Latest / Sid & Friends In The Morning / Kelly Loeffler | 06-24-26
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: We have Head of Small Business Administration, Kelly Loffler joining
- 0:03Speaker 1: us right here in the studio. Bonnie's giving her time
- 0:06Speaker 1: for now for that, So, miss Laufler, thank you so
- 0:09Speaker 1: much for joining us. We've been talking about these results
- 0:13Speaker 1: of these elections here in New York last night. Frightening
- 0:15Speaker 1: results in our collective opinion, Communists, socialists winning these congressional campaigns.
- 0:21Speaker 1: And they all pretend to run like they're hoping to
- 0:24Speaker 1: boost the economy, hoping to be friends to small businesses
- 0:28Speaker 1: across the country. And yet, and yet, and yet, all
- 0:30Speaker 1: they do is talk about it, seem only interested in
- 0:33Speaker 1: Israel or bashing is I mean, small business people have
- 0:36Speaker 1: to be talking to you about this, Jake.
- 0:38Speaker 2: First of all, it's great to be with y'all in
- 0:40Speaker 2: this room. This is incredible. I'm thrilled to be in
- 0:42Speaker 2: New York. I'm saddened that they have now characterized New
- 0:44Speaker 2: York as the corridor of communism. It's the capital of capitalism.
- 0:50Speaker 2: Should be, it absolutely should be. There are two point
- 0:53Speaker 2: nine million small businesses in New York alone, employing four
- 0:58Speaker 2: million New york I have walked factory floors in New York.
- 1:02Speaker 2: In fact, I'm heading out to Long Island to visit
- 1:04Speaker 2: a small manufacturer. Imagine this group seizing the means of production,
- 1:10Speaker 2: becoming you know, can barely run the city. Now they're
- 1:13Speaker 2: going to be talking about running your small business and
- 1:16Speaker 2: being responsible for your family's livelihood and income. And you
- 1:21Speaker 2: know the benefits that these small businesses provide their hard
- 1:24Speaker 2: working families. And so you know, we're advocating at the
- 1:29Speaker 2: SBA to celebrate free enterprise. That's what built this country.
- 1:32Speaker 2: Before our founders were founding fathers, they were small business
- 1:36Speaker 2: owners and founders. That is the history of this nation
- 1:39Speaker 2: for two hundred and fifty years, and we have to
- 1:41Speaker 2: fight to make sure that it will be the next
- 1:43Speaker 2: two hundred and fifty years.
- 1:44Speaker 1: Here's another reality that I know that you know well,
- 1:46Speaker 1: Kelly Laffler. Job growth in America is all from small business.
- 1:51Speaker 1: The big corporations when you hear they're hiring, it means
- 1:54Speaker 1: they cut somewhere else. The only real you know, so
- 1:57Speaker 1: when people say, well I saw this job supported and
- 1:59Speaker 1: it was only this little bit, that's how jobs get
- 2:01Speaker 1: created in this country. That's where we get the net gains.
- 2:05Speaker 1: What are we seeing from this what are they telling
- 2:07Speaker 1: you now is their you know, let's not all be
- 2:09Speaker 1: all negative. What's their best positive right now and also
- 2:12Speaker 1: their biggest negative.
- 2:13Speaker 2: Yeah, So small businesses across this country, one year after
- 2:17Speaker 2: the working family tax cut has gone into effect, are
- 2:20Speaker 2: really spring loaded because they needed to know that they
- 2:23Speaker 2: weren't going to be massively taxed. Remember, the Democrats voted
- 2:26Speaker 2: for a five trillion dollar tax increase on the American
- 2:29Speaker 2: people that would have resulted not just in small business closures,
- 2:32Speaker 2: but the loss of millions of jobs. So small businesses
- 2:35Speaker 2: are breathing a huge sigh of relief for the last year,
- 2:38Speaker 2: which is why we have all time record business formation
- 2:41Speaker 2: in this nation month after month after month this year.
- 2:45Speaker 2: And small businesses, which you're exactly right, Jake, create two
- 2:49Speaker 2: out of every three new jobs, about upwards of seventy
- 2:52Speaker 2: eighty percent of most jobs. We just created in the
- 2:54Speaker 2: last three months, five hundred and sixty thousand new jobs,
- 2:58Speaker 2: blowing away estimates. The estimates were for half of that.
