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 25 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 27 

Montgomery, Anita 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 29 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 30 

Nelson, Linda 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 23 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 24 

Pryor, Hon. Mark L. 

Opening statement ........................................................................................... 1 

Roderick, Janet 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 19 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 21 

Wallace, David 
Page

IV 

—Continued 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 14 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 16 
(1) 

FROM WARRIORS TO ENTREPRENEURS: 

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES FOR VETERANS 

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2013 

UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS

AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP, Little Rock, AR. 

The field hearing commenced, pursuant to notice, at 10:00 a.m., 

in the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Business and Economic Development Auditorium, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Hon. 

Mark Pryor presiding. 

Present: Senator Pryor. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MARK L. PRYOR, A U.S. 

SENATOR FROM ARKANSAS 

Senator PRYOR. I’ll go ahead and convene our hearing today. This 

is a Senate Small Business Committee field hearing. It’s a roundtable discussion on ‘‘From Warriors to Entrepreneurs: Business Opportunities for Veterans.’’ 

Before we get started, I want to recognize Joel Anderson, who is 

the Chancellor here at UALR, who has done a phenomenal job for 

a long time. I’ve known Joel since I’ve been in the legislature. 

But, anyway, thank you for being here, and we really appreciate 

you letting us use your facility. 

Dr. ANDERSON. Well, thank you very much, Senator, and I’m just 

here to greet everyone and say welcome to the UALR campus, and 

then I’m going to excuse myself. 

But I first wanted to come by and greet Senator Pryor. He’s been 

a friend of this campus for a long, long time, going back to the days 

when he was in the Arkansas legislature. And he has certainly continued to support the institution and its interests in many ways 

since he’s moved on to the U.S. Senate. So we really appreciate 

that. 

And I also appreciate his interest in small business. It’s been one 

of the areas here at the institution that I’ve been proud of and have 

tried to support through the years. 

I tip my hat to Janet Roderick and her colleagues in our Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center. And I 

said that rather trippingly. Did you notice how well I got all of that 

out? 

[Laughter.] 

I also want to say welcome to Jeanne Hulit from the U.S. Small 

Business Administration and Linda Nelson. Where is Linda? Linda 

is our local SBA head with whom we’ve worked for many, many 
2 

years. And I think that all of us working together are doing lots 

of good things for the people of Arkansas, especially in promoting 

small business in Arkansas. 

I was really pleased to hear that this session was going to be on 

this campus, because the notion of moving warriors to entrepreneurs—I don’t know who coined that, but I think that is a really 

good combination of words. And we’re really indebted to our veterans, persons who have paid the price and taken all the risks that 

are involved with military service. And I know on campus, we have 

a Veterans Affairs Office. 

But what I like about an event like this on campus is that it 

gives us an opportunity to reach beyond the veterans who are students and help those who are not students. Perhaps they will be 

some day. That would be great. But anything we can do to help 

more Americans who have that ambition to start and have their 

own business, we want to support. So I’m just very pleased that 

this session is taking place on campus. 

Senator, you honor us by bringing it to this place. So thank you 

very much for that. I know that you’re going to have a good session. 

Senator PRYOR. Well, thank you. It’s great to be with you. 

Let me just say thanks again to Dr. Anderson. He’s just unbelievable and has just been a great friend to higher education, and 

UALR has done so many great things. Again, thank you for allowing us to use your facilities today. 

I also want to thank our participants. We have several participants here. We’re going to introduce them in just a few moments. 

But I want to give a very special thank you and welcome to the 

Acting Administrator of the Small Business Administration, 

Jeanne Hulit. She flew to Arkansas, and she came from—where? 

Ms. HULIT. Palm Desert, California. 

Senator PRYOR. Palm Desert, California, to be here. So we really 

appreciate you being here. We know it’s Veterans Day weekend. 

That’s just around the corner. So thank you for being here. You’ll 

see in Arkansas, and here in our state, people like to work together. Everybody kind of puts any sort of local interest or political 

thinking aside to try to get good things done. And I think, certainly, the SBA story is that way here in our state, and UALR has 

been a very, very important part of that. 

With Veterans Day just around the corner, I’d also like to thank 

all of our veterans who are here. I thank them for their service, 

and I thank them for all that they’ve done for the country. 

Earlier this week, I was privileged to be able to go to Arlington 

National Cemetery to do a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of 

the Unknown Soldier, and it was very emotional and very moving 

for me. And it was just a very special and meaningful experience. 

I think if you haven’t been there to see the changing of the guard 

and see the wreath laying, you should if you ever have a chance 

to do that. But it was such an honor for me to be involved in that. 

We just appreciate everything that our veterans have done for 

our nation. And if you ever come to one of my offices, you’ll see a 

sign out front that says, ‘‘I hire vets.’’ We take that very seriously 

in our office. We have, probably four combat vets on staff right 
3 

now, maybe more—I’d have to think about that—but, at least three 

or four on staff right now, and we’ve had others. 

One of the things that we see in Washington, when you look at 

the numbers, is that veteran employment is a very important issue, 

because it’s a challenge for the country. There’s a higher unemployment rate there than we’d like to see, and it’s a significant challenge. There are things we have been doing and we will continue 

to do. We’re going to talk about some of those today. 

But the Department of Defense estimates that in the next 10 

years, approximately 1 million service members will transition 

from the military to the civilian world. So it is critically important 

that—you know, the DOD and VA are already providing education 

assistance to our service members and veterans through military 

tuition assistance programs and GI bill benefits. And, still, I think 

we’re falling short when it comes to preparing service members to 

really enter into real life in the business world. 

But we are seeing improvements, and I think things are going 

well. One of the things you see is that the Department of Defense, 

the VA, the Department of Labor, the Department of Transportation, and certainly the Small Business Administration are working together, and they have these programs that they’ve turned 

into Transition GPS. 

And I don’t want to steal your thunder, Ms. Hulit, but there’s a 

lot of good news there. Fully implementing this by the end of 2013, 

this program will extend the transition program from three days to 

five to seven days, standardize and expand counseling services for 

service members before they transition out of the military, and also 

transform the military’s approach to education, training, and 

credentialing for service members. 

So why is that relevant today? Well, veteran-owned small busi- nesses employ over 6 million people and contribute over $1 trillion 

to the U.S. economy. Our veterans are twice as likely to start a 

small business and succeed than their non-veteran counterparts. 

By including the Small Business Administration in our military’s 

transitions program, our transitioning service members have greater access to business resources and one-on-one assistance from professionals like, for example, here at UALR, to help them with their 

business venture, to get that started with a solid foundation. Here 

in Arkansas, we have seven small business and technology development centers, all of which are partnered with a university. 

We also have the SBA Arkansas District Office and several 

SCORE chapters. I appreciate Linda Nelson for being here today 

and Janet Roderick, who is here today. I want to thank both of 

them, not just for being here, but for all the things they’ve done 

over the years to help small businesses. Hopefully, they can tell us 

about some of the things they do. 

Many of the participants in today’s discussion have received assistance from these technology development centers. They’ve been 

able to formulate business plans, conduct market research, and 

connect to the right counselors and mentors through the process. 

For example, Mr. Kevin Kidd is here today. He’s one of the participants. He leveraged resources available from the Arkansas Tech 

Development Centers and moved from Texas—we always love that, 

right—moved from Texas to open a small business in Jonesboro. 
4 

This was made possible by the SBA loan program, which helped 

him secure the needed access to capital. We’re going to hear from 

him in a few moments, too. 

I’m also encouraged by programs like Boots to Business, Entrepreneurship Boot Camp for Veterans with Disabilities, or EBV, and 

the Women Veterans Igniting the Spirit of Entreprenuership Program, also called VWISE. When I think about the women’s programs at the SBA, I think about Senator Bumpers. Dale Bumpers 

was the chairman of the Senate Small Business Committee for several years. He really had a heart for women-owned businesses and 

really tried to make the SBA much more female friendly to try to 

get more and more of those entrepreneurs out in the market, and 

there was a lot of success there. 

And the numbers don’t lie. Of the 823 veterans who participated 

in EBV programs, 534 went on to start small businesses. That’s 

about 65 percent. Of the 988 veterans who participated in VWISE, 

553 went on to start small businesses. That’s about 56 percent. 

And just think about it. That’s over 1,000 new businesses because 

of these programs. 

Another one of our participants, Anita Montgomery, participated 

in the VWISE program and is working to complete her business 

plan. She believes the training empowered her to succeed, and she 

wants to be a voice for women veteran entrepreneurs, which would 

be great. 

Senator Landrieu is the chair of this full committee in Washington. Senator Landrieu and I have been working on legislation 

to improve and expand these services offered by SBA. Senator 

Mary Landrieu is a tireless advocate for small businesses. I was in 

two meetings with her yesterday, where she was banging on us 

about what does this do to small business and how can we help 

small business with this, so she’s really great. What we hear today 

is going to help us craft legislation when we get back to Washington. 

Access to educational resources is very important, but that’s only 

one piece of the puzzle. As you all know—and anyone who’s been 

in business understands this and knows this—that access to capital 

is both critical, but it’s also a challenge to receive. And SBA has 

programs in place to help that. I’m not going to go through all the 

details of that. But during FY 2013, the Small Business Administration provided in excess of $1.86 billion in loans for veteranowned businesses. 

And, Administrator Hulit, I would like to just say thank you 

from all of us because of your emphasis on veterans and trying to 

help veterans. The SBA also announced that it would be suspending fees on most loans under $150,000, which is going to be 

a big help, and we’ll have folks explain that today. And I think you 

may have some other announcements today. 

But, here again, it’s helpful that these changes will spur lenders 

to make access to capital more readily available. And we want to 

hear from our business and our veteran leaders here. 

So I’m going to end my remarks here and just want to say thank 

you for being here and turn it over to you. And then we’ll just kind 

of co-lead this roundtable discussion. 

Ms. HULIT. Sounds great. Thank you. 
5 

STATEMENT OF JEANNE HULIT, ACTING ADMINISTRATOR OF 

THE SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, WASHINGTON, DC 

Ms. HULIT. Thank you very much, Senator Pryor, and thank you 

for having me here today. I also want to acknowledge the great 

work of Janet Roderick at the SBTDC and our district director here 

in Arkansas, Linda Nelson—wonderful resources to your state, and 

I encourage all the small businesses to take advantage of that. 

I’d like to also welcome all the small business owners who are 

here today to join us in this discussion. It’s an honor to be in Arkansas to highlight SBA’s efforts to support veteran entrepreneurs 

throughout the country and throughout this great state. 

Each year, there are over 250,000 service members transitioning 

out of the military. These veterans possess unique skills, experience, leadership, and drive to make them ideally suited to start a 

small business and create jobs in their communities. Our nation’s 

28 million small businesses are the engines of our economy, employing half of the private sector workforce and creating two out of 

every three net new private sector jobs in our communities. 

As small business owners, veterans continue to serve our country 

by creating critical employment opportunities and driving economic 

growth. According to the most recent U.S. census data, nearly one 

in 10 small businesses are owned by veterans. These businesses 

generate about $1.2 trillion in receipts annually and employ 5.8 

million Americans. 

Studies have also shown that veterans over-index in entrepreneurship. In the private sector workforce, veterans are at least 45 

percent more likely than those with no active duty military experience to be self-employed. At the U.S. Small Business Administration, we are focused on ensuring that these veterans have access 

to the capital, counseling, and federal contracting opportunities 

that they need to start and grow successful businesses and create 

jobs. 

One of the agency’s key functions is to support loans to small 

businesses that have challenges obtaining credit in the conventional markets. Our loan programs have a strong track record of 

leveraging billions of dollars of credit to help entrepreneurs launch 

and grow their companies and hire new employees. 

Here in Arkansas, the SBA has supported more than $116 million in loans in fiscal year 2013 alone. And in fiscal year 2013, SBA 

approved more than 3,000 loans to veteran-owned small businesses 

supporting more than, as the Senator said, $1.8 billion in credit. 

Today, I have the privilege to announce new measures to get 

even more small business loans into the hands of our nation’s veterans. Of all SBA loans that go to veterans, 73 percent are 

$350,000 or below. The SBA express program, which supports loans 

under $350,000, is SBA’s most popular loan delivery method. Since 

the program’s inception, it has also been the most popular delivery 

method for getting capital into the hands of our veteran borrowers. 

So effective January 1st, the SBA is setting the upfront fee for 

borrowers to zero for all veteran loans authorized under the SBA 

express program, effectively making these loans cheaper for borrowers and further increasing access to capital for the men and 

women who have served our country in our nation’s military. 
6 

This year, SBA also challenged our top national and regional 

lenders to pledge to increase their lending activity to veterans by 

5 percent each year for the next five years. With this support from 

our lending partners, the SBA expects to serve an additional 2,000 

veterans and get over $4.75 million into the hands of veterans. 

