Latest / Small Biz Florida / Ep 428 | Beyond the Loan: SBA Resources for Growth with Jonel Hein & Clemence Garcia

Transcript

Ep 428 | Beyond the Loan: SBA Resources for Growth with Jonel Hein & Clemence Garcia · Small Biz Florida

• 0:00
  Welcome to Small Biz Florida, your go-to podcast for all things small business in the Sunshine State.
• 0:08
  This podcast is sponsored by Florida First Capital, your trusted partner for financing and support.
• 0:13
  Here, you'll discover the latest news, trends, and invaluable resources to help you grow and succeed.
• 0:19
  From startup strategies to scaling your business, we've got you covered.
• 0:23
  Join us as we explore the vibrant Florida small business ecosystem
• 0:27
  and connect you with the experts who can make a real difference.
• 0:31
  And now, please welcome your host, Tom Kindred,
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  Regional Director of the Small Business Development Center at Indian River State College.
• 0:39
  This is Small Biz Florida, the podcast and broadcast that's all things business across the state of Florida.
• 0:46
  If you've been tuning in lately, you know, Small Biz Florida is on the road again.
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  We are at the 2026 Small Business Success Summit.
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  Incredible gathering of small business owners, operators, entrepreneurs, and all of those agencies,
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  organizations that are supporting the small business community.
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  All taking place at the beautiful Sunseeker Resort here in Charlotte Harbor, Florida.
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  We have with us two of our very good friends from probably the most important resource for small business owners and operators and entrepreneurs.
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  We have with us our good friend, Janelle Hine and Clem Garcia from the SBA.
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  Janelle, Clem, welcome to Small Biz Florida.
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  Thank you, Tom.
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  Thanks, Tom.
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  Great to be here.
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  Yep.
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  Yep.
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  Now, I got to get titles in here.
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  So here we go.
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  Our good friend, Janelle Hine, is the District Director for the North Florida District Office of the SBA.
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  So she's up in Jacksonville.
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  Kind of covers the Panhandle in the north part of the state.
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  Clem is our Lender Relations Specialist with the South Florida District Office down in Miami.
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  And again, thank you guys for your time.
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  Appreciate your support of us and of the event here.
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  So you've heard me say many times, I know that Jonelle is a regular on Small Biz Florida.
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  This may be your first time.
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  Yes.
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  You've heard me say many, many times, I just, I'm so impressed, always impressed with the SBA, what you do, all the tools and resources.
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  I spent 20 years in private enterprise.
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  Number one, never knew about the SBDC, which I will regret for the rest of my life.
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  And never really understood the SBA and all that you do.
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  Clem, you gave a presentation a couple of years ago.
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  We did a presentation for real estate agents.
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  And it was one of the best presentations I had ever heard from the SBA.
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  I loved how you broke down.
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  Give me the acronym again.
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  It's three C's and a D or something.
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  Did I get that right, Clem?
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  Yeah.
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  Credit, counseling, what's the other C?
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  Contracts.
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  Contracts and disaster.
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  We've actually changed that in North Florida.
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  We now have it as four C's.
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  Yes.
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  So we do counseling, capital, contracting, and crisis.
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  Yes.
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  So four C's.
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  A little bit catchier than three C's and a D.
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  Yeah.
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  But I always remember that presentation, Clem, because it, I thought,
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  you know, it really captured all that you guys do.
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  And I thought, you know, I never really thought of all of that.
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  I mean, it's just, it is an incredible resource.
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  And, and you guys have all, there's only more that you've now done.
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  So I'm anxious to talk about it, but just real quickly for both of you, good old standard
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  question.
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  Just a little bit of your background pathway to your current role with the SBA.
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  And Janelle, we'll start with you.
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  Oh, mine's a long one.
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  You know that.
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  So 35 years with the agency all in Florida.
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  This is my only federal agency, but entered the agency as a part-time receptionist, part-time
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  clerk typist, have moved up through several of the positions in the field office.
