WILMINGTON — Delaware’s top U.S. Small Business Administration official will retire at the end of May, leaving the state’s lone U.S. SBA office with just one employee to handle the full-time district field work.
Six employees—including a procurement representative, legal counsel and lending specialists —are currently tasked with handling Delaware-based U.S. SBA events and outreach from a downtown Wilmington office located in the I.M. Pei Building. But after U.S. SBA Delaware District Director Michelle Harris departs, only one staff member will remain to coordinate field operations with local agencies like chambers of commerce across the state as well as the Small Business Development Center.
Even though reports state the U.S. SBA has considered cutting staff by 40% in recent months, the downsizing of the Delaware office has happened over the course of years as team members are promoted, retire or seek work elsewhere, according to Harris and employee social media records.
Although voluntary or deferred resignations were reportedly issued to many agencies nationwide, including U.S. SBA offices, back in early April, Harris told the Delaware Business Times that she did not accept such an offer. Instead, she said that she is ready to step down and be with her family after working in various federal agencies for 35 years.
“I want to make sure my mother’s care is what it needs to be and so you know, with 35 years, it’s time to put some time into my family,” Harris said.
When she retires, Austen Colledge will be the acting director.
The Delaware District office is down to less than it was about a decade ago. In 2012, Delaware SBA had one economic development specialist per county that was able to work with each local partner like the chamber of commerce. The office was also supported by a director, a deputy district director, a lending specialist and a business opportunity specialist for government contracting, a publication for the office shows. But over time, many of these employees had moved to other venues or retired.
Harris first took the role of Delaware’s SBA Director after Jon Fleming was promoted to regional operations in 2022. Turnover continued when Jim Bishop, the economic development specialist for Sussex County, also left the agency in early 2024 and later when Robert Piechota, the former deputy under Harris, left in fall that year to lead the U.S. SBA office in Rhode Island.
SBA Resources
The U.S. SBA is a government agency that also serves as a one-stop shop to help thousands of entrepreneurs turn their dreams into reality. That ranges from working with banks on 7(a) and 504 loan programs that offer better terms to handling small companies as they compete for federal contracts.
In fiscal year 2024, 7(a) loans accounted for 244 awards to Delaware businesses at a total of $84.6 million. That program offers loans up to $5 million each for general needs like working capital, equipment or buying a company.
In the same fiscal year, five 504 loans were approved in Delaware for a collective $6.9 million. The 504 loan also goes up to $5 million each but is used for fixed assets such as real estate or large machinery.
The U.S. SBA also works with businesses to secure disaster loans in the case of floods and tornadoes and serves as a resource partner with organizations like the business mentorship network SCORE and the SBDC to offer free or low-cost training to rising businesses.
The Delaware SBA often participates in chamber events like the “Open for Business” programs in both Kent and New Castle County that offer free development programs. The SBA also has a seat at the table on the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce’s legislative affairs committee as well as the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Alliance. The Delaware SBA also routinely hosts an exhibit table at the New Castle County Chamber’s “Finding Funding” event for small businesses.
The high turnover in the Delaware District office, however,
could mean that resources are stretched thin when a start-up founder or a Delawarean with a dream comes to the office to navigate how to open a business. The COVID-19 pandemic served as a catalyst for more entrepreneurs to take the leap and start their own businesses, with the U.S. Treasury reporting that small businesses created more than 70% of net new jobs between 2019 and 2024.
In Delaware, there are 104,457 small businesses that
employ 201,082 people in the state– or close to half the working population.
Representatives of the New Castle County Chamber of Commerce, one of the Delaware SBA partner organizations, said that they have not heard of any drop-off in services from its members. Chamber representatives called the U.S. SBA an essential funding resource for start-ups and that their “support helps turn ideas into action and fuels sustainable growth across our region.”
“Made in America”
Under the Trump Administration, there have been significant shifts in the U.S. SBA’s mission. In March, President Donald Trump announced that the agency would manage the $1.7 trillion national student loan portfolio. Hiring was frozen as well.
At the same time, SBA Director Kelly Loeffler announced a “Made in America” initiative which would cut $100 billion in regulations, reduce barriers in the 504 loan program and create an Office of Manufacturing and Trade. These initiatives lock in the Trump administration’s goal of bringing back manufacturing jobs to the U.S., particularly in rural areas like Sussex and Kent County.
“The SBA is helping to power an industrial comeback – meeting massive demand to help America’s small producers expand operations, create good-paying jobs, and restore our supply chains. The Made in America initiative supports the President’s effort to cut regulations, expand access to capital, promote workforce development, and create a dedicated infrastructure to support small manufacturers,” a U.S. SBA spokeswoman wrote to DBT in an email.
There is also a new Manufacturing in America grant to provide funds to help businesses train staff and offer technical assistance to small manufacturers across the country. The deadline for this program is May 27.
Meanwhile, here in Delaware, Harris said that her team has been working with resource partners to help small businesses where they can amid the tariffs and rising inflation costs.
“When we are out and about, we remind [business owners] of our resource partners, and they can help develop a strategy and a plan to get them through it,” she said. “We want to make sure that our businesses stay resilient and they know where to get help.”
Partners in solving problems
In one of her last actions as the Delaware District director, Harris held an award ceremony on May 15 to honor several business owners in the state with the new SBA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Jim Spencer in attendance.
Spencer, who has a background in both the private and public sectors in Virginia, asked the business owners at the event to let him and the U.S. SBA know of any roadblocks that stop them from growing their business.
“Just let us know, because our partners, we want to solve those problems. We want to have growth in the U.S.” he said. “I want to see the next generation, and the next generation is going to look like volunteers to mentor another business owner to pay it forward. Each of you has a story to tell. You know what right looks like in your business. The determination it takes, I commend you for what you’re doing. But pass it forward.”
This year, the Delaware SBA office celebrated Kent and Sussex business leaders at its annual celebration including Adrian Mobilia of Salted Vines Vineyard & Winery for Rural Business of the Year; Angie and Rous Robles of My Sister’s Fault for Women-Owned Small Business of the Year; Gertha Jean of One Way Insurance Group for 2025 Frank J. Masley Small Business Champion award; and Alison Schuch of Tangerine Goods for Small Business Person of the Year.
All these businesses took advantage of the counseling and mentorship programs. Three of the award recipients participated in THRIVE, which is series of entrepreneurship education and training programs offered by the agency. All of them worked with the Delaware SBA office to access capital through loans or grants.
Angie Robles, who worked at a Perdue site in Milford with her sister Rous until they opened their own cafe, remembers that after the first meeting with the Delaware SBA in 2017, they were so overwhelmed with the work to secure funding and a business plan.
“We thought we don’t have what it takes. Because everything that you need to get there, you have to go to work. But with the support of the SBDC, and our staff, we were able to achieve so many things,” Angie Robles said during the ceremony on May 15. “We would not have been able to do it without the SBA thanks to the products that are available.”