In Leachville, Arkansas, veteran entrepreneur David Wallace of 

Wallace Staffing has been able to utilize SBA resource partners to 

launch and expand his business. Davis, who is here with us today, 

served on active duty in the Army for 21 years and in 2002 started 

his own company which he was able to expand with the help of 

classes and training from the SBTDC in northeast Arkansas. 

He ultimately sold that business and founded Wallace Staffing 

for which he received an SBA loan in 2010. The company, which 

often hires veterans for its projects, focuses on disaster cleanup and 

recovery. 

Thank you, David. 

Our studies have shown that small business owners that have a 

long-term counseling relationship with one of our SBA resource 

partners are more likely to hire, grow, and increase revenues. In 

2013, with our resource partner network, including the Small Business Development Centers, Veteran Business Opportunity Centers, 

Women’s Business Centers, and SCORE volunteers, SBA has 

helped train and counsel more than 107,000 veteran business owners to date. 

Here in Arkansas, countless veterans have taken advantage of 

our strong network of resource partners throughout the state. 

While we’re proud of our success, we continue to develop new ways 

to assist more aspiring veteran entrepreneurs. Our veterans possess the skills, experience, and leadership to start businesses and 

create jobs in their communities, and our goal is to give each of 

these men and women the tools that they need to make informed 

decisions about whether or not they should pursue entrepreneurship. 

One of the ways we have done this is through our intensive entrepreneurship training classes, such as the Senator mentioned, 

our Entrepreneurship Boot Camp for Veterans with Disabilities, or 

EBV, our Women Veterans Igniting Spirit of Entrepreneurship, 

VWISE, which focuses on training and networking for veterans. On 

January 1st, 2013, we also began rolling out Operation Boots to 

Business, From Service to Startup, a nationwide entrepreneurship 

training program in partnership with the Department of Defense. 

Boots to Business is currently offered to transitioning service 

members in locations across the country. There’s over 150 military 

installments, and in the fiscal year 2014 budget, the request is to 

expand the program significantly. 

In addition to our capital counseling programs, SBA also supports small businesses engaged in federal contracting. We are responsible for ensuring that 23 percent of federal contracting dollars 

go to small businesses. And in 2013, veteran-owned small business 

owners won more than $12.2 billion in federal contracts. For the 

first time ever, the federal government also exceeded its 3 percent 

goal to contract with service disabled veteran-owned small businesses. 
7 

While we’re proud of our success, we continue to develop new 

ways to assist aspiring veteran entrepreneurs. After World War II, 

our nation’s veterans helped reshape the American economy, contributing to one of the longest periods of economic growth in our 

country’s history. At the SBA and across the Obama administration, we know that with the right tools and opportunities, our nation’s veterans can continue to build our economy for the long term. 

Thank you again for welcoming me here today. I’m happy to answer questions later. 

Senator PRYOR. Great. Since we have a great panel of small business veterans, let’s go ahead and just kind of go one by one around 

the table. And if you can just give us two to three minutes maximum and introduce yourself, your name, what city you’re from, 

what your business is, and just maybe a brief description of that, 

and everybody try to keep that to maybe two minutes or three minutes at the very most. 

Why don’t we start down here with Mr. Kidd. 

Go ahead—and maybe what branch of service you’ve been with, 

too. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Hulit follows:] 
8 

U.S SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20416 

WRITTEN STATEMENT OF 

JEANNE HULIT 

ACTING ADMINISTRATOR 

U.S. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

BEFORE THE 

U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

NOVEMBER 8, 2013 

Senator Pryor, thank you for having me here today. I would also like to welcome all of the small 

business owners who are joining us for this discussion. 

It is an honor to be in Arkansas to highlight SBA' s efforts to support veteran entrepreneurs throughout 

the country and across this great state. 

Each year, there are over 250,000 service members transitioning out of our military. These veterans 

possess the unique skills, experience, leadership and drive that make them ideally suited to start 

businesses and create jobs in their communities. 

Our nation's 28 million small businesses are the engine of our economy, employing half of the private 

sector workforce and creating two out of every three net new private sector jobs in our communities. 

As small business owners, veterans continue to serve our country by creating critical employment 

opportunities and driving economic growth. 

According to the most recent U.S. Census data, nearly one in ten small businesses are veteran-owned. 

These businesses generate about $1.2 trillion in receipts and employ nearly 5.8 million Americans. 

Studies have also shown that veterans over index in entrepreneurship. In the private sector workforce, 

veterans are at least 45 percent more likely than those with no active-duty military experience to be selfemployed. 

At the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), we are focused on ensuring that these veterans have 

access to the capital, counseling and federal contracting opportunities they need to start and grow 

successful businesses and create jobs. 

One of the agency's key functions is to support loans to small businesses that have challenges obtaining 

credit in the conventional market. Our loan programs have a strong track record of leveraging billions 

of dollars in credit to help entrepreneurs launch and grow their companies and hire new employees. 

Here in Arkansas, SBA has supported more than $116 million in loans in Fiscal Year 2013. 
9 

In FY 2013, SBA approved more than 3,000 loans to veteran-owned businesses, supporting more than 

$1.8 billion nationally. Today, I have the privilege to announce new measures to get even more small 

business loans into the hands of our nation's veterans. 

Of all SBA loans that go to veterans, 73 percent are $350,000 and below. The SBA Express Loan 

Program, which supports loans under $350,000, is SBA's most popular loan delivery method. Since the 

program's inception, it has also been one of the most popular delivery methods for getting capital into 

the hands of veteran borrowers. 

Effective January 1, SBA is setting the upfront fee for borrowers to zero for all veteran loans authorized 

under the SBA Express program for the remainder of the fiscal year, effectively making these loans 

cheaper for borrowers and further increasing access to capital for the men and women who have served 

our nation's military. 

This year, SBA also challenged our top national and regional lenders to pledge to increase their lending 

activity to veterans by five percent each year for the next five years. With this support from our lending 

partners, SBA expects to serve an additional 2,000 veterans and increase lending by $475 million. 

In Leachville, Arkansas, veteran entrepreneur David Wallace of Wallace Staffing has been able to utilize 

SBA resources to launch and expand his businesses. David, who is here with us today, served on active 

duty in the Army for 21 years. In 2002, he started his own company which he was able to expand with 

the help of classes and training through the SBTDC in Northeast Arkansas. He ultimately sold that 

business and founded Wallace Staffing, for which he received an SBA loan in 2010. The company, 

which often hires veterans for its projects, focuses on disaster clean up and recovery. 

Our studies have shown that small business owners who have a long-term counselor are more likely to 

hire, grow, and increase revenues. In 2013, with our resource partner network including Small Business 

Development Centers (SBDCs), Veterans Business Opportunities Centers (VBOCs), Women's Business 

Centers (WBDCs) and SCORE volunteers, SBA has helped train and counsel more than 107,000 veteran 

business owners to date. Here in Arkansas, countless veterans have taken advantage of our strong 

network of resource partners throughout the state. 

While we are proud of our successes, we continue to develop new ways to assist more aspiring veteran 

entrepreneurs. Our veterans possess the skills, experience, and leadership to start businesses and create 

jobs in their communities, and our goal is to give each of these men and women the tools they need to 

make informed decisions about whether they should pursue small business ownership. 

One of the ways we have done this is through intensive entrepreneurship training courses such as the 

Entrepreneurship Boot Camp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV), and our Women Veterans Igniting 

the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (V-WISE), which focus on training, networking and mentorship for 

veterans. 

On January I, 2013, SBA also began rolling out "Operation Boots to Business: From Service to 

Startup." A nationwide entrepreneurship training program in partnership with the Department of 

Defense, Boots to Business is currently offered to transitioning service members from all branches of the 

2 
10 

anned forces at more than 150 military locations across the country. If the Fiscal Year 2014 Budget 

request level is funded, we plan to significantly ramp up the program. 

In addition to our capital and counseling programs, SBA also supports small businesses engaged in 

federal contracting. We are responsible for ensuring that 23 percent of federal contracting dollars go to 

small businesses and in FY 2012, veteran-owned small businesses won more than $12.2 billion in 

federal contracting business. For the first time ever, the federal government also exceeded its three 

percent goal to contract with service disabled veteran-owned small businesses. 

While we are proud of our successes, we continue to develop new ways to assist more aspiring veteran 

entrepreneurs. After World War II, our nation's veterans helped reshape the American economycontributing to one of the longest periods of economic growth in our country's history. At SBA, and 

across the Obama Administration, we know that with the right tools and opportunities, our nation's 

veterans can continue to build our economy for the long-term. 

Thank you again for welcoming me here today. 
11 

Jeanne A. Hulit 

Acting Administrator 

Jeanne A. Hulit assumed the role of Acting Administrator of the u.s. Small Business Administration in 

September 2013. As Acting Administrator, Hulit leads a team of more than 3,000 employees and 

manage the agency's portfolio--including more than $90 billion in loan guarantees. In addition, the 

agency helps small businesses access nearly $100 billion in federal contracts each year and supports 

counseling and technical assistance to more than one million entrepreneurs. SBA also provides disaster 

assistance to small businesses and homeowners. 

Prior to assuming the role of Acting Administrator, Hulit served as Associate Administrator for SBA's 

Office of Capital Access since February 2012, where she was responsible for advising SBA Administrator 

Karen Mills and overseeing the agency's loan programs. During Hulit's tenure, the agency saw two 

record years of delivering more capital into the hands of small business owners and entrepreneurs than 

ever before. HuHt also worked to streamline and simplify SBA's loan programs and expand access to the 

agency's lending programs. Her responsibilities included the agency's loan, microloan and surety bond 

programs, credit risk management, s.econdary market activity and managing financial operations 

centers. 

Prior to her Washington assignment, HuHt was appointed to serve as SBA's New England Regional 

Administrator in August 2009. As regional administrator, Hulit was responsible for the delivery of the 

agency's financial assistance, technical assistance and government contracting activities throughout the 

six New England states. 

Prior to joining SBA, Hulit spent 18 years in banking, serving as senior vice president for commercial 

lending at Citizens Bank, vice president and middle market lender at KeyBank, N.A., and manager of 

Key's International Banking Division. Previously, she served as deputy director of the International 

Division at the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development. Hulit has also held a 

number of civic and economic leadership roles, including her tenure as a founder and chair of the Maine 

International Trade Center, and her service as chair for the University of Southern Maine Board of 

Visitors. 
12 

STATEMENT OF KEVIN KIDD, TACO KIDD, JONESBORO, AR 

Mr. KIDD. Hello. My name is Kevin Kidd. I’m the owner of Taco 

Kidd, which is located in Jonesboro, Arkansas. I served in the Marine Corps from September of 1986 to March 1993. I, like a lot of 

veterans, had aspirations of becoming an entrepreneur. 

I began that pursuit in May of 2011 while still living in Laredo, 

Texas. I was visiting relatives in my home state of Arkansas and 

decided to talk with a local realtor about the possibilities of a commercial lease for a business idea. 

My business idea was about bringing in a Mexican quick service 

restaurant to northeast Arkansas, based on my exposure to nine 

years of living in southern California and 11 years living in south 

Texas. This idea was based on an already successful concept of delivering the freshest and most real ingredients in an efficient manner. 

After receiving a favorable commitment from a local realtor, I decided to pursue help from the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center. I attended the ASBTDC’s seminar on 

starting a business. The seminar was free because I was a veteran. 

After the training, I began working with an ASBTDC business 

consultant named Laura Miller. She helped me prepare financial 

projections and complete the business plan and loan application. 

Because of my veteran status, we decided to pursue the Patriot Express Loan, which would speed up the normal SBA process. The 

market research I received from the ASBTDC was invaluable, and 

my loan was approved by Liberty Bank, which is now Centennial 

Bank. 

We opened Taco Kidd on September 18, 2012, 15 months after 

the initial process began. Since then, we have received two federal 

grants in the amount of $19,500 and $12,500 from the Federal 

Home Loan Bank of Dallas. As well, we are to receive an additional 

$35,000 which was refinanced in the original loan. 

In each of these cases, it was through the assistance of Laura 

Miller and the ASBTDC and my local bank, which was Liberty 

Bank, and Debra Taylor. Honestly, without the help of the 

ASBTDC and those federal loans, as well as the additional refinance, Taco Kidd would not have survived the first year. However, 

because of that, a lot of hard work, perseverance, and a little luck, 

we are still here and almost at the point of thriving. 

Any veteran wanting to start a business should contact the nearest ASBTDC office. They helped me with starting Taco Kidd, and 

I would definitely recommend their services to other veterans. 

Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Kidd follows:] 
13 

The Senate Committee 

On 

Small Business 

And 

Entrepreneurship 

Friday, November 8, 2013 at 10:00a.m. 

Hello, my name is Kevin Kidd. I am the owner of Taco Kidd located in Jonesboro, 

Arkansas. I served in the Marine Corps from September 1986 to March 1993. I, like 

a lot of veterans, had aspirations of becoming an entrepreneur. I began that pursuit 

in May of 2011 while still living in Laredo, Texas. I was visiting relatives in my home 

state of Arkansas and decided to talk with a local realtor (Fred Dacus) about the 

possibilities of a commercial lease for a business idea. My business idea was about 

bringing a Mexican Quick Service Restaurant to Northeast Arkansas based on my 

exposure to 9 years of living in Southern California and 11 years living in South 

Texas. This idea was based on an already successful concept of delivering the 

freshest and most real ingredients in an efficient manner (hence quick service). 