- 3:02Speaker 2: And so small businesses are just glad that the era
- 3:05Speaker 2: of massive regulation, big government, high taxes is out of
- 3:09Speaker 2: the way and let them run. Mainly, they say, just
- 3:11Speaker 2: get out of the way and let us do what
- 3:13Speaker 2: we do best. And that is exactly what President Trump
- 3:16Speaker 2: is doing for this country.
- 3:17Speaker 1: One of the biggest gauges of business and economy in America,
- 3:21Speaker 1: in my opinion, is pickup sales. When you see that
- 3:24Speaker 1: the Ford F one fifty is still the number one
- 3:26Speaker 1: selling vehicle in America, but now getting a run for
- 3:28Speaker 1: its money from the Chevy Silverado. We want all this
- 3:30Speaker 1: to happen. You know that it's plumbing companies, contractors, maybe
- 3:34Speaker 1: even a florist who needs a pickup to make a
- 3:36Speaker 1: delivery at a wedding. That's when you know things are
- 3:38Speaker 1: going well. And even with the supply problem that Ford
- 3:41Speaker 1: had with the uswego plant, aluminum, plant burning, and all
- 3:44Speaker 1: that kind of stuff, it's still pumping them out. We
- 3:47Speaker 1: were just talking before you came in. We want to
- 3:49Speaker 1: see more of our education directed to blue collar jobs
- 3:53Speaker 1: and blue collar skills as can a small business. Is
- 3:58Speaker 1: there still a bias I mean, not for you personally
- 4:00Speaker 1: on it, but you see in the swamp and you
- 4:02Speaker 1: see a bias against small businesses that might be blue
- 4:04Speaker 1: collar getting an SBA loan or something like that. I mean,
- 4:07Speaker 1: is there anything in their way?
- 4:09Speaker 2: Not in the Trump administration. In fact, we're getting it
- 4:11Speaker 2: out of the way. In fact, we've just promulgated rules
- 4:14Speaker 2: to ensure that federal contracting cannot discriminate against white owned
- 4:19Speaker 2: small businesses in the way that the Biden administration did.
- 4:23Speaker 2: But even more to your point, this is about an
- 4:25Speaker 2: opportunity for all small businesses from of all backgrounds. If
- 4:30Speaker 2: you're qualified, you can get an SBA loan, but you
- 4:32Speaker 2: have to meet the standards. We're not going to waive
- 4:34Speaker 2: it for certain people. And that's why the SBA last
- 4:37Speaker 2: year put out record capital forty five billion to eighty
- 4:40Speaker 2: five thousand small businesses, but also put the guardrails back
- 4:44Speaker 2: up on lending, no more green new deal DEI type lending.
- 4:48Speaker 2: Let me just say about your comment about Ford and
- 4:51Speaker 2: Chevy trucks. There's a massive amount of small businesses in
- 4:54Speaker 2: those supply chains that employ hard working Americans that are
- 4:58Speaker 2: tradesmen and women. And I am thrilled that trade school
- 5:02Speaker 2: is coming back in this country. I was last week
- 5:05Speaker 2: with the Labor Secretary. We're traveling around Michigan meeting with
- 5:09Speaker 2: trade schools, watching young kids learn everything from welding to
- 5:13Speaker 2: manufacturing using robotics for semiconductors. So this nation is going
- 5:18Speaker 2: to be a nation of builders again thanks to President Trump.
- 5:21Speaker 1: You know, I think a couple of years ago, and
- 5:23Speaker 1: this was this was before President Trump came back into office.
- 5:25Speaker 1: Show me that again. It's it's the business people, small
- 5:28Speaker 1: and large to do things. It was a it was
- 5:30Speaker 1: a Coca Cola Cola bottler that donated a big eighteen
- 5:33Speaker 1: wheeler Coca Cola truck to a to a trucking school
- 5:37Speaker 1: in you know, in the South. So it's not Businesses
- 5:41Speaker 1: aren't just creating jobs, they're also giving back in their
- 5:43Speaker 1: own way.