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  My first 30 years were actually in Clem's office in Miami.
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  And then the last five have been in the Jacksonville office, but have been a loan officer, you know,
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  out doing marketing in different roles in the community, have been in our Tampa office, and
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  then went into leadership.
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  So deputy district director and now district director have been with the agency because
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  I truly believe in our mission.
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  We've got a mission of hope, a mission that allows people to realize the American dream of
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  business ownership.
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  So that's why I've stayed with the agency as long as I have.
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  Nice.
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  Clem, same kind of question, a background, pathway?
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  Sure.
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  Well, I was a commercial lender after college for about five years in New York, then went
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  on to grad school.
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  And then for the subsequent 20 years was in the financial services side, more on investing
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  in financial analysis.
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  And then the opportunity came to join the South Florida district office of Miami.
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  So pack my bags.
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  It'll be three years now in October.
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  And I can say I'm thrilled.
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  I, you know, I love the job and the mission of the SBA and what they're doing.
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  And, you know, I'm so excited and couldn't be more fortunate in terms of being in the Florida
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  market and South Florida, where it's a growth and opportunity to help entrepreneurs.
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  And we, obviously, I've had the opportunity in the last 12, 13, 14 years I've been in this
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  role to work with both of them.
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  Janelle was in the South Florida office for many years.
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  And, Clem, we, again, appreciated your support over the last couple of years working with you.
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  So let's just, I know, of course, everybody associates the SBA with lending.
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  So just give us a high level.
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  Don't need the exact figures.
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  But how much lending do your two offices will you do in a year?
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  Where are we maybe in 26?
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  Just give me that kind of broad stroke.
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  Well, I want to first talk about 25, obviously, because last year was a record-breaking year
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  for my office.
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  We actually were able to bust a billion.
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  And I know you had us on your podcast when we were able to announce that last year.
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  So 1.2 billion last year, billion with a B.
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  This year, if we continue at the pace that we're on right now, we will just top a billion dollars,
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  which is a repeat year for us, which is great.
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  We do not equal what South Florida does because, obviously, we don't have the population,
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  business population.
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  But I will let Clem give you his numbers.
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  And when we aggregate together, obviously, you'll be able to see the impact that we have
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  for the state of Florida.
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  Right.
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  And in South Florida, we're on track for fiscal 26 to exceed $2 billion in loan revenues.
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  And I could happily say or proudly say we're also on track to 4P.
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  as the number one district office in the entire SBA in terms of leading in terms of both loan
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  volume and volume and dollars.
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  I mean, that just, speaking of volume, that just speaks volumes about the power and the value
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  of the SBA.
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  Yeah.
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  But it also speaks to the power and the volume and the impact that the leadership in Florida has.
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  And the impact that our partners, like the SBDC, provide to small businesses here in the state
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  of Florida as well.
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  We're a business friendly state, right?
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  We have the most small business startup since 2012.
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  We lead the nation.
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  We have more businesses that are moving into the state of Florida because we are a business
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  friendly state.
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  So it makes sense that we would be leading the path.
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  But almost $4 billion in 2025 that we did just as the state of Florida.
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  We lead our region.
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  Happy to say that.
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  You know, I mean, we lead the nation.
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  I'm, you know, not bad to be Floridian.
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  No, not bad.
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  Especially if you're going to be in small business.
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  Right.
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  So I know that, you know, for years, SBA 7A loan, SBA 504 loan, maybe some micro lending.
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  But in the last couple of years, you guys really have expanded the product.
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  Is that a fair statement?
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  That's a fair statement.
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  Correct.
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  So talk to me about new products, new lending opportunities for the state of Florida.
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  Well, we in the last couple of years, we've had some new programs come about a couple of
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  new programs for working capital under our 7A program, the working capital pilot program,
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  which was focused on more transactional based or asset based lending.
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  It's modeled after two other programs that we already have that were in existence for many
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  years.
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  More of a revolving line.