After receiving a favorable commitment from a local realtor, I decided to pursue 

help from the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center. I 

attended the ASBTDC's (Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development 

Center's) seminar on starting a business. The seminar was free because I was a 

veteran. After the training, I began working with an ASBTDC Business Consultant 

named Laura Miller. She helped me prepare financial projections and complete the 

business plan and loan application. Because of my veteran status, we decided to 

pursue the Patriot Express Loan (which would speed up the normal SBA process). 

The market research I received from ASBTDC was invaluable, and my loan was 

approved by Liberty Bank (now Centennial Bank). We opened Taco Kidd on Sept. 

18,2012 (15 months after the initial process began). Since then, we have received 

two federal grants in the amount of $19,500 and $12,500 from the Federal Home 

Loan Bank of Dallas. Both times, were through the assistance of Laura Miller and 

the ASBTDC and my local bank (Liberty Bank/Debra Taylor). Honestly, without the 

help of the ASBTDC and those two federal grants, Taco Kidd would not have 

survived the first year. However, because of that, a lot of hard work, perseverance, 

and a little luck ....... we are still here ........ and almost at the point of thriving! Any 

veteran wanting to start a business should contact the nearest SBTDC office. They 

helped me with starting Taco Kidd, and I would definitely recommend their services 

to other veterans. 

Respectfully, 

Kevin Kidd 
14 

STATEMENT OF DAMIAN COLEMAN, MARQUETTE GIS, LITTLE 

ROCK, AR 

Mr. COLEMAN. I’m Damian Coleman, President and Owner of 

Marquette GIS here in Little Rock, Arkansas. I served in the U.S. 

Army as a topographic analyst—that’s a map maker—from 1997 

until January of 2002 when I was discharged with an injury from 

a helicopter. I used my military training to obtain a job with a defense contractor, and I worked for that company for several years 

before branching out to contract on my own. 

I originally formed my company in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2006, 

and really with no access to capital, the company didn’t grow, and 

I actually ended up losing money and that put me on hold for a 

while. I got a contract with the state of Arkansas in 2007 and reincorporated the company in 2009 here in Little Rock. 

From that point on, the company has been growing. But I was 

having difficulties with expanding. I closed on a loan that I acquired through the SBA the 21st of last month. And in that time, 

I have already acquired two more loans for scanning maps to the 

state’s counties. I wouldn’t have been able to have done that without having the additional space. 

A lot of my experience with the SBA was—I received my loan 

through the Arkansas Capital Corporation with the help of Itzel 

Meador, and I received a lot of help from the Arkansas Small Business Technology Development Center through Nancy Knighten. I 

really want to thank both of you for the help that you’ve given me. 

My company is a geographic information systems consulting and 

staffing firm. And for those who don’t know what GIS is, to make 

it simple, it’s just the background workings, like making GPS devices work and things like Google Maps. I also recruit for IT positions for several state governments. Currently, we have contracts 

to recruit for eight states. 

I really wish that there had been more information about the 

SBA available when I got out of the military, because starting a 

business is something that I’ve wanted to do since my late teens. 

But it wasn’t in the GIS field. I mean, luckily, I was able to get 

the military training to be able to have something that would transition into the private sector. But if I had had that information 

available to me, there’s a very strong chance that the business I 

started back in 2006 would have succeeded. 

Senator PRYOR. Well, that’s one of the things that SBA is talking 

about, trying to make that information more available, more accessible. 

Mr. Wallace. 

STATEMENT OF DAVID WALLACE, WALLACE STAFFING, 

LEACHVILLE, AR 

Mr. WALLACE. My military experience involved helicopters, Cobras, and I was good at blowing up the things, and that skill 

doesn’t really translate well into the civilian world. Yes, demolition. 

Senator Pryor, I’d like to thank you, first of all, for helping us 

with the Arkansas State ROTC program. Thank you very much for 

saving it for another year. 

I would not be in business today without the help of SBA. The 

training they have given me and the classes I’ve gone to taught me 
15 

a lot. When I came out of the service, I didn’t have a clue about 

how the civilian world operated. Laura Miller helped me immensely. 

My second company—when I picked up the Patriot Loan, I 

picked up $262,000 on that. The difference in that loan, which is 

a 5.5 percent loan—and we’ve grown so rapidly that I’ve had to 

pick up a second loan out in the commercial market for my accounts receivable. That loan is 18 percent. That’s an enormous difference. That’s what SBA has done for me. 

We’ve been fortunate in the last four months. We’ve built out 

about $1.8 million and 70 percent of that has come back to the 

folks in our country as payroll. So most of our expenses are payroll. 

SBA has helped me, especially Laura Miller, and Herb Lawrence 

with the Small Business Technology Center. There’s another group 

of guys that’s with what we call in Arkansas APAC, the Arkansas 

Procurement Agency. Again, they’ve helped me win government 

contracts. They’ve taught me a lot about how to deal with government agencies in bidding, and all of that is free. 

I’ve bounced back and forth between the corporate world at the 

senior executive level and owning my own companies. And the advice and the help that I get from SBA, when I had to do that with 

national companies, I was paying folks $40 and $50 an hour and 

sometimes more than that. The Small Business Technology Center 

has given that to me free. So thank you very much for all your 

help. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Wallace follows:] 
16 

Dave Wallace Testimony 

I have had two very satisfying careers--one as a career military officer and the second in the 

staffing/disaster community. In addition my wife and I own 40 rental properties which we 

operate as Wallace Land Company. I have also been active in my community as an elected city 

alderman for many years. 

I brought the leadership skills I learned in the military to the corporate world of the staffing 

industry where I started at the entry level as a branch manager and rapidly grew to multi unit 

management ultimately resulting being in charge of 51 branches for Labor Ready a nation 

staffing company. Along the way I have owned two staffing companies one of which was 

Anytime Labor of Memphis and Jonesboro which I founded in 2002 and sold to Command 

Center staffing in 2006. Following the sale I remained with Command Center staffing as the 

senior regional vice president where I was responsible for the day to day operation of all the 

branches within Command Center. 

I founded Wallace Staffing in 2010 which specialized in disasters. We have provided labor 

throughout the country during major disasters such as the BP Oil spill, Hurricane Isaac, 

Hurricane Sandy, and most recently the flooding in Boulder Colorado as well as countless 

smaller disasters which occur daily throughout our country. We typically get 24-36 hours notice 

to deploy and within 72 hours will routinely have 75 to 100 workers on the ground. 

Listed below is my career: 

.:. Retired Regular Army Lieutenant Colonel who commanded at every level from a 

platoon leader in Viet Nam to battalion commander before retiring with 20 years of active 

duty. I also attended the Army's Command and General Staff College and was selected 

for the Army War College . 

• :. Combat awards include three Distinguished Flying Crosses, Bronze Star, Air Medal for 

Valor, two Vietnamese Crosses of Gallantry, and one Vietnamese Honor medal as well as 

the Legion of Merit. 

.:. Selected to the Arkansas State University Hall of Heroes in 2010. 

Experience in the staffing industry is listed below: 

.:. 1996-As a new branch manager for Labor Ready in my first year I led the Mid South 

district as well as the entire Southeast region of Labor Ready in sales in 1997 . 

• :. 1997-Branch was also ranked eighth in the country out of 606 branches in sales for 1997 . 

• :. 1998-Produced $2,687,244 in sales for 1998 with net revenue of$270,137 (13.7%) 

.:. 1999-Promoted to district manager in early 1999. Responsible for Memphis, 

Nashville, Jackson TN, Jackson MS and Northeast Arkansas. Mid South district (Labor 

Ready) . 

• :. 1999-District led the Southeast region in sales for 1999 with 12 million dollars in sales. 
17 

.:. 1999-District was also 4th in total sales revenue of 111 districts Labor Ready in 1999 . 

• :. -1999-Promoted to Director of Operations for the Mid Atlantic division in Nov of 

1999 with responsibility for 51 branches and an eighty million dollar sales budget. The 

Mid Atlantic division finished was second of eleven divisions in total sales revenue in 

2000. (Labor Ready) 

.:. 2002-Started Anytime Labor (a Commander Center Franchise) in 2002 from the ground 

up in Memphis TN. Grew the company from the first dollar to $2.5 million in four years . 

• :. 2005- In addition to being the 100% owner of the Memphis franchise I was also a partner 

in three other Command Center franchises (Tulsa, Nashville and Washington DC) . 

• :. 2006-Sold my company in April 2006 to the Franchisor (Command Center) and per a 

request by Command Center I accepted a multi branch assignment where I eventually 

was promoted to Senior Regional Vice President responsible for all Command Center 

branches . 

• :. 2010-Established Wallace Staffing and Labor LLC which is a Service Connected 

disabled Veteran owned company as well as a HUBZone certified company. Applied for 

and received a SBA Patriot Express loan of $262,000 the same year. 

.:. 2012-Awarded Federal government contract to provide janitorial service for Auny 

Reserve Center in Jonesboro Arkansas . 

• :. 20B-Experiencing rapid growth and have invoiced out over $1.8 million in the past 

five months. 
18 

Dave Wallace 

.:. Retired Regular Army Lieutenant Colonel who commanded at every level from a 

platoon leader in Viet Nam to battalion commander before retiring with 20 years of active 

duty. I also attended the Army's Command and General Staff College and was selected 

for the Army War College . 

• ) Combat awards include three Distinguished Flying Crosses, Bronze Star, Air Medal for 

Valor, two Vietnamese Crosses of Gallantry, and one Vietnamese Honor medal as well as 

the Legion of Merit. 

.:. Selected to the Arkansas State University Hall of Heroes in 2010. 

Experience in the staffing industry is listed below: 

.:. 1996-As a new branch manager for Labor Ready in my first year I led the Mid South 

district as well as the entire Southeast region of Labor Ready in sales in 1997 . 

• :. 1997-Branch was also ranked eighth in the country out of 606 Labor Ready branches in 

sales . 

• :. 1999-Promoted to district manager in early 1999. Responsible Mid South District 

.:. 1999-District led the Southeast region in sales for 1999 with 12 million dollars in sales 

and was also 4th in total sales revenue of 111 districts Labor Ready in 1999 . 

• :. -1999-Promoted to Director of Operations for the Mid Atlantic division in November 

of 1999 with responsibility for 51 branches and an eighty million dollar sales budget. 

The Mid Atlantic division finished second of eleven divisions in total sales revenue in 

2000. (Labor Ready) 

.:. 2002-Started Anytime Labor (a Commander Center Franchise) in 2002 from the ground 

up in Memphis TN. Grew the company from the first dollar to $2.5 million in four years. 

In addition I was a partner in three other Command Center franchises which were Tulsa, 

Nashville and Washington DC 

.:. 2006-Sold my company in April 2006 to the Franchisor (Command Center) and per a 

request by Command Center I accepted a multi branch assignment where I eventually 

was promoted to Senior Regional Vice President responsible for all Command Center 

branches . 

• :. 2010-Established Wallace Staffing and Labor LLC which is a Service Connected 

disabled Veteran owned company as well as a HUBZone certified company. Applied for 

and received a SBA Patriot Express loan of $262,000 the same year . 

• :. 20l2-Awarded Federal government contract to provide janitorial service for Army 

Reserve Center in Jonesboro Arkansas . 

• :. 2013-Experiencing rapid growth and have invoiced out over $1.8 million in the past 

five months. 
19 

STATEMENT OF JANET RODERICK, STATE DIRECTOR, ARKANSAS SMALL BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT 

CENTER, LITTLE ROCK, AR 

Ms. RODERICK. I really hate to follow stories about small businesses, because they’re so exciting for me. And I’m here just to talk 

a little bit about our services that you’ve heard a lot about. 

So, Senator Pryor and Administrator Hulit, thank you for being 

here and supporting our program. I’m the State Director for the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center, which 

is a difficult name for me to say as well. I’m the person that’s lucky 

enough to get to work with Nancy Knighten and Laura Miller and 

Herb Lawrence and a variety of other counselors located in our six 

offices throughout the state of Arkansas. 

We are with the College of Business here at UALR and so are 

our other offices throughout the state. It’s a big benefit in Arkansas 

that the colleges of business support the Small Business Development Centers. We work with Arkansans from all walks of life who 

want to start a business. We’ve assisted a number of veterans with 

fulfilling their dreams of business ownership. 

In our experience, two of the most common challenges they face 

are financing their ventures and determining the market for the 

type of business they want to start or buy. Like the majority of our 

clients, access to capital is an issue for veterans wanting to become 

entrepreneurs. Many will need bank loans plus their own resources. But even before seeking to obtain financing, entrepreneurs 

must know if a market exists for their prospective business product 

or service. 

