Steve Aduddle, branch manager, U.S. Small Business Administration

That’s correct. I lived here before. I was an entrepreneur. I owned and operated Metropolymer Labs (a manufacturer of pavement making materials) in Nixa from 1991 to about 2001.

Why did you leave the area?

I sold the company and went to Kansas City for three years to work for Homeland Security to start a new operation up there, working for the government.

How did you come to join the SBA?

Once the project up in Kansas City was completed, they no longer needed my services.

We were in discussion to (decide) should I retire or start a new business, and my wife asked that I not start a new business because she’d been an ‘entrepreneur widow’ for 25 years, because you put about 100 hours a week in, no vacation.

I can’t go from (being an entrepreneur) to retirement … so I applied for this position.

There were 85 applicants for it, and they selected me to be the one to do the job. I took a position left vacant by James Combs.

I think it was open about a year. I started here in May on the first day of Small Business Week.

Do you think your selection was due, in large part, to your experience as an entrepreneur?

I think so – and the fact that I knew the SBA from the consumer side of the business and the fact that I had obtained SBA loans for my company and paid them off. So I had some knowledge of the SBA from the customer side, and being an entrepreneur and working with bankers.

Has it been odd to switch sides of the desk, so to speak?

No. It’s been extremely easy, because when I go and talk to a bank, or talk to an entrepreneur, I’ve been there. I’ve walked in those shoes. I’ve sweated out BBs trying to make a payroll. So I understand the entrepreneur. I understand the bankers. I’m very comfortable interacting with both, and I know what they’re going through, so it helps me be insightful into what they’re talking about.

What do you see your role as here at the branch office?

The SBA has a very simple mission, and it operates under the mission of “Help Small Business.” So whatever falls in that category is what we try to accomplish. In addition to our loan guarantee program, of course, we have the Score (business counseling) operation, the Small Business Development Center, all kinds of reference materials available for writing business plans, how to write their applications. We do the loan guarantees for both construction and working capital through our bankers. We work with the banks to help small businesses on the lending side.

Would you say that the local banking market is a good one for SBA lending?

Yes. The Springfield district branch here takes in 28 counties in southwestern Missouri. To give you a real quick feel, that’s about from Fort Leonard Wood down to Branson.

Within those 28 counties are a lot of small businesses. As a matter of fact, we have about 840,000 people living in those 28 counties, almost 87,000 small businesses and about 360 banks and branches serving that market.

With that many small businesses in that territory, while we’re only a branch, we do as much business as some districts do, and that’s why they have a separate manager here. We’re probably the largest branch in the SBA system. We have six employees and about a dozen Score volunteers.

What goals do you have for yourself or the branch in your first six months?

We would like to grow the business, and by that I mean that we’d like to establish more loan guarantees for the territory.

And I think that’s in conjunction with the fact … that the predictions for this 28-county area are that it’s predicted to grow tremendously over the next seven to 10 years. So that means this market’s going to increase.

As the people move here and as the numbers grow in population, of course you need more businesses to support that kind of thing. We’re looking to service the market, be here and be available to help the small businesses both start and grow.

Is this a good place for starting a business?

This 28-county area in southwestern Missouri is very entrepreneurial, and it’s got a lot to do with, I think, the culture of Missourians in this area of being very self-sufficient, self-supporting go-getter types. You’ll find a lot of businesses in this area that are operated by one, two, three, four, five people, whereas, in other parts of the country, you don’t see that as much. It’s almost like most folks in this area would rather work for themselves than somebody else.

Even if they have gainful employment somewhere, they may have a side business going, with lawn service or car washing. There are all kinds of things they do on their own.

There’s quite a few people now getting into Web businesses, selling on e-Bay … different kinds of things.

Do you think many entrepreneurs or would-be entrepreneurs are unaware of services offered by SBA?

I think that’s probably an accurate statement, and that’s one of the things that I’m going to try and do – get the word out. I’m going to try and attend a lot of small-business functions.

The SBA is carrying a history with it – and had it when I was an entrepreneur, too – and that was that it is difficult to do business with us.

The application process, the auditing process for your financials and all the work you had to put together … was just horrendous.

The joke used to be, among entrepreneurs, that you’ve got to give your first-born, that type of thing.

Has that changed?

Since those days, and I’m talking like five years ago, the SBA recognized that issue and has streamlined its products and its application process. Those war-story, terrible times are really gone. They’ve streamlined it very nicely.

You still have to do the basic loan application just like you do for anything, but it’s become much more customer- and user-friendly than it used to be. I don’t think that (image) has been overcome.

I’m going to try to get out among the entrepreneurs and let them know we’re the new SBA.

How does the SBA’s relationship with banks work?

Say I’m an entrepreneur and I’d like to start this business. When you walk in and you’re starting brand new … you’re still a high-risk candidate because you haven’t proven anything yet. What the SBA does to help small businesses is ... If everything looks good, but the bank can’t make the loan because you don’t have a history, the bank will come to the SBA and say ‘OK, I’ve got this really good idea here. I’ve got a good plan, and they’ve been in management, they’re educated … but I can’t risk my depositors’ money on it. Will you step in and back it?’

We look at it, and … will step in and back 75 percent and 85 percent of that loan … so the bank is only 15 percent to 25 percent at risk.

We take away that risk, and that gives you a chance to build credit.

Are there types of businesses for which SBA will not guarantee loans?

You cannot invest in a passive business. In other words, if you want to borrow money for your brother to go in business, but you’re not going to be in it, you can’t do that (with SBA-backed loans). You have to be actively involved.

And we will not guarantee loans if, say, you want to build a strip mall and then rent it out to businesses. We will not finance your strip mall.

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