Chris Holman welcomes back Laketa Henderson, District Director of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)’s Michigan District Office, Detroit, MI.

Watch Laketa and Chris discuss access to capital, lending, regulations, rural businesses and resources available to help companies grow, and their various SBA tour stops across Michigan in September,  in the YouTube video shared below:

Chris wanted to find out several things from Laketa in this conversation:

• Laketa, Acting Regional Administrator Brad Zaun has been visiting Michigan businesses and meeting with lenders and resource partners. What are you hearing from those conversations about the biggest challenges facing small businesses?

• The roundtables are looking closely at access to capital and SBA lending programs. What are you hearing from lenders, and what can small businesses do to improve their chances of getting financing?

• Acting Chief Advocate Everette Woodel will also be visiting Michigan to hear directly from small businesses. What are you hoping to learn from those conversations about regulations, red tape and other barriers to growth?

• Then, September 21 through 25, SBA leaders will be traveling across the Upper Peninsula. What are the unique challenges you’re hearing from rural businesses, and how can the SBA help them access capital, counseling and federal contracting opportunities?

• You’ve shared a lot about what the SBA is hearing and doing across Michigan. What else would you like Michigan business owners to know about the resources, programs and opportunities available to help them grow?
  
  

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On 8/24 & 8/25 the Acting Regional Administrator Brad Zaun was set to be meeting and touring small businesses in Macomb County and in Ingham County. He will be holding two roundtables: one with lenders and another with resource partners. 

• Lender / Resource Partner Roundtables will discuss and explore:

• Updates: Modernizing Capital Access & Lending Criteria
• Evaluating the “5 Cs of Credit”: Sharing insights on how Michigan lenders assess Character, Capacity, Capital, Collateral, and Conditions in a changing interest rate environment.

• SBA Loan Flexibilities: Maximizing utilization of the SBA 7(a), 504, and Microloan programs to lower barriers for higher-risk borrowers.
• Lender Match Optimization: Finding ways to better utilize the federal SBA Lender Match portal to instantly route credit-ready businesses to participating local banks.
• Fee Relief Programs: Driving awareness of programs like the Veterans Advantage initiative, which reduces upfront guarantee fees to incentivize veteran entrepreneurship

• Deregulatory & Safety Updates: Discussing implementation of new executive orders regarding regulatory review, small business labor safety, and TSCA chemical risk compliance.
• New Small Business Size Standards: Analyzing the SBA’s newly proposed rules modifying NAICS size thresholds, which expand eligibility so more Michigan firms can qualify for small business aid.
  
  

Cybersecurity Compliance (CMMC): Clarifying recent Department of Defense suspensions and modifications to Phase II Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification requirements for local defense contractors.  

On 9/16/26, the Acting Chief Advocate Everette Woodel will be visiting Michigan businesses, and holding roundtables to hear from small business owners, collaborators and resource partners about those things that are barriers to economic growth and how the office of advocacy is helping to remove those barriers. 

The following will be discussed:

• Eliminating Red Tape and Regulatory Burdens
• New SBA Rules and Compliance Tools
• Fostering Collaboration with State Resource Partners
• Listening and Feedback Strategy (Roundtables, listening sessions)
  
  

On 9/21/26 – 9/25/26, the Regional Administrator / National Rural Affairs Direct. / Regional Advocate and the MDO District Director and team will tour the U.P. Peninsula for ASK SBA. We will be holding a series of Town Halls and Roundtables across the U.P. and visiting small businesses. Our primary talking point is to inform the entire ecosystem about new federal rural initiatives designed to help with, accessing capital and explaining how the new rural affairs office will deploy specialized capital, counseling, and federal contracting resources tailored to remote and lower-density areas like the U.P. We want to hear their pain points and those barriers that are preventing their businesses from scaling.

Additional information: 

Michigan’s entrepreneurial spirit is exceptionally strong, logging 152,060 new business applications in 2025 (a massive 60.9% jump from the pre-pandemic baseline). State data shows that momentum is continuing upward, with total filings up over 12%. 

Through May 2026, total business applications in Michigan were up 12.3% compared to the same period in 2025.

SBA and the Michigan Strategic Fund deployed over $1.1 million via the State Trade Expansion Program (MI-STEP) to help small businesses access global markets and it was just awarded $900.000 again. Additionally, traditional SBA 7(a) and 504 loan approvals in Michigan reached $1.1 billion across more than 2,600 loans, proving access to capital is a major economic engine.