The market research data and analysis at ASBTDC provided free 

of charge can help new entrepreneurs make informed decisions before they sign the lease or commit their funds for their startup concept. Any Arkansas veteran who is a current or prospective small 

business owner can get no-cost, confidential, one-on-one professional business counseling from the ASBTDC. 

Our experienced consultants provide resources and recommendations for any type of for-profit venture. We can help veterans create 

a business plan; help determine if the business idea is feasible; and 

assist with money, management, or marketing issues. We have 

walked veterans through the SBA loan application process, including, as you’ve heard here, the Patriot Express loans, many times 

and have assisted veterans in their successful pursuit of small innovation research and small business technology transfer funding. 

For veterans who are already in business, we can provide training and consulting on government contracting, an important opportunity for veteran-owned businesses. Veterans may attend our fundamental startup business seminar, Starting a Business in Arkansas, free, as you’ve heard. Regularly offered at locations throughout 

the state, the class really helps prepare participants for the intensive business planning process. Since 2004, 350 veterans have 

taken advantage of this offer, including 46 this year. 

Serving in the military is not just a job. It’s a total commitment. 

Building a solid and successful business requires a similar level of 

commitment and a can-do attitude. We at the Arkansas Small 

Business and Technology Development Center are eager to help 
20 

veterans turn their vision, skills, and experience into successful 

businesses. 

Thank you. 

Senator PRYOR. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Roderick follows:] 
21 

Senator Pryor, Administrator Hulit, and Members of the Committee, 

good morning and thank you for the opportunity to appear before you 

today. I am Janet Roderick, the state director of the Arkansas Small 

Business and Technology Development Center network. Our lead 

center is housed here in the UALR College of Business, so welcome to 

our home. We also have six other offices around the state. 

The ASBTDC works with Arkansans from all walks of life who own or 

want to own a business. We have assisted a number of veterans with 

fulfilling their dreams of business ownership. 

In our experience, two of the most common challenges they face are 1} 

financing their ventures and 2} determining the market for the type of 

business they want to start or buy. 

Like the majority of our clients, access to capital is an issue for veterans 

wanting to become entrepreneurs. Many will need bank loans plus 

their own resources. 

But even before seeking to obtain financing, entrepreneurs must know 

if a market exists for their prospective business's product or service. 

The market research data and analysis that Arkansas SBTDC provides 

free-of-charge can help new entrepreneurs make informed decisions 

before they sign a lease or commit their funds for a start-up concept. 

Any Arkansas veteran who is a current or prospective small business 

owner can get no-cost, confidential, one-on-one professional business 

counseling from the ASBTDC. Our experienced consultants provide 

resources and recommendations for any type of for-profit business 

venture. We can help veterans create a business plan, help determine 

if a business idea is feasible, or assist with any money, management or 

marketing issue. 
22 

We have walked veterans through the SBA loan application process, 

including for Patriot Express loans, many times, and have also assisted 

veterans in their successful pursuit of Small Business Innovation 

Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIRjSTIR) funding 

for innovation-based ventures. For veterans who are already in 

business, we can provide training and consulting on government 

contracting, an important opportunity for veteran-owned firms. 

Veterans may attend our fundamental start-up seminar, "Starting a 

Business in Arkansas," free of charge. Regularly offered at locations 

throughout the state, the class prepares participants for the intensive 

business planning process. Since 2004, 350 veterans have taken 

advantage of this offer, including 46 this year. 

Serving in the military is not just a job, it's a total commitment. 

Building a solid and successful business requires a similar level of 

commitment and a "can-do" attitude. We at the Arkansas Small 

Business and Technology Development Center are eager to help 

veterans turn their vision, skills and experience into successful 

businesses. 

### 
23 

STATEMENT OF LINDA NELSON, DISTRICT DIRECTOR, SMALL 

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, LITTLE ROCK, AR 

Ms. NELSON. Senator Pryor, thank you for inviting me and for 

getting our administrator to come to Arkansas. It’s always an 

honor, and I love being with her. She is very down to earth and 

very engrossed in what she’s doing for small businesses and for 

veterans. 

To those who have testified about using our programs, I’m glad 

that you found them, and we’ll try to make them more readily 

available. And to Mr. Kidd, I would say that that luck was really 

because you would not give up, and to the others, too. 

And, Dave, I need to talk to you about that 18 percent loan. 

[Laughter.] 

I’ve been the District Director since 2004, and I have a total of 

35 years with SBA. We have a staff of 10, and six of them are veterans. Two of the three professionals that I’ve hired are veterans, 

including our newest deputy, Jim Aardappel. And three of the four 

promotions that have been done in my tenure were veterans. I 

know a good thing when I see it. I appreciate the skills and the 

training that they bring from their military service. 

We cover all 75 counties of Arkansas from the main office in Little Rock and a satellite office in Fayetteville. According to the latest census, there are some 245,000 veterans in Arkansas. That’s 8 

percent of the population compared to 7 percent nationally. And 

veteran-owned firms account for 10 percent of all firms in Arkansas, some 25,000, compared to about 9 percent nationally. There’s 

not many statistics Arkansas has where we’re a little bit better 

than the national, so that’s why I’m emphasizing this. 

During those 10 years since I have been the District Director, 

we’ve made SBA loans to 441 veterans for over $98 million, which 

is about 11 percent of our loan volume over that period. We can 

do more, and we expect to see increases because of the lenders-veterans pledge that our administrator initiated. 

We have three lenders who took the pledge headquartered in Arkansas, and that’s more than any other state, I believe—Arkansas 

Capital Corporation, who is represented here today; Evolve Bank 

out of West Memphis; and Arvest Bank headquartered in Fayetteville. I’m also sure that the administrator’s new proposals as outlined today will make a difference. She and her predecessor really 

worked to streamline and simplify. 

We have implemented the Boots to Business training program at 

Little Rock Air Force Base and hope to expand it to the National 

Guard and Reserves as well. Through the years, we have also participated in the mobilization, demobilization, yellow ribbon events 

to be there with the ASBTDC to help those who might want to 

start a business when they come back, or if they have one, to help 

them stabilize it while they’re gone. 

Thank you again, Senator, for your service, as always, and this 

opportunity. 

Senator PRYOR. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Nelson follows:] 
24 

SB~ U.S. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Linda R. Nelson 

Arkansas District Office District Director 

2120 Riverfront Drive, Suite 250 

Little Rock, Arkansas 72202 

WRITTEN STATEMENT OF 

LINDA NELSON 

Arkansas District Director 

U.s. Small Business Administration 

BEFORE THE 

U. S. SENATE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

NOVEMBER 8, 201 3 

Senator Pryor, thank you for inviting me today, for calling attention to our veterans and their contributions, 

both as members of the military and as entrepreneurs. Acting Administrator, it is an honor to have you in 

Arkansas. And to those veterans here today, thank you for your service then and ongoing. 

I have been the District Director since 2004, and a total of 3S years with SBA. We have a staff of 10 - of which 

six are veterans. I have come to appreciate the skills and training they bring from their military service. We 

cover all 75 counties of Arkansas from the main office in little Rock and a satellite office in Fayetteville. 

According to the latest census, there are 245,000 veterans in Arkansas, 8 percent of the population compared 

to 7% nationally, and veteran owned firms account for 10% of all firms in Arkansas, some 25,000 - compared 

to 9% nationally. 

During the 10 years since my appointment, we have made SBA loans to 441 veterans for over $98 million. 

This is 11% of our loan volume over that period. We can do more and expectto see increases because of the 

Lenders' Veterans Pledge. We have three lenders who took the pledge headquartered in Arkansas: Arkansas 

Capital Corporation, Evolve Bank, and Arvest Bank. I am also sure that the Administrator's proposals as 

outlined today will make a difference. 

We have implemented the Boots to Business training program at Little Rock Air Force Base and hope to expand 

that to the National Guard and Reserves as well. Through the years, we have participated in almost all of the 

mobilization and demobilization events around the state for those who might already have a business or want 

to start one - also supported by the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center. 

Thank you again Senator for your service and this opportunity. 

Telephone (501) 324-7379 ext 225 Page 1 
25 

Ms. Meador. 

STATEMENT OF ITZEL MEADOR, VICE PRESIDENT, ARKANSAS 

CAPITAL CORPORATION, LITTLE ROCK, AR 

Ms. MEADOR. I always get very excited to hear stories about 

small businesses. We had an opportunity to visit before we got 

here, and it was great. 

And, Senator Pryor, I’m just so thankful that you have given us 

this opportunity to speak, but, more importantly, to have us all together in a room. That makes a really big difference. 

Jeanne, we’re very thankful to have you here in Arkansas. 

As Vice President of Arkansas Capital Corporation, it’s really an 

honor to be able to facilitate loans for veterans. I’ve been with Arkansas Capital Corporation for over 13 years, and I am just really 

excited to be able to help servicemen and servicewomen who have 

done so much for our country. My husband is a disabled veteran, 

so I have a special connection with some of you. 

Arkansas Capital Corporation was formed in 1957, and it is a 

privately held nonprofit organization that’s dedicated to improving 

economic growth here in Arkansas and also promoting job creation. 

Arkansas Capital Corporation and Six Bridges Capital Corporation, 

which is an affiliate company, empowers entrepreneurs by providing capital to businesses through its government guaranteed 

programs. 

According to an advocacy study that was performed by SBA, veterans are at least 45 percent more likely than those with no active 

military duty experience to be self-employed. However, there are 

challenging economic times that make it very difficult for veterans 

to get access to capital. 

With the assistance of the U.S. Small Business Administration, 

and a great partnership with the Small Business Technology Development Center, Arkansas Capital Corporation and Six Bridges 

Capital have been able to provide access to this capital. SBA has 

a product specifically for the military or former military or spouses 

and widows known as the Patriot Express. 

We are a Patriot Express lender, and this program streamlines 

the application process for not just startup businesses, but also for 

existing businesses. Not only are we Patriot Express lenders, but 

we are also a preferred lender with the SBA. So we have the ability 

to process SBA 7(a) loans more efficiently and effectively. In 2013, 

we initiated the Express 150 which allows us to be able to put together an SBA loan faster. It promotes access to capital for loans 

from $50,000 to $150,000. 

Veterans have a track record of starting and being successful 

with their small businesses. We also have the Vet Loan Advantage 

through our sister company, Six Bridges Capital Corporation, and 

veterans have access to capital at a lower cost. The Vet Loan Advantage from Six Bridges Capital Corporation provides businesses 

with substantially lower processing fees, which allows veterans to 

start or expand their businesses with fixed assets. This helps veterans strategically position themselves for long-term growth while 

preserving their working capital. 

As Linda had noted, we are signed on for the SBA’s veteran 

pledge initiative, which means we have a commitment to increase 
26 

lending to veterans by 5 percent per year for the next five years. 

We’re excited to have one of our customers here, Damian Coleman. 

And we really want to be able to grow our company in the fact that 

we are able to promote more with veterans. 

We really are thankful for the opportunity, Senator Pryor, to be 

here and to be able to represent our company. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Meador follows:] 
27 

WRITIEN STATEMENT OF 

ITZEl MEADOR 

Vice President 

Arkansas Capital Corporation Group 

BEFORE THE 

U. S. SENATE COMMITIEE ON SMALL BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

NOVEMBER 8, 2013 

Senator Pryor, it is an honor to be invited to this special event for veterans. Acting Administrator, we are 

thankful to have you in Arkansas. And to the veterans in the audience, we appreciate the sacrifices you 

have made for our country and for taking the time to be here today. 

As Vice President of Arkansas Capital Corporation, it is a personal honor to be able to facilitate loan 

products for Veterans. I have been with Arkansas Capital Corporation for over 13 years and I am 

thankful that our company sees the importance in assisting valuable service men and women who have 

done so much for our country. My husband is also a disabled veteran so I have a personal connection 

with many of you here. 

Arkansas Capital Corporation Group was formed in 1957 and it is a privately held group offor-profit and 

non-profit corporations dedicated to improving economic growth and job creation in Arkansas. Arkansas 

Capital Corporation Group and its affiliate company, Six Bridges Capital Corporation, empower 

entrepreneurs by providing capital to businesses through its government guaranteed products. 

According to an Advocacy study performed by SBA, veterans are at least 45 percent more likely than 

those with no active-duty military experience to be self-employed. However, challenging economic 

times often make it difficult for veterans to find capital for their businesses. 

With the assistance of the U.S. Small Business Administration, Arkansas Capital Corporation and Six 

Bridges Capital Corporation, has been able to provide access to capital. SBA has a product specifically 

for military, former military, and their spouses and/or widows known as the Patriot Express. 
28 

This program streamlines the application process for start-up or existing businesses. Not only are we 

approved Patriot Express lenders, but Arkansas Capital Corporation has a preferred lender status with 

SBA so we can process SBA 7a loans more efficiently and effectively. In 2013, we initiated the Express 

150 product which provides faster access to loans ranging from $50,000- $150,000. 