- 5:44Speaker 2: Absolutely. Look think about you know, who sponsors the local
- 5:47Speaker 2: softball team, the little league, Who sponsors the parades and
- 5:50Speaker 2: everything that happens on main street across this country. Who says,
- 5:54Speaker 2: I see a police officer walking in, I'm going to
- 5:57Speaker 2: buy his lunch. That's the small business owner. They honor
- 6:00Speaker 2: our hardest working Americans, they honor our veterans, They give back,
- 6:04Speaker 2: They create jobs, and look, they're the biggest provider of
- 6:08Speaker 2: job training. Think about your first job, probably at a
- 6:11Speaker 2: small business. They taught you to show up on time,
- 6:14Speaker 2: punch the time clock. That's what small businesses do. And
- 6:17Speaker 2: now formally the Trump administration is supporting one million apprenticeships.
- 6:21Speaker 2: A lot of those are going to happen at small
- 6:23Speaker 2: businesses to have those work based learning opportunities for young people.
- 6:28Speaker 3: Kelly, this is Fernando Matteo. Welcome to the studios, and
- 6:32Speaker 3: we're honored to have you here. We know you work
- 6:34Speaker 3: very hard to help small businesses here in New York
- 6:38Speaker 3: and probably around the country, but New York has lost
- 6:41Speaker 3: about sixteen thousand small businesses in the last year or so.
- 6:48Speaker 3: We see many of these businesses continue to shut down,
- 6:52Speaker 3: and we don't see a government here in New York
- 6:55Speaker 3: that's truly helping us in any way, shape or form.
- 6:58Speaker 3: You have bodego owners where crime is extremely high, working
- 7:02Speaker 3: the poorest areas of New York City. If you walk
- 7:06Speaker 3: up and down the main avenues, you see all these
- 7:09Speaker 3: shutdown stores, stores available. What can the SBA do to
- 7:14Speaker 3: help get these businesses reopened? With landlords that are asking
- 7:18Speaker 3: crazy rent because their mortgages are very high, is there
- 7:22Speaker 3: anything that the SBA can do to assist to help
- 7:27Speaker 3: open these businesses?
- 7:28Speaker 2: Again, Well, Fernando, it's great to be with you, and
- 7:31Speaker 2: I'm so glad you asked the question that way, because
- 7:33Speaker 2: absolutely there are things that the SBA does every single day.
- 7:37Speaker 2: Can we overcome some of the blue state blue city problems.
- 7:42Speaker 2: Maybe not in all cases, but we can make sure
- 7:44Speaker 2: that we have access to capital. Those SBA guaranteed small
- 7:48Speaker 2: business loans that by the way, operate at zero subsidy.
- 7:51Speaker 2: They are not subsidized by taxpayer, but they're subsidized by
- 7:55Speaker 2: a guarantee fee that is paid to the government, so
- 7:57Speaker 2: that one small business that isn't subsidizing other. We also
- 8:00Speaker 2: have small Business Development Centers that help small businesses navigate
- 8:04Speaker 2: the complexities of some of these regulatory or tax or
- 8:08Speaker 2: insurance or costs that they might be seeking advice for.
- 8:13Speaker 2: And then finally, we have our Veterans Business Opportunity Centers
- 8:17Speaker 2: that we support veterans, so we try to make sure
- 8:20Speaker 2: that we have something that serves every part of the market.
- 8:22Speaker 2: Even if you never use a loan product, we have
- 8:25Speaker 2: that counseling available.
- 8:27Speaker 1: Another topic you're an expert on, Kelly Loffler, Small Business
- 8:29Speaker 1: Administration chief is farming Central Illinois. Born and raised and
- 8:35Speaker 1: worked on a soybean farm. One of the places I
- 8:37Speaker 1: was a producer was Indicator, Illinois.
- 8:39Speaker 3: Well tell me you were there too.
- 8:40Speaker 1: I was there Indicator that was a WA and D
- 8:42Speaker 1: Indicator Illinois. I was a producer there as well, so
- 8:45Speaker 1: I know that region very very well. So let's talk
- 8:47Speaker 1: about another small business in America that's under the gun, farming,
- 8:51Speaker 1: and you know they're definitely there's been some serious ups
- 8:55Speaker 1: and downs there. Does the SBA have I mean, or
- 8:59Speaker 1: is this just something that they department overseas? Is the
- 9:01Speaker 1: SBA have any interaction with some of these farming businesses.
