New SBA head plans changes at agency; focus now is COVID-19

NEW YORK (AP) — The new head of the Small Business Administration says she expects to make changes at the agency that she says will enable it to further help small companies devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In an interview with The Associated Press two days after her swearing-in, Isabella Casillas Guzman says her immediate focus is implementing small business provisions in the $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue package President Joseph Biden signed into law last week. But Guzman also foresees changes in the SBA’s loan programs and upgrades in its technology that ultimately will help companies. She’s hoping for feedback from business owners to help set the agency’s agenda.