Veterans have a track record of starting and running successful small businesses. With VetLoan 

Advantage from Six Bridges Capital Corporation, veterans have access to capital at a lower cost. VetLoan 

Advantage from Six Bridges Capital Corporation provides businesses with a substantially lower 

processing fee, allowing more opportunity for veterans to start or expand their businesses with fixed 

assets. Veterans are able to strategically position themselves for long-term growth while preserving 

their working capital. 

Arkansas Capital has signed SBA's Veteran Pledge Initiative - a commitment to increase lending to 

veterans by 5% per year for the next five years. We are pleased to announce that in 2013 we have 

already approved 5 applications to Veterans. 

Thank you again Veterans for your service and Senator Pryor for this opportunity. 
29 

Senator PRYOR. Thank you. 

Ms. Montgomery. 

STATEMENT OF ANITA MONTGOMERY, BOOTS AND BRAS, LLC, 

WATSON, AR 

Ms. MONTGOMERY. Senator Pryor and other distinguished guests 

participating today, thank you for the opportunity to be here to 

speak on behalf of women veteran entrepreneurs. My name is 

Anita Montgomery. I have been a veteran for 23 years after having 

served in the U.S. Air Force. I am the founder of Boots and Bras, 

LLC, a startup manufacturing company celebrating the uniqueness, the challenges, and the triumphs of the female veteran and 

the active duty service member. 

As the Senator mentioned, I am a 2013 Seattle VWISE grad, and 

I’m also a National Veterans Small Business Conference participant. When I first sat down with my rep at the Small Business and 

Technology Development Center earlier this year, I told her, ‘‘I 

want to start my own business, but I want the SBTDC to write my 

plan for me.’’ This came from a person who has spent her entire 

professional life as a writer, but the task seemed so daunting. 

However, as one VWISE instructor said, the most important part 

of writing the plan is the process of writing it. The VWISE program 

in combination with the Little Rock SCORE office have provided 

me with the tools to launch my business. 

While the Veterans Small Business Conference gave me the information necessary to lay the groundwork to achieve my shortterm goals, the Small Business Conference gave me the long-term 

groundwork to achieve my long-term goal of contracting with the 

DOD and VA to place my product in the respective commissaries. 

As a service connected disabled vet, I am also working with the VA 

Voc Rehab program to tap into all resources available in an effort 

to ensure greater success in the venture. 

For this invaluable support along the way, I am immensely 

grateful. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Montgomery follows:] 
30 

Senator Pryor and other distinguished guests participating today, 

Thank you for the opportunity to be here today to speak on behalf of women veteran 

entrepreneurs. My name is Anita Montgomery. I have been a veteran for 23 years after 

having served in the U.S. Air Force. I am the founder of Boots & Bras, LLC, a start-up 

manufacturing company celebrating the uniqueness, the challenges and the triumphs of 

the female veteran and active-duty service member. I am also a 2013 Seattle V-WISE 

graduate and a National Veterans Small Business Conference participant. 

When I first sat down with my representative at the Small Business and Technology 

Development Center earlier this year, I told her, "I want to start my own business, but I 

want the SBTDC to write my business plan." This came from a person who has spent her 

professional life as a writer because the task seemed so daunting. However, as one VWISE instructor said, "The most important part of writing the plan is the process of 

writing (it)." The V-WISE program, in combination with the Little Rock SCORE office, 

has provided me with the tools to launch my business; while the Veterans Small Business 

Conference gave me the information necessary to lay the groundwork to achieve my 

long-term goal of contracting with the DOD and VA to place my product in the 

respective commissaries. As a service-connected disabled veteran, I am also working 

with the V A Vocational-Rehabilitation program to tap into all resources available in an 

effort to insure greater success in the venture. For this invaluable support along the way, 

I am immensely grateful. 

As a former County Veteran Service Officer, I am aware that services are sometimes 

uneven either due to the representative's lack of training or lack ofinitiative. Oftentimes, 

veterans have to search for a right fit to see that their needs are met, whether that is a 

VSO or an SBA office. During this process, I learned to piece together my market 

research. Yet, I am much more knowledgeable for the experience. I have found that 

those offices where anonymous surveys are solicited for follow-up are the ones that are 

more likely to fulfill their responsibilities. 

As a V-WISE graduate, I had the opportunity to meet -- and be encouraged by -- other 

female entrepreneurs. Since graduating, we have reached out to each other both 

professionally and personally to continue the networking we started in Seattle. And I am 

grateful to Dr. Mike Haynie at Syracuse University and the SBA in realizing that, while 

we are all veterans, female veterans are not necessarily the same as male veterans. 

While veterans are 45% more likely to start a business than their non-veteran 

counterparts and female-owned businesses are the fastest growing segment, only 4% of 

veteran-owned businesses are owned by female veterans. With the number of female 

veterans projected to increase to 2.2 million by 2040, programs like V-WISE are essential 

to the future of the American economy. 
31 

Anita Montgomery is a native of Dumas, AR and served as a Public Affairs Officer at the 

U.S. Air Force Academy from 1987-1990. She received her Bachelors of Arts degree in 

English from Iowa State University and has primarily worked in the newspaper and 

public relations fields since her time in the service. She is a widowed mother of three 

children: Terry, a criminal justice graduate from the University of Arkansas at 

Monticello; Sally, currently a student at UAM; and James, who has autism and attends 

the ninth grade at McGehee High School. 

Her entrepreneurial venture, Boots & Bras, LLC, is in the start-up phase. She describes 

the company's products, which are designed for female veterans, as "who don't always 

feel appreciated for their unique service and sacrifice." 
32 

Senator PRYOR. Thank you. 

Ms. Fitch. 

STATEMENT OF ESTHER FITCH 

Ms. FITCH. My name is Esther Fitch, and I am a 23-year Army 

vet. I very recently decided to go into a business ownership venture 

after serving 23 years in the Army as a licensed practical nurse 

and the last six years as an AMEDD recruiter. 

I received a lot of leadership skills during my time in the military but I found that I was not able to use leadership skills and 

military ethics in the civilian workforce. After retiring in 2008, I 

worked in several different areas, and I just could not find what 

I was looking for. 

I’m a licensed practical nurse and the business that I’m planning 

to start is a janitorial service. But that’s just the first step. I don’t 

plan on being there forever. I’m going to have to get back to my 

nursing roots. 

I found the SBA by pure accident. I was looking for the SCORE 

office and happened to run into Ms. Penny Fogle, who was the veterans representative with the SBA, as I was leaving the building. 

She stopped me and brought me into her office, and we sat down 

and talked for four hours about a lot of the opportunities that are 

available with the SBA for startup business owners. 

Now, since I’m a startup company, of course, this is all very new 

to me, and I know that I’m going to continue to need their assistance. But the first step that was given to me was getting in touch 

with the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development 

Center. They have been a great asset in helping me with the first 

step, which is the business plan. 

I have every confidence in the world that they are going to be 

there with me throughout the continued steps of getting my business started. Thank you for this opportunity to sit on this board, 

because it has definitely given me that boost that I needed to get 

back on track. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Fitch follows:] 
33 

My name is Esther Fitch. I am a 23 year retired Anny Veteran. I served in the Anny as a 

Licensed Practical Nurse. After retiring in 2008 I worked three different jobs as an LPN and 

found myself feeling unfulfilled in the positions that I held because a lot of my leadership skills 

and military ethics were not being used. So this year in September I decided that it was time for 

me to test my ability to use some of the knowledge that I have gained during my time in the 

Anny to start my own business. It was by accident that I stumbled upon the SBA. I happened to 

overhear a conversation at the office of the Secretary of State about the organization SCORE, so 

I asked where they were located. The people from SCORE were not available but the veteran 

representative for the SBA just happened to be in the hall as I was leaving. I asked about her 

organization and she was very informative. She gave me several organizations to contact for 

assistance and training on starting your own business. I have found the SBTDC program to be 

very helpful in getting me started on the first steps to starting my business plan. I am a new 

start-up and I know that I have a long way to go but I have every confidence in the SBA and 

their ability to guide me along the way. 
34 

Senator PRYOR. Thank you. 

Mr. Frisby. 

STATEMENT OF JEFF FRISBY, ENLISTED ASSOCIATION OF 

THE ARKANSAS NATIONAL GUARD 

Mr. FRISBY. Good morning. My name is Jeff Frisby. I am a current serving member of the Arkansas Army National Guard. I am 

a resident NCO full time member of the Arkansas National Guard, 

serving in Searcy, Arkansas, at HHC 2nd in the 153rd. I am here 

this morning on behalf of the Enlisted Association of the Arkansas 

National Guard, and I’m very honored to be here. 

On behalf of the enlisted members of the Arkansas Air and Army 

National Guard, we are honored to be here today. We have nearly 

8,000 enlisted soldiers and airmen in our ranks, and we represent 

some of the greatest men and women that Arkansas has to offer, 

citizen soldiers and airmen who have continually demonstrated 

hard work and commitment to their nation, state, communities, 

and families. 

I have been working with the Enlisted Association for over 14 

years, serving in almost every capacity within our association, to 

include currently serving on our National Board of Directors. We 

are the only organization who can actually say that our only interest is to promote, protect, and to support legislation and programs 

that benefit the enlisted members of the National Guard. 

Of our enlisted force in Arkansas, we have 900 full time active 

Guard-Reserve workforce. Each year, about 40 of those members 

retire or transition into the civilian workforce. Arkansas has also 

had multiple deployments in the recent years, sending soldiers and 

airmen from almost every small town across the state overseas, 

warriors who have left their jobs often to wonder what would welcome them once they return home. 

If the transition is from our full time workforce or just simply returning from a mobilization, the National Guard has depended on 

the services and support and the insight of the SBA and programs 

like the Transitional Assistance Program. Representing what we 

consider one of the most reliable and best trained available 

workforces to employers across the state, we’re extremely eager to 

be here today to extend these services to each and every member 

of the Arkansas National Guard. 

It’s an honor to be here today and speak on behalf of these incredible Arkansans who have shown true dedication and commitment. 

Thank you, Senator, for giving us the opportunity to provide 

their voice to this group today as we seek ways to expand these 

programs and educate our Guardsmen on their future endeavors. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Frisby follows:] 
35 

ENLISTED ASSOCIATION OF THE ARKANSAS NATIONAL GUARD I 

P.O. BOX 535 

North Little Rock, Arkansas 72115 

WRITTEN STATEMENT OF 

JEFFREY JAMES FRISBY 

Legislative Director, EAANG 

AREA Director, EANGUS 

BEFORE THE 

U. S. SENATE COMMlmE ON SMALL BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

NOVEMBER 8, 2013 

On behalf of the Enlisted members of the Arkansas Air and Army National Guard, we are honored to be 

here today. With nearly 8,000 enlisted Soldiers and Airmen in our ranks, we represent some of the greatest 

men and woman that Arkansas has to offer; Citizen Soldiers and Airmen who have continually demonstrated 

hard work and commitment to their nation, state, communities, and families. 

I have been working with the Enlisted Association of the Arkansas National Guard (EAANG) for over 14 

years, serving in nearly every capacity within our association. to include currently serving on the Board of 

Directors for our national organization. We are the only organization who can say that our only interest is to 

promote, protect, and support legislation and programs that benefit the enlisted members of the National 

Guard. 

Of our enlisted force in Arkansas, we have a 900 man full time, Active Guard Reserve (AGR) workforce. 

Each year, the state averages about 40 members who retire or transition from the fulltime workforce into the 

civilian workforce. Arkansas has also had multiple deployments in recent years, sending Soldiers and Airmen 

from almost ever small town across our great state overseas; Warriors who have left jobs often to wonder what 

would welcome them once they returned home. If the transition is from our fulltime work force or returning 

from a mobilization, the National Guard has depended on the services, support and insight of the SBA and 

programs like the Transition Assistance Program. 

Representing what we consider one of the most reliable and best trained available work forces to 

employers in the state, we are extremely eager to find ways to extend these services to each and every 

member of the Arkansas National Guard. 

It is an honor to be here today, to speak on behalf of these incredible Arkansans, who have shown true 

dedication and commitment. Thank you Senator for giving us the opportunity to provide their voice to this 

group today, as we seek ways to expand these programs and educate our Guardsmen for their future 

endeavors. 

Jeffrey James Frisby 

(501) 425-0834 
36 

Senator PRYOR. Thank you, and thanks again for your service 

and for being here. 

Here’s what we’ll do. We’re going to kind of co-lead this, Ms. 

Hulit and I are, and we’ll just start asking questions. And maybe 

what we ought to do to kind of allow us to see who wants to make 

a point or has a question—in a lot of these sessions, what we’ll do 

is get you to get your name tag and just sort of stand it up, and 

that way, we can look and see who wants to ask a question. It’s 

not quite the free-for-all at that point—so whether you want to ask 

a question or answer a question or make a point or whatever. 

But let me start, if I can, by asking Ms. Roderick and also Ms. 

Nelson about the types of people you see come in the door. How 

prepared are veterans to really get that business going? They may 

have a great idea. They may or may not have a real developed plan 

or not. But what’s the typical person that comes in that needs some 

help and wants some of your services? 