- 9:04Speaker 2: We absolutely do. And I'm so glad you're bringing up
- 9:06Speaker 2: America's original small business. I mean, most of America used
- 9:11Speaker 2: to be a grarian. Eighty five percent had their jobs
- 9:14Speaker 2: in farming or in farm communities. And look, I grew
- 9:17Speaker 2: up on a five generation family farm. My nephew's twenty seven.
- 9:20Speaker 2: He's still farming. But you rarely meet a twenty seven
- 9:23Speaker 2: year old farmer. And look, they've been hit in every way.
- 9:25Speaker 2: You've got a regulation that came out of the Green
- 9:28Speaker 2: New Deal that was very tough. That's a big area
- 9:32Speaker 2: in which the SBA can advocate is to fight for
- 9:36Speaker 2: farming and ensure that they're not squished by the big
- 9:39Speaker 2: bureaucratic state that threatens to put them out of business
- 9:43Speaker 2: through crazy environmental regulations that don't have any environmental benefit
- 9:48Speaker 2: but have enormous costs shouldered by our smallest businesses. And
- 9:52Speaker 2: by the way, food security is national security. Three years
- 9:55Speaker 2: ago America shockingly became a net importer of food. It's
- 9:59Speaker 2: their time in our history that we relied on external food.
- 10:02Speaker 2: So we've got to get those high burdensome costs, those
- 10:05Speaker 2: diesel exhaust fluid rules out of the way of work
- 10:08Speaker 2: closely with EPA Administrator Zelden and Secretary Rawlins at USDA
- 10:13Speaker 2: to do that, to fight for right to repair for
- 10:16Speaker 2: farmers and truckers that shouldn't have to pay high maintenance
- 10:19Speaker 2: costs on their equipment. So we're always advocating. And then
- 10:22Speaker 2: of course we have put seven billion in lending out
- 10:24Speaker 2: into rural communities because that it again relates back to
- 10:29Speaker 2: our infrastructure.
- 10:31Speaker 1: You know, you just gave a great argument for the
- 10:33Speaker 1: electoral College. Judget when we're going to talk about this
- 10:35Speaker 1: all the time. It was because our founding fathers knew
- 10:38Speaker 1: that these farmers and these leslie, you know, small populated
- 10:42Speaker 1: areas needed to have an equal standing or at least
- 10:45Speaker 1: a fair say. And you know, if we just if
- 10:48Speaker 1: we continue to push for these these large cities deciding
- 10:52Speaker 1: how we do We're gonna go We're gonna starve, aren't we.
- 10:54Speaker 2: Well, either that or we're going to become dependent on
- 10:56Speaker 2: our adversaries for food, which is not a good place
- 10:59Speaker 2: to be in. And you see that around the world.
- 11:01Speaker 2: These are the third world countries that we, you know,
- 11:05Speaker 2: do not ever want to even closely resemble, even though
- 11:08Speaker 2: some of our elections.
- 11:09Speaker 1: Look that way.
- 11:10Speaker 2: But you know, I think the big focus for us
- 11:13Speaker 2: has really been on how do we help these rural
- 11:16Speaker 2: communities thrive because they really represent what this country is about,
- 11:20Speaker 2: that independence, that personal responsibility, free enterprise. Because look, when
- 11:27Speaker 2: you're a farmer, you're a meteorologist, you're a mechanic, you're
- 11:30Speaker 2: an accountant, you're all things rolled into one person, and
- 11:34Speaker 2: you're driving a small business, often with two or three
- 11:37Speaker 2: employees maybe, and you're you. You live off the land.
- 11:41Speaker 2: No one's providing you days off or insurance plans. You're
- 11:44Speaker 2: providing for yourself. And that's a tough business.
- 11:47Speaker 4: Judge, Well, senator, it's good to see you again.
- 11:50Speaker 2: Thank you, Judge.
- 11:51Speaker 4: The fact of the matter is that the values of
- 11:55Speaker 4: this country come from rural America founding fathers work from
- 12:00Speaker 4: rural America. The trend today is that big cities are
- 12:03Speaker 4: dominating the collectivism of the left. With Mandami, the mayor
- 12:10Speaker 4: here calls warmth of collectivism. It's totally contrary to the
- 12:13Speaker 4: American individual spirit and how we all work together. But
- 12:17Speaker 4: we're not collectivists. And this attempt to abandon destroy the
- 12:21Speaker 4: electoral college means that we'll be governed by the extremes
- 12:25Speaker 4: of the coasts rather than the American values.