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  We have another one that is more focused on manufacturers, which is a big push for this
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  administration and something that really has been a focus of our district offices here
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  in Florida.
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  Big for also the, you know, leadership in Florida.
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  You know, Secretary Kelly, Alex Kelly, has been very pro manufacturing as well.
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  I think we just topped 27,000 manufacturers in the state of Florida.
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  So we rolled out a particular program called the MARC program, which stands for Manufacturers
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  Access to Revolving Credit.
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  Again, line of credit.
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  It's actually a combination line of credit and a term loan that provided just for those
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  businesses that are in the manufacturing industry, a line of credit up to $5 million for a longer
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  term of the loan.
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  So it could be up to 10 years revolving credit and then our line of credit and then up to
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  10 years that would be term loan, which is different than our traditional lines.
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  Our traditional lines typically only go maybe a maximum of 10 years.
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  So it offered that kind of space or facility for manufacturers.
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  Talk to us about the grocery guarantee program.
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  I'm going to let Clem talk about that.
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  Yeah.
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  Kind of ag related, ag product.
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  Yes.
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  For those industries in the agriculture and food services industry, this new program provides
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  up to 90%.
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  It's a 90% guarantee.
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  Correct.
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  Yeah.
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  For?
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  It's not a new program though.
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  So it's our international trade loan program, which has been around for years.
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  But what we did was we took something that was normally used for businesses that are going
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  into the international market.
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  And we've turned that focus now onto domestic production.
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  Yep.
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  Yep.
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  And basically, you know, companies in food production, agriculture, certain mix codes will be able
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  to benefit from that increased access to capital.
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  And it included logistics companies.
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  So those that are transporting those products, cold storage.
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  We even included energy now that was just recently announced as well.
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  So our agency is looking at different industries that are facing some challenges based on their
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  production capabilities here in the United States and how we can tweak existing programs
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  to assist with those industries.
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  Nice.
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  And then there's also been some talk of the decoupling of the 7A and the 504, which would
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  allow a higher limit for a business to borrow.
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  Talk a little bit about that.
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  Yeah.
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  For years, we looked at our programs as tandem programs, meaning that there was a lending limit
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  based on whether you had a 7A loan and a 504 loan.
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  Those together in an aggregate, you could reach a lending limit.
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  So our lending limit was $5 million.
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  So your maximum guarantee would be around $3.75 million if you had tapped into both programs.
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  Our agency decided that the actual original purpose of those programs was to be considered separately.
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  There are separate purposes.
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  So they should be considered separate programs.
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  So if they are sequenced properly, meaning that you actually are applying for and getting
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  approved for a 7A first, and then you could use the 504, which is more for fixed assets.
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  Secondly, then you could actually maximize both of them for the $5 million and in essence,
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  get ability of getting $10 million in financing.
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  Okay.
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  Makes sense.
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  So that's incredible, again, valuable resources, products.
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  What about the more boots on the ground type programming?
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  Both of your centers do regular trainings, webinars, have incredible resources.
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  Talk about more of that real face-to-face assistance that the SBA can provide.
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  Well, we do that virtually or in person.
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  I think both of our district offices provide one-on-one consulting services if people want
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  to come to our offices.
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  They can call or email as well.
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  We're available that way as well.
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  I know we do some regular training.
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  We have a Ready, Set, Go webinar every other month.
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  We have Welcome in Wednesdays, the first Wednesday of each month, where we actually bring in some
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  resource partners as well.
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  But we do an overview of what our programs are.
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  So we are welcoming in the small business community in Jacksonville if they want to come into our
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  office.
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  But we've made a big push in our district in the North to go to every one of our 43 counties
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  this fiscal year.
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  And we've actually met that.
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  As of July, we have gone to every single 43 counties that we have in person.
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  A lot of it has been helpful to go with our rural roadshow with Florida Commerce and the
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  Florida SBDC Network and get boots on the ground in those communities that we haven't been to
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  really since the pandemic.