Ms. RODERICK. I don’t want to make this sound wrong. Veterans 

are different when they come through the door. They seem to have 

more commitment to succeeding. On the other hand, oftentimes 

they’re unsure that their idea is good. They have been exposed, I 

think, to a lot of—you know, there’s always bad people out there 

who are trying to suggest that they’ve got the answer to get your 

product in the market. 

There’s a number of people out there, no matter what the situation is, who are ready to take advantage of someone. I think veterans are oftentimes taken advantage of or given the wrong information on how to get their business started. So we have that issue, 

I think, always. I mean, I can’t point to a specific story, but there’s 

a wide variety of them. 

So it’s kind of cutting through the clutter and getting your information about the Small Business and Technology Development 

Center and the SBA’s other programs to the veteran. We always 

ask the question, ‘‘How did you find out about us?’’ And our biggest 

referral source is our bankers, and people often hear about us— 

when I asked the question this morning, it was word of mouth. So 

a lot of this is providing information at briefings and letting people 

know who we are and where we are. 

Ms. NELSON. I agree with a lot of what she said. But one thing 

I think I’ve noticed a difference in is they’re a little bit better prepared to ask questions. You know, most people who are starting a 

business for the first time don’t always know everything they need 

to know. They don’t know what they don’t know. 

But I’ve found that many of the veterans I’ve talked with ask a 

lot more questions than those who aren’t. I think they’re resilient. 

I mean, you just sense that they’re going to do this, and they’re 

going to do whatever it takes to get it done. So that would be just 

one thing to add to it. 

Ms. HULIT. Thank you. I just want to say one of the themes that 

I heard from this panel and that I hear many times when I do outreach about the SBA is the lack of awareness of what’s available. 

I think the federal government has an enormous amount of wonderful resources but no marketing budget to promote them. 

So I guess my question for you is what could we do or do differently to get the word out so that you didn’t have to sort of stum-
37 

ble across our resources. Some of the initiatives that we talked 

about—the Boots to Business to help transitioning service members 

get information about entrepreneurship and resources as they’re 

exiting. The military is one of those efforts. All those efforts require 

resources from us to get those programs out. 

But where is the source of information most available to you, and 

where would you go look? 

Mr. WALLACE. If I was a new veteran coming out, the Transition 

Assistance Program, TAP, in the Army, with the military period. 

That’s probably the last central location that every trooper will go 

through. You may have it already, but if there’s a link between the 

SBA and TAP, that would be an inexpensive way for you all to 

reach out and touch literally every military person coming out. 

I wasn’t fortunate enough to go through TAP when I returned. 

I didn’t know about it, and, frankly, I was lost for about three or 

four years. You know, the civilian community didn’t post rule 

guards at the crosswalks, so I didn’t know how to even cross the 

road or anything. I was used to doing all that in the military, and 

I had to learn the hard way. 

But the TAP program they have now does a pretty good job of 

helping the guys. And I would suggest that might be an inexpensive way to market your services. 

Ms. HULIT. Thank you. That is an area where our Boots to Business is really connected and an area that I know the Senator is 

very supportive of us expanding. For those that aren’t transitioning 

out but are in the communities already—I know Janet mentioned 

that most of her referrals come from the banks. But is there another sort of public resource—we have a website, but everybody has 

a website—that makes the most sense for us to put some resources 

into promoting? 

Ms. MONTGOMERY. As a former county veteran service officer, 

that is a part of the CVSO’s job. I don’t know how it’s set up in 

other states, but here in Arkansas, we have a county veterans service officer in every county. And our CVSOs need this information. 

I followed VWISE on Facebook for a couple of years before I committed to it. But it just happened that something from EBV came 

across my desk. The CVSOs have state training every year, so networking and giving these CVSOs that information so that they can 

turn around and say, ‘‘You know, have you thought about doing 

this?’’ 

Ms. NELSON. If I could just add thing, Penny Fogle participated 

in that training this year. So we may have lucked into the right 

place. 

Ms. HULIT. Thank you. 

Ms. FITCH. Well, one of the things that I think would be a good 

way to get the word out—and I can speak from personal experience, because this is something that I’m going through right now. 

Most of us know where to go to get the business registered. That’s 

where I first started to hear that there were other organizations 

out there. Through just talking to people in the past, I had heard 

about SCORE. But the SBA was just not one of the organizations 

that I knew that was available to me. 

If there was someone there at the secretary of state’s office, 

where you register your business, who could give a little bit more 
38 

information on that or just include that in their presentation or 

their information when they are talking to you about how you register your business—and I know that that may not be their total 

responsibility. But they could either have literature on it or just 

mention it, because, let’s face it. There are a lot of questions that 

you just don’t know that you need to ask about what is available 

to you. That would probably be a good place to start, just having 

them be able to point us in the right direction. 

Ms. NELSON. We did that for a while at the secretary of state’s 

office, and I know that SCORE has continued to do it at times. But 

you make a very good point. We didn’t think we were meeting the 

needs. We’ll reconsider that. 

Senator PRYOR. Let me ask a follow-up on that, if I can. I know 

that all of you have gone to the SBA for one thing or another. Once 

you get there, is it a friendly environment? Is it something that’s 

encouraging? Tell us about that. How does that go? 

Mr. WALLACE. Every office that I’ve dealt with that involved SBA 

has been proactive in dealing with me. They’ve been friendly when 

I walked in. I still ask a lot of dumb questions, and they give smart 

answers to my dumb questions, and they follow up. I get calls all 

the time from Ray Blevins at APAC. I get calls all the time from 

Laura Miller, saying, ‘‘Hey, how are you doing? What do you think 

about this? How can we help you?’’ They’re good folks. 

Senator PRYOR. I have a question for Mr. Kidd as well while 

we’re kind of on that topic. I know your story is you were down in 

Texas somewhere. How did you find Jonesboro? Was SBA part of 

that, or did you have some connection there? 

And, also, I have a question that’s related. I noticed that one of 

the things you do in your business, as I understand it, is you somehow designate 10 percent of your revenues—I’m not quite sure 

how—to local churches—and charities, I guess—but local churches. 

And I’m curious if that was part of your business plan. Obviously, 

it’s been a big motivator for you to do this. But I’m wondering if 

that was part of your business plan and how all that came about. 

Mr. KIDD. Well, as far as knowing about Jonesboro, I grew up in 

Blytheville, Arkansas. I was born on the Air Force Base there. My 

dad was in the Air Force. Like most people in northeast Arkansas, 

everybody gravitates towards Jonesboro. When I started making 

plans to come back home with an idea, naturally, Jonesboro was 

the best choice. It’s a thriving city, a nice place for your family, and 

I wanted to be a part of that. 

Also, I thought that my business idea would do well there. 

There’s the Arkansas State University. We’ve got a brand new hospital, the Northeast Arkansas Baptist Memorial, that’s getting 

ready to open in about two months. That was a huge part in picking the location where I’m at. 

As far as the 10 percent, I wasn’t aware that you knew about 

that. Really, I was just trying to get the community more involved 

with Taco Kidd. And the way I wanted to do that was, like, if you 

can help support a local business owner, I’m willing to give back, 

because one of the struggles of going out on your own and starting 

something completely new that nobody knows about is getting people to know who you are. That’s been one of the biggest challenges 

that I’ve had, and it’s getting better. It really is. 
39 

As I mentioned earlier, Laura Miller and her team have been a 

huge help. Every time that I’ve gone to her, she’s been able to help 

me get one step further. And I even feel like that will continue. I 

mean, I still have a young business. I talk to her frequently, also, 

and that’s exciting. More veterans need to know about that. 

I kind of stumbled—I was telling Janet earlier that I had a family relative that simply said, ‘‘Oh, I know somebody who did this.’’ 

So I sought out the ASBTDC, and from that point on, all the doors 

opened. They really did. You know, they said, ‘‘Well, what was your 

struggle through the process?’’ I really didn’t have a struggle getting to the loan. It was once the doors opened to our business that 

the struggle began, you know, like most business owners. But other 

than that, it’s been a great experience. 

Ms. HULIT. Thank you, Kevin. I’d like to follow up on that. We 

heard a lot of comments about the role that the SBA and the SBDC 

provides in helping with the business plan to get started and get 

that first loan. But, truly—and this is for the other business owners and the audience to hear—one of the most important things, I 

think, that the resource partners do is help businesses once they 

stumble. 

Just about every small business owner I’ve ever known has 

stumbled. So having that free business resource so that, you know, 

you’re not paying that expensive CPA, that expensive consultant— 

you have that free business counselor. 

And if anybody would like—I know, Damian, you talked about a 

stumble in your business career. If you could, talk a little bit about 

what having that resource available to you and what differences it 

made to the success of your business. 

Mr. COLEMAN. My major stumbles were financial, just not having 

the revenue to get the business going. It got to the point where I’ve 

been—I still contract myself, and trying to do a 40-hour contract 

and run the business with employees gets pretty hard. 

As far as going through the process of doing the business plan, 

it became a little bit of tension there in the household because it 

was continuously me spending money from the family’s budget to 

get the business up and going. And that’s what was the major fall 

of me starting up originally. All the money just ran out. 

So then I got the contract here in Arkansas and was able to save 

money up again and then pay the CPA to file all my paperwork 

with the state and get the business running. Just the out-of-pocket 

expenses were ridiculous, really, when I look back at it now, knowing that the SBA was out there and had services that would provide those documents for me free of charge. Did I answer your 

question? 

Ms. HULIT. You did. I think it’s the energy that gets put in the 

catch-up when you’ve gotten behind in your paperwork and financially to try and dig back out from that mess to move yourself forward. And, again, I think my experience in working with some of 

the finest resource counselors in the country is that they help you 

make that manageable. 

Senator PRYOR. Let me ask you, if I can, Ms. Hulit, about your 

announcement today. Can you cover that again? And let’s kind of 

put that in practical terms for these folks here and how that will 

help them and others like them get started. 
40 

Ms. HULIT. Sure. The announcement today is that we’re waiving 

the upfront borrower’s fee for our loans, 350 and under. And, again, 

that’s for veterans. That is part of the startup cost. There’s two 

reasons for wanting to do it. Obviously, the first reason is we want 

to do something that will benefit our veterans. 

But by making this announcement, hopefully, for the veteran 

who may not know about SBA loan programs or the SBA at all, 

they might hear, ‘‘Oh, do you know there’s this new program, and 

it’s especially for veterans—no fees.’’ Then that will start them to 

look at the resources. 

Clearly, there’s a material benefit. You know, every business has 

startup costs. You have startup costs to buy your inventory, to put 

your deposit down on your lease, to hire your first employees, to 

have payroll before you have customers. You don’t need to be paying that several thousand dollars in your fee just to originate the 

loan. 

So if we can waive that fee or reduce the fee to zero for this time 

period and help promote more awareness about our programs and 

about the lending opportunities, that’s really what we’re trying to 

do. And the Express program, as was mentioned earlier, is a very 

quick turnaround program. Our Express lenders are delegated 

lenders so that they can do it on their own authority. 

So it’s a quick turnaround, now with no fees to originate them. 

And, hopefully, it’s going to get more capital into the hands of 

small businesses, veteran-owned small businesses, and get them 

more connected to the resources that we provide. 

Senator PRYOR. Well, that’s one of the things, obviously, about a 

business. It’s important to have training and access to mentors and 

resources and things. But access to capital is also something that’s 

absolutely critical, and that, obviously, we see as a struggle in the 

small business population at large, but certainly with the veterans. 

You know, one of the things I try to do in the Senate—I haven’t 

been successful yet, but I’m trying to do a small business savings 

account, like an IRA, so people could take their savings and stick 

it into an account, and they do that tax free, so they don’t get taxed 

on that, just like an IRA or something. So then when you are ready 

to start your business, then you can use that tax free to get your 

business started. 

You know, the theory is that it sure does help when you go to 

the lender and you say, ‘‘Look, I’ve already saved $10,000, $20,000, 

$30,000.’’ That’s a huge jump that a lot of people don’t have. So 

just something that seems pretty small like that could be pretty 

significant for these folks. 

Ms. HULIT. I don’t disagree at all. I think that’s a very good 

point. And I also want to thank Senator Pryor for his encouragement of the SBA to think outside the box on what we could do. 

There’s so many things that require statutory language. They require Congress to vote to move issues forward, many of which are 

included in our 2014 budget, such as the expansion of funding for 

the Boots to Business program. 

But then there are other things that we can do sort of administratively, and Senator Pryor has really encouraged us to take a 

good hard look at that. Part of the result of lowering our fees on 

the veteran loans was because of the dialog we had on that. 
41 

Senator PRYOR. Thank you. And Senator Landrieu has been a 

tremendous leader on that. One of the things we want to try to do 

is to give you statutory authorization to do some of these that 

you’re doing and allow you to shift some resources around to really 

focus on some of this, and all in the right way. 