- 12:28Speaker 2: Well, that's right, and it consolidates power into the hands
- 12:30Speaker 2: of a very, very few people who are calling the
- 12:34Speaker 2: shots for the whole country. And what's amazing about our
- 12:36Speaker 2: constitutional republic is that you know, each state, you know,
- 12:40Speaker 2: it's fifty laboratories of democracy sorting out what works best
- 12:44Speaker 2: and people are voting with their feet. And the collectivism
- 12:48Speaker 2: would remove all that, you know, as they want to
- 12:50Speaker 2: remove the electoral college, pack the court, remove the ability
- 12:55Speaker 2: of that independence of individual thought or states, and it
- 13:00Speaker 2: goes on and on. So it's it's very threatening. We
- 13:02Speaker 2: should take this very very seriously. It's just troubling to
- 13:06Speaker 2: see this happening in New York City, which really you know,
- 13:09Speaker 2: two point nine million small businesses and to have leadership
- 13:13Speaker 2: talking about taking over their businesses is alarming.
- 13:17Speaker 1: Kelly lin Loffler, the administrator of the Small Business Administration,
- 13:21Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining us. And by the way,
- 13:24Speaker 1: I think this is the first time a Manhattan based
- 13:26Speaker 1: media program mentioned the Chevy Silverado in the Ford f
- 13:30Speaker 1: one fifty in our studios here.
- 13:32Speaker 2: We got I should do it more.
- 13:33Speaker 1: Yeah, you should believe me one of my big pet
- 13:35Speaker 1: peeves and all.
- 13:35Speaker 3: These es, Jake, could I get one more question in sure? Kelly.
- 13:40Speaker 3: By the way, you're so elegant, You're a beautiful lady.
- 13:43Speaker 3: I would like to ask you.
- 13:46Speaker 1: Breaking up our boys club in here. The women's club
- 13:49Speaker 1: is over there.
- 13:50Speaker 3: I would like to ask and invite you to Fernando
- 13:54Speaker 3: Matales No Excuses program because I speak to the small
- 13:58Speaker 3: business community or in New York and we are from
- 14:01Speaker 3: six to seven every Sunday, and I would like for
- 14:04Speaker 3: you to speak to our to my constituents, which is
- 14:09Speaker 3: the bodega owners, the cab drivers, the small business you know,
- 14:13Speaker 3: mom and pop shops in New York, because they need
- 14:16Speaker 3: to take advantage of what you're offering. A lot of
- 14:18Speaker 3: them don't understand what the SBA is about, and usually
- 14:23Speaker 3: they go to their bank for loans, and the banks
- 14:25Speaker 3: deny them and they don't know where to go.
- 14:27Speaker 2: Fernanda would be a great honor to join your show,
- 14:30Speaker 2: and I think at this time to be able to
- 14:32Speaker 2: support independent business owners, it's absolutely critical that we do that,
- 14:36Speaker 2: particularly here in New York City. So you have an
- 14:38Speaker 2: invitation and you ex think you my friend. Okay, you
- 14:41Speaker 2: heard it at six pm.
- 14:43Speaker 1: By the way, so don't worry.
- 14:46Speaker 4: As opposed to let the record show from six am.
- 14:50Speaker 4: Let the record show.
- 14:51Speaker 3: You know at six six pm.
- 14:53Speaker 1: Don't confuse them two different yess.
- 14:55Speaker 4: And the cats have caused me to sign a five
- 14:58Speaker 4: for six weeks every day.
- 15:00Speaker 5: All right, Thanks for listening to Sit and Friends in
- 15:03Speaker 5: the morning. You can hear Sit and Friends in the
- 15:06Speaker 5: morning weekday mornings at six. If you like the podcast,
- 15:09Speaker 5: share it with your friends and listen anytime at WABC
- 15:13Speaker 5: radio dot com and download the WABC Radio app. Hit
- 15:17Speaker 5: that subscribe button on all major podcast platforms. Plus, follow
- 15:21Speaker 5: WABC on social on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and X see
- 15:26Speaker 5: you next time for a new episode, so you never
- 15:29Speaker 5: have to wonder what the heck
- 15:30Speaker 4: Is going on here.