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  And I know, Clint, that you obviously are very active.
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  You have partnered with us on multiple trainings.
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  We've done a Are You Credit?
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  Are You Lender Ready?
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  Are You Lender Ready?
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  Yeah.
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  Talk a little bit about that program and what the purpose goal of that program is.
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  Sure.
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  You know, it was actually a program that was organized and created by the head office and
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  given to all of the district offices in the country.
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  when it came to the South Florida District Office, I followed the program, but I took it
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  just a step further, but utilizing it to reach out to each of the specific counties and partnering
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  with whether it's the SBDC or economic development of that particular county.
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  So we would have a webinar component where you participated, Tom, and I appreciate it.
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  And there we cover whether it's getting your credit ready, understanding business credit.
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  And then we also have case studies in order to help businesses become lender ready.
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  But then there's a live component where you reach out with the county or the SBDC and we
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  would have a live in-person either meet the lenders panel and or lender expo or resource partners expo.
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  So we're trying to leverage all that.
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  So it would be the small businesses after they attend a webinar and become lender ready
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  and then take that to the next step to meet the lenders and the resource partners of the county.
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  Again, it's just just even talking here today.
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  It just it is impressive the kind of resources.
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  And again, I don't know what it looks like in the rest of the country.
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  Maybe maybe you two are just phenomenal SBA folks.
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  But I again, I've always been impressed with with the work that these district offices do, the engagement that you have with us at the SBDC.
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  Just a lot of a lot of very powerful, useful programs that you guys bring out into the marketplace.
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  Well, we appreciate your coordination with us for sure.
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  I mean, we couldn't do it without you.
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  We are not very large offices for the territories that we cover.
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  Right.
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  I have eight people in North Florida.
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  I know South Florida has nine people.
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  So we're doing more with less and less and less.
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  But we are leveraging partnerships to make sure that we can get boots on the ground and the information out there to the small businesses that really need it.
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  And for the listeners, you know, you can go to SBA.gov forward slash events.
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  And there you could see all the listings of the mostly free events from both the SBA and its resource partners, including SBDC.
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  And not just in Florida, but you can access offerings throughout the country.
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  And you can listen to it from the convenience of your own laptop and get free trainings.
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  And again, just the website itself, SBA.gov.
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  Incredible resource for entrepreneurs and small business owners.
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  So it is our very good friend, Jonelle Hine, who is the district director at the North Florida District Office of the SBA.
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  And our very good friend, Clem Garcia, who is the lender relations specialist at the South Florida District Office.
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  Both of you, thank you for the partnership.
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  Thank you for the support.
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  Thank you for being here and supporting the 2026 Small Business Success Summit.
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  And thank you for all you do for Florida's small business community.
• 18:30
  Thank you.
• 18:31
  And happy 50th anniversary.
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  Yes, happy 50th.
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  Thank you, Tom.
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  Yes, not me personally.
• 18:36
  No, no, no.
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  For the SBDC network.
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  We're close, but not quite 50.
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  But yes, 50th anniversary of the SBDC.
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  Absolutely.
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  Thank you, guys.
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  Great.
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  Thank you.
• 18:48
  This is Small Biz Florida, the podcast and broadcast.
• 18:51
  It's all things business across the state of Florida.
• 18:54
  I am Tom Kinderg, your host.
• 18:55
  It is all about small business here at the 2026 Small Business Success Summit, all taking place in beautiful Charlotte Harbor, Florida.
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  Stay tuned.
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  A whole lot more to come.
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  This is Small Biz Florida.
• 19:07
  That's all for this episode of Small Biz Florida.
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  We hope you found valuable insights and inspiration to fuel your entrepreneurial journey.
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• 19:30
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• 19:38
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• 19:42
  Until then, keep innovating and keep growing.
• 19:45
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• 19:46
  We'll see you next time.
• 19:46
  Bye.
• 19:47
  Bye.
• 19:49
  you
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  you