Ms. Montgomery, I know that you are participating in the 

VWISE program. Could you just give us kind of a one-minute on 

that? And, here again, I think a lot of women don’t know about 

that program. So let’s talk about that for a second. 

Ms. MONTGOMERY. I can put it in one word. It’s phenomenal to 

have 100 female veterans in one room with a single goal of achieving your own business. There is so much energy. Six to eight weeks 

prior to the three-day conference, we have homework, we start 

building our business plan before we even get there. We start communicating with each other on the forums, and we have homework. 

So by the time we get there, we kind of have an idea maybe of 

what we’re going to do. 

Three days of—I can’t even remember all of the conferences. But 

then we have a year afterwards where we have access to those 

mentors within the VWISE program. So they don’t walk away at 

the end of the conference. They’re there for us, and it’s a great experience. I was talking to Ms. Fitch this morning, and I said, ‘‘If 

you get the chance, you need to do it.’’ 

Ms. HULIT. I just want to mention that that program, as well as 

the Entrepreneurship for Service Disabled Veterans and the Boots 

to Business program, is coordinated out of our Office of Veterans 

Business Development in Washington. Our associate administrator 

wishes he could be here with you today. He himself is a retired 

Lieutenant Colonel from the U.S. Marine Corps and has a real passion for making sure that these programs are developed and expanded. 

Senator PRYOR. And let me also say we’ve got the National 

Guard here—Mr. Frisby. We need to think about that. All the veterans know this, but in the world of the military, there’s the active 

component, the active duty folks, and then there’s the reserve component, which is Guard and Reserve. Sometimes the Reserve gets 

left out of that, so we need to be clear that the Guard and Reserve 

are both extremely important. 

I would like to know, Mr. Frisby, some of the unique challenges 

that you think someone in the reserve component, whether Guard 

or Reserve, have in trying to start their own business. And, also, 

one of the things that I do in Washington is I’m Co-chairman of 

the Senate Reserve Caucus, and we focus on Guard and Reserve 

issues. 

One of the things we’re trying to do is get that unemployment 

rate down with our Guard and Reserve folks and also try to open 

opportunities, either professional opportunities, starting your own 

business, credentialing opportunities, and things like that. So we’ll 

work on that. But give us your sense of the unique challenges that 

the reserve component faces. 

Mr. FRISBY. Sure. You know, first off, it has to be education for 

our soldiers and airmen in the state of Arkansas, just knowing that 

these programs are available to them and that they have this option. You know, we were talking about how to get the word out, 
42 

and I think that some of that has to be that we need to get some 

literature into the armories that these soldiers are serving in. We 

have stations in our armories where we have educational materials, we have job opportunities, and we also need to get something 

from the SBA in there so that they know that these are some services that are offered to them. 

Everyone around this table probably knows that, you know, even 

if the soldier or the airman doesn’t know it when they enter the 

service, they’re kind of bred to win. They’re kind of bred to succeed. 

And they certainly realize that potential when they start putting 

on the uniform to serve. 

So I think that you will find you have an incredible amount of 

resiliency in the service members to come up with incredible ideas 

that would probably succeed in the civilian workforce. So if we can 

get that knowledge to them, they can understand that they have 

the potential to take that idea and actually run with it and develop 

it into something that would probably change their lives forever. So 

I think that education is probably the first step. 

Traditionally, when people think about issues with the Guard 

and Reserve, when it comes to employment, they always think, 

‘‘Well, I’m going to have to give this guy up for one weekend a 

month, maybe two weeks in the summer.’’ And for the last 10 

years, in the state of Arkansas, we’ve had over 12,000 soldiers and 

airmen who have deployed for 90 days to 18 months at a time. So, 

traditionally, we think of that being the challenge. 

I think I referenced in my opening comments that a lot of times, 

these soldiers leave, deploy, and really don’t know what’s waiting 

for them when they get back in terms of employment. So, again, 

when we go through our Transitional Assistance Program for those 

soldiers who are coming back from a Title 10 deployment, being 

able to get that word to them to let them know, ‘‘I know you’ve got 

a great idea. Now, let us help you take that idea and turn it into 

something better.’’ 

I think if we can do that and make that transition better for 

them, then we’ll really make progress in what we’re trying to do 

today. 

Senator PRYOR. I always remember a story of when I was on the 

Armed Services Committee right when I came to the Senate, and 

we were just getting involved in Iraq. All that was really, really 

going hot and heavy. We spent hours and hours and hours each 

week on Iraq and talking about all the issues there, and there were 

thousands of them, it seems like. 

But I remember one of the big—I think it was a three star— 

came in one time, and he had been in Iraq, and he had actually 

served when the booted brigade was over there. And, basically, he 

told us in this meeting, ‘‘You know, those guys in the Arkansas 

Guard are great, because back home, they’re plumbers and welders 

and school teachers and electricians and car mechanics. There’s 

really nothing they can’t do. 

‘‘So we would get over here, and we needed to up arm our 

Humvees, you know, because we’re getting hit with all this stuff, 

and they said, ‘Hey, man, we can do that. Just give us some torches and some steel plating,’ and they got it done.’’ It was just like 
43 

anything that was going wrong, they could fix it. They could work 

on it. They were very creative and innovative. 

I do think that is what you get when you get these guys that 

want to get out and own their own businesses. They’re going to get 

it done. You’re going to get out there, and you’re going to get it 

done, and you’re going to see to it. 

Let me ask one other question, if I may. We talked about how 

getting information to veterans is critically important. And maybe 

the VA can do better. Maybe the Arkansas Guard can do better. 

Maybe, you know, whoever can do better. The military itself, as 

people are processing out—maybe there’s more information that 

can be made available. 

But, you know, the folks that are in the finance business, too— 

I’m wondering what your outreach is like. And I know you’ve got 

a lot of other balls in the air, but how do you try to reach out, and 

how do you try to get the word to veterans and try to get them involved in what you have? Obviously, you’re helping a lot of them. 

Ms. MEADOR. I will tell you the biggest struggle we have is very 

common to SBA, that we’re a nonprofit, so we don’t have the marketing tools that a lot of banks have. Also, with Arkansas Capital 

Corporation, one of our main concerns is that we need to make 

sure we don’t look like we’re competing or taking business away 

from banks. We’re really targeting loans that maybe banks aren’t 

willing to do on their own, based on it being a startup or it being 

a riskier loan, or maybe due to collateral, things like that. 

So we’re very limited on how we can get the word out ourselves 

because of the kind of company that we are. However, one thing 

I wanted to note that you made in your comments, Senator Pryor, 

is one of the initiatives that you’re trying to set aside a savings 

plan for the veterans. 

That’s great, because one of the biggest struggles, as a commercial lender, that we have is that you may have a great idea, or you 

may have a great business, and if you started that business with 

not a lot of capital, it makes it very difficult for it to succeed, because capital is king. Everybody has said that. 

But, more importantly, if you’re going to start up a business, I 

always say the motto, ‘‘You’ve got to have money to borrow money.’’ 

Many small business owners don’t realize that I cannot provide 100 

percent financing for a startup business, which is hard, especially 

if you’ve dedicated your whole life to this country, and you don’t 

have a lot of backup, or you didn’t know that, ‘‘Hey, I should have 

saved some money,’’ because you didn’t realize when you get out of 

the military that you’re going to start a business, because a lot of 

them don’t know the path that they’re going to take. 

So being able to have that resource will open so many doors for 

a lot of veterans that I run into that have a great idea or I want 

to help, but they don’t have the capital to get started. And I will 

also say that waiving the fees is huge, because, like you said, a lot 

of the loans that we’re doing for veterans are $350,000 or less. 

It’s hard for them—you know, we don’t think it’s a lot to say it’s 

$5,000 or $6,000. But that’s $5,000 or $6,000 that they can have 

for working capital that can help their first six months to a year 

in operation. It can make a big difference. So having those two 
44 

things is really going to set a huge pathway for a lot of veterans 

to be able to be more successful and to really be able to grow faster. 

As we have heard from our customer, the biggest struggle was 

being able to grow. They might be able to open the doors, but then 

what happens after that stage? How can we help them grow? And 

having access to capital and limiting fees—some of the things that 

you have done will really make a big difference. 

Ms. HULIT. I wanted to add that on the marketing side—because 

we do have a challenge with that—one of the advantages of the 

SBA program is that we guarantee loans, but the banks are the 

ones that provide the loans, and the banks do have marketing 

budgets. So, as the Senator mentioned, I flew in from California 

yesterday, where I attended a conference, the National Association 

of Government Guaranteed Lenders, which is the trade association 

of banks that do SBA loans. 

There was the highest attendance ever. There were over 1,000 

banks there, and we talked about this initiative, and we talked 

about lending to our veterans and getting them to increase their 

lending, knowing about the fee waivers, et cetera. So it’s deploying 

that private sector network to get out and market to the community. 

But I also wanted to mention I know that the folks here, how 

their own small businesses—but another way that veterans enter 

entrepreneurship is largely through franchises. And we signed a 

strategic alliance memorandum the day before yesterday with the 

International Franchise Association, because their member franchises have special programs, like UPS. We did the announcement 

at a UPS store with a vet who had his $30,000 franchise fee waived 

by UPS because he’s a veteran to start that UPS shop. 

So through the IFA, they have several franchisors that have special initiatives to help veterans start their franchise. So they’ll be 

marketing the SBA through their materials, and we’ll be marketing 

the IFA’s veterans initiatives through ours. So we’re trying to do 

those strategic alliances with the key industries that do a lot with 

the SBA, and franchise is one of them. There’s more veterans in 

franchising than the average population. 

Senator PRYOR. That’s great. Let me ask our business owners 

here for that one bit of advice, one of the things you’ve learned. If 

you all could have a room full of people who were in your shoes 

a year or two ago, what would you tell them right now about how 

to get started and how the process should work? 

Mr. WALLACE. The first thing—and I agree—cash is king. You 

have to have it. If you don’t have it, the banks—and I don’t blame 

them—they’re not going to talk to you. I laughed about it, but, really, the civilians do not post rule guards at the roads, so you’ve got 

to look both ways when you cross that doggone road. You’ve got to 

know what you’re doing. 

Equally important with getting the loan—which, again, the 

cash—is understanding what you’re going to do, understanding the 

business that you’re going into. I think a lot of businesses fail. 

Karen and I, at one time, had the worst restaurant that ever existed in Arkansas. I thought it was a good idea. You know, we have 

two cups. That’s all that’s left of $100,000 that we put in that restaurant. So I keep those two cups. 
45 

But if a veteran can go out and get on-the-job training with 

someone, if you can get into industry and learn it for six months, 

learn it for nine months—classes are great. They really are. But 

what you get taught in a class is not always what happens in the 

real world. And I would go into every class that SBA—and I have, 

just about—that the Small Business Technology Center offers. 

Those are great. 

Mr. KIDD. I’d be happy to add—since David brought up a lot of 

key points that I would like to share as well—I think I may have 

had the second worst restaurant the first three months. And a lot 

of that was simply because of what you just said. I didn’t have the 

proper training, you know, for starting a restaurant. I had a great 

idea. It still is a great idea. But I didn’t have that experience. I had 

to learn for myself. 

In the long run, probably, that’s a good thing. But not everybody 

can afford to go through that. I mean, I was fortunate that I did 

have some money to start out, and that helped me get through it. 

Again, you know, getting the grants was a huge part, getting the 

refinance, things like that. 

But I think—and a lot of people know this—most businesses 

don’t succeed because of a bad idea. It’s not a bad idea. It’s simply 

that the money runs out. And anything you can do to prolong that, 

to get more training, experience, knowing more going into it, and 

knowing more about these programs—I mean, I had no idea about 

it. 

But one of the things that—again, I know this was brought up 

a lot, you know, talking about veterans and their tenacity and their 

willingness to do whatever it takes. Some of that is, you know, they 

go out and find those things. There’s a way. There’s things that 

happen for reasons. And people who are willing to do that will figure those things out. But, again, the more you can learn up front 

going in, the better off you’re going to be. 

Mr. COLEMAN. What I would say is that it won’t be easy. I mean, 

there will be a lot of struggles along the way. But just really, really, don’t give up. If it’s something your heart is set on, just follow 

it and keep on going. 

I’ve had knock-downs, and I’ve submitted plenty of proposals for 

contracts that I didn’t get. I spent a few weeks just preparing it 

to hear, ‘‘I’m sorry,’’ you know. But I just kept going and kept 

going, and everything seems to have turned around now. But if I 

had stopped back then because of that, then I wouldn’t be here 

today. 

Senator PRYOR. Ms. Montgomery. 

Ms. MONTGOMERY. I agree with the gentlemen. But, also, there 

is a term that has come out called solo entrepreneur. Understand 

that your business does not happen in a vacuum. You’ve got these 

people who are there rooting for you, and they’re a part of the team 

to help you accomplish that mission. Sometimes you may have to 

search for the right person, but they’re there to root you on. So solo 

entrepreneur is an oxymoron. It’s a team job. 

Ms. MEADOR. I would also like to state that one advantage about 

SBA and being an SBA lender is that we are able to provide more 

capital than most conventional loans due to collateral limitations. 

We also have the ability to amortize it out longer than traditional 
46 

bank loans. So that gives a chance for the small business to basically—what I say—breathe or have those learning curves without 

shutting the doors. That’s just vital for any small business 

And, also, we have a lot more flexibility during the first couple 

of years. If you need to be on interest-only for a little while, that 

is also a great SBA benefit, giving us, as a commercial lender, that 

extra avenue, because a lot of commercial loans don’t have that option. They’ll either say, ‘‘Look, I can advance you $75,000,’’ when 

you really needed $100,000. 

And a lot of veterans say, ‘‘Hey, I just want to get started,’’ and 

they don’t think about what’s going to happen when they get close 

to the finish line and they only have $75,000 when they needed 

$100,000. It can mean all the difference in being able to keep the 

doors open or having to shut the doors. 

Like the gentlemen have said, they don’t stop. They keep going, 

but it’s a struggle. And the great thing about SBA and being able 

to put an SBA loan together is that even though it’s a struggle, the 

SBA loan really does help them keep the doors open and get past 

that struggle so they can build on and keep growing. 

Ms. HULIT. I’ve heard a lot of the strengths that come with being 

a veteran and some of the unique skills that you have as successful 

entrepreneurs. Are there any particular challenges of being a veteran-owned small business? 

Clearly, the scheduling of the Guard and Reserve is a particular 

challenge for an entrepreneur. But are there any other challenges 

that come with being a veteran-owned small business that’s different from civilian, from your perspective? 

Mr. KIDD. Well, just to add to that, I don’t think there’s any challenges to that part. I think there’s more benefits to being a veteran. 

There’s a lot more help to veterans than, say, the average person 

that doesn’t have that background. The challenges that veterans 

are going to face are the same that every other business owner is 

going to face, because they’re just going to be there. That’s just 

part of the deal. But, again, I only see benefits from being a veteran. I really do. 

Senator PRYOR. I know, Ms. Nelson, you mentioned something 

that you have—I think it’s Boots to Business—at Little Rock Air 

Force Base. Tell us about that and how that’s going. Of course, Little Rock Air Force Base—and, again, most people in the military 

know this. There’s a huge active duty component, but there’s also 

a big Guard presence there. 

Ms. NELSON. Well, this is a part of the national initiative that 

was rolled out first as a pilot program and then expanded to bases 

and various installations all over the country. We started ours 

about May, I think. The challenge for us has been marketing it. 

We have actually been a part of the transition program out there 

for years. Sometimes our SCORE volunteers do it, and sometimes 

we would participate as well. So we’ve been out there. But this is 

a more focused and in-depth entrepreneur training that was developed in conjunction with the Department of Defense. 

So we’re seeing now more participation, so we’ve just got to do 

a little bit better job. And we want to reach out to the Guard and 

Reserve and other places as well as we can with a staff of 10. But 

I’ve got six veterans, so I can do it. 
47 

Senator PRYOR. But are you seeing numbers increase out there? 

Are you seeing more and more people participate? 

Ms. NELSON. We are. This last time we had, I think, 15, and it’s 

two days that we participate. So it’s a little bit challenging staffing 

wise, but if we can reach them, it’s worth it. 

Senator PRYOR. So we’ve gone through this discussion, and I 

know that some of this may have prompted other ideas or suggestions or stories on your part. Does anybody want to add something? 

We’re going to break up here in just a little bit. But does anybody 

want to add something or tell us something that we’ve missed or 

that we’re not quite getting right? 

Ms. MEADOR. I think the only thing I want to add or make sure 

people realize with veterans is that they have a great no-stop personality, and you really can’t separate that from small business 

owners, because, as a lender, I always say we’re the most pessimistic people out there. We always think about what’s the worst 

that is going to happen, that the world is going to collapse, and we 

are clearly pointing out the negatives when we are meeting with 

people. 

But veterans want to learn. They’re open minded. And it’s really 

great that we have products out there that are willing to assist 

them and get them into being successful entrepreneurs, because, as 

we noted in all of the conversations today, their personality alone 

can really make a huge difference in the economic growth not only 

of Arkansas but the whole country. 

I’m excited that you’ve been able to provide this opportunity for 

us to learn all about each other. I’ve learned a lot, not just from 

doing lending, but just from sitting here and seeing what kind of 

initiatives we have. It’s always great to hear that Arkansas has 

something special, but it’s always great when the country comes together in making sure that we can do something together as a 

team, because it’s a team effort. We all have to come together in 

order to be successful. 

Senator PRYOR. That’s right. Let me also ask, if I may—I know 

that Ms. Roderick has mentioned before to me and other contacts, 

and I’ve heard a couple of other people say it as well today, about 

having a good mentor. Is that your experience, too, in terms of 

lending, if there’s a mentor in the picture, someone who’s been 

through it before? Tell us how important that is. 

Ms. MEADOR. Absolutely. That’s a great point. What I tell a lot 

of small business owners is—and a lot of people don’t realize this— 

if you’re wanting to start a business, sometimes it not just about 

being a good cook. 

Sometimes people want to start a restaurant and say, ‘‘I’m a 

great cook.’’ That’s actually a very small part of being a small business owner. You actually have to learn how to hire and fire employees, do things that you don’t want to do, such as know what financial statements mean. And not everybody can do those things. 

So if you’re not good at numbers, or if you’re not good at being 

able to hire and fire, or those kinds of things, you’ve got to have 

good people beside you. So I make sure when I’m visiting with a 

small business owner to find out where the weaknesses are. If they 

don’t understand financial statements, they’d better get an ac-
48 

countant with them that can help them so they can make sure they 

prepare their tax returns properly. 

We also work, obviously, very well with the Small Business Technology Development Centers, because some of them don’t know 

how to market. Marketing is a big problem, and they don’t have 

the budget to do that. So having the resource of the SBTDC to provide that at no charge is great. 

So, again, to kind of reiterate the team effort, when you’re a 

small business owner, you cannot do this by yourself. We all have 

weaknesses. We all know what we’re good at. And if you’re not 

good at some part of your business, you’d better find a mentor, or 

you’d better find somebody that can help guide you and provide you 

with the proper steps so that those weaknesses don’t end up becoming a huge issue for your small business. 

Ms. HULIT. I don’t have any other questions. I do want to just 

say thank you to all the small businesses that came today and took 

the time from your businesses to be here. Clearly, you are an inspiration. You know, when you’re providing a service like the SBA, 

you know you’re doing good. But it really helps when you hear it. 

It really does—to hear that there’s a tangible result from the good 

work that our staff does. 

So I just really want to thank everybody for coming. I’m inspired 

by your stories, and I’ve taken some notes here on some ideas on 

how we can do a better job of making sure that the folks in your 

communities and the veteran community and the small business 

community know what we can do. 

But I also want to thank the Senator for his leadership on the 

Small Business Committee. It’s a tremendous effort that you make 

in making sure that the small business and the veteran communities’ concerns are heard and addressed, and that the federal government is paying attention. So, thank you, Senator. 

Senator PRYOR. Thank you. Thank you again for being here. 

I do have one more question before we close. Let me just tell you 

a little bit about my experience. I mentioned earlier that I hire veterans. I have a couple of them here in the room with me right now. 

But one thing I’ve noticed is that when you hire a veteran, they 

want to hire other veterans. 

And I think the reason for that is that they—even though, let’s 

say, one guy is in the Army Guard and someone else is in the Air 

Force, they still have this frame of reference with that person. 

They know about their training, and they know the various things 

they’ve gone through to get to where they were in the military, et 

cetera. It really ends up being a great network. 

I’m curious about you guys that have your businesses. Are you 

more likely to hire veterans? Of course, it’s great with me if you 

do, because one of the things we’re looking at is the unemployment 

rate in veterans. But I am curious if that really translates into the 

private sector like I’ve seen in my office. So who wants to go first? 

Mr. WALLACE. Particularly in the corporate world, I make it a 

point to hire every veteran I can find. One of the main reasons is 

you can tell a veteran to meet me in the swamp at zero-100 hours 

in the morning or on a Saturday night, and he’s going to be there. 

And they understand that. 
49 

Typically, the veterans that would come in—if they did not have 

industry experience, they would be green, but they’re a quick study 

and they learn. I’m just a big believer, and every veteran I can find 

I bring on board. Most of my supervisors on disasters are veterans, 

and it doesn’t make any difference if it’s Marines, Navy, Air Force. 

It’s all the same quality. 

Senator PRYOR. I actually met with a business owner earlier 

today, and he said he hires veterans. He’s kind of surrounded—his 

management team is all vets. 

Anybody else want to talk about hiring vets? 

Mr. KIDD. Well, again, I agree with David. You know, unfortunately, in my business, I don’t have a lot of veterans that want to 

be cashiers, line cooks, and so forth. However, the idea that Ms. 

Hulit said earlier about the franchise is very appealing as I look 

to grow in the future and to be able to promote something like that 

to veterans who are looking specifically for some type of venture 

like that. 

Senator PRYOR. Does anybody else have anything to add? Well, 

listen, I want to say this. I want to say thank you to all our panelists and thank you all for being here. You’re focusing on a very important segment of the U.S. economy and a very important part of 

Arkansas’ economy, and that is taking this amazing training and 

dedication, like you mentioned a minute ago, and their commitment to get it done, just that can-do attitude, and getting it out 

there in the private sector and really doing amazing things. That’s 

been my experience in hiring veterans. 

But, anyway, I want to thank all of our panelists for being here, 

but especially Administrator Hulit for being here, because she 

probably came the longest distance today to be here. But we really 

do appreciate her, and we appreciate SBA. You know, this is one 

of those agencies that really does a lot of good out there. 

There’s a long, long list of extremely successful companies—some 

of them are Fortune 500 companies—that have come through the 

SBA. Somehow, some way, they got a start, got some help early on, 

and really got over a significant hump. 

So we really appreciate what SBA does, and we know that keying in on the veterans’ needs and that segment of the population 

is really going to pay big dividends for everybody. So, again, thank 

you for being here. 

Also, I want to announce that this is an official hearing of the 

Senate. And we’re going to keep the record open for two weeks to 

allow my colleagues, if they want to, to submit questions for the 

record. So it’s very possible that one or two of you guys will get 

questions from some Senator you’ve never heard of. 

But they may have a question, or they may want to know more, 

and we have a little bit of the staff from D.C. down here to watch, 

and they’ll kind of get the word to other offices about how the hearing went, et cetera. If we do get those questions, we’d like a pretty 

quick turnaround on your responses. So what we’ll do is keep the 

record open for two weeks to try to encourage any Senators who 

want to ask additional questions to do that. 

But with that, I want to say, again, thank you. Thank you for 

the audience. Thanks to everybody for being here. I just want to 
50 

say what SBA does is great. What SBA in Arkansas does is great, 

and all the partners here. 

I really want to give a special thanks to UALR for allowing us 

to be here today—great facilities. This is an institution that does 

so many great things, not just here in Little Rock, but all around 

the state and really all around the country and world, for that matter. But, anyway, we thank you all for being here. 

And with that, we’ll adjourn, and we’ll leave the record open for 

two weeks. 

Thank you. 

[Whereupon, at 11:40 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.] 
(51) 

APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED 
52 

Æ 

November 5, 2013 

Lena Postanowicz 

Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship 

United States Senate 

Washington, DC 20510-6350 

Dear Ms. Postanowicz: 

I am Damian M. Coleman, President and Owner of Marquette GIS, Inc. I served in the 

US Army as a Topographic Analyst from April 1997 until I was medically discharged in January 

of2002. I was able to use my military training to obtain ajob as a GIS Analyst after being 

discharged. I worked a couple of years for a firm that performed contract work for the 

Department of Defense. I decided to pursue work as an independent contractor which led to me 

start a consulting firm. Marquette GIS, Inc. is a full service geo-spatial consulting and staffing 

firm that provides assistance for all stages and levels of GIS projects. The company has also 

been sought out to perform IT recruiting for multiple agencies within state governments. 

My experiences with the SBA and the Small Business Technology Development Center 

(SBTDC) were great. With the help of these two agencies I was able to get assistance with the 

development of a business plan and secure a loan to help expand my business. The SBA loans 

have been used to purchase a building the will support future growth and provide capital to 

temporarily assist with payroll as the company grows. The SBTDC representative, Nancy 

Knighten, went well beyond what I think her position should require. To help me meet a 

deadline, she communicated with me during the evening hours and over the weekend to ensure 

that I had my business plan ready for Monday morning. I wish that I had known about the SBA 

and their services earlier in my business setup process. 

J look forward to participating in the field hearing on Friday, November 8, 2013. If you 

have any questions, please contact me directly at (50 I) 291-4471. 

Sincerely, 

Damian M. Coleman, GISP 

President & Owner 

2225 Main Street, Little Rock. AR 72206-1529 • ph:(50 I) 291-4471 fux(888) 307-4457 • info@marquettegis.com