    [Senate Hearing 118-90]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                          S. Hrg. 118-90

                          PATHWAYS TO WOMEN'S ENTREPRENEURSHIP:
                         UNDERSTANDING OPPORTUNITIES AND BARRIERS

    =======================================================================

                                    HEARING

                                   BEFORE THE

                          COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
                              AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

                                     OF THE

                              UNITED STATES SENATE

                        ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

                                   __________

                                 JULY 26, 2023

                                   __________

          Printed for the use of the Committee on Small Business and
                                Entrepreneurship

    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

            Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov

                                    ________

                       U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
    53-226                    WASHINGTON : 2024

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
                        ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

                                  ----------

                     BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland, Chairman
                        JONI ERNST, Iowa, Ranking Member
    MARIA CANTWELL, Washington           MARCO RUBIO, Florida
    JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire        JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho
    EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts      RAND PAUL, Kentucky
    CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey           TIM SCOTT, South Carolina
    CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware       TODD YOUNG, Indiana
    MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii              JOHN KENNEDY, Louisiana
    TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois            JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
    JACKY ROSEN, Nevada                  TED BUDD, North Carolina
    JOHN W. HICKENLOOPER, Colorado
                     Sean Moore, Democratic Staff Director
                    Meredith West, Republican Staff Director

                                C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------

                               OPENING STATEMENTS

                                                                       Page
    Benjamin L. Cardin, Chairman, U.S. Senator from Maryland.........     1
    Joni Ernst, Ranking Member, U.S. Senator from Iowa...............     3

                                   WITNESSES

    Ms. Adrienne M. Somerville, CEO, Somerville Consulting Group,
      LLC, Talent & Technical Solutions Corporation..................     6
        Prepared Statement...........................................     8
    Ms. Patrice Onwuka, Director of the Center for Economic
      Opportunity, Independent Women's Forum.........................    14
        Prepared Statement...........................................    16
    Ms. Nik Sweeney, Founder/CEO, Amani Nicol Wellness...............    23
        Prepared Statement...........................................    25
    Ms. Catherine Koch, President & CEO, K-Tec Systems, Inc..........    32
        Prepared Statement...........................................    34

                  ADDITIONAL LETTERS/STATEMENTS FOR THE RECORD

    Engine
        Letter dated August 3, 2023..................................    52
    Rose, Kathryn
        Statement dated August 9, 2023...............................    56

                            QUESTIONS FOR THE RECORD

    Ms. Catherine Koch
        Responses to questions submitted by Ranking Member Ernst.....    58
    Ms. Patrice Onwuka
        Responses to questions submitted by Ranking Member Ernst.....    60

     PATHWAYS TO WOMEN'S ENTREPRENEURSHIP: UNDERSTANDING OPPORTUNITIES AND
                                    BARRIERS

                                  ----------

                            WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 2023

                          United States Senate,
                            Committee on Small Business
                                          and Entrepreneurship,
                                                        Washington, DC.
        The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:00 a.m., in
    Room 106, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Benjamin Cardin,
    Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
        Present: Senators Cardin [presiding], Hirono, Rosen, Ernst,
    Hawley, and Hickenlooper.

                  OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR CARDIN

        Chairman Cardin. Well, good morning, everyone.
        [Chorus from Audience.] Good morning.
        Chairman Cardin. Senator Ernst and I are not used to this
    type of attendance at our hearings. [Laughter and applause.]
        Chairman Cardin. We really welcome you to this hearing. We
    know that America is in great shape when we see the spirit
    that's in this room. The entrepreneurial spirit of women has
    really carried us into an unprecedented growth in small
    businesses during this period of time.
        So we applaud your entrepreneurship and we welcome you to
    our committee. We are looking forward to this particular
    hearing as we talk about how the Small Business Administration,
    how all of us work together to remove obstacles that have been
    in the way for women entrepreneurs.
        So we welcome you to the hearing and we look forward to the
    distinguished panel of witnesses and their testimony.
        I particularly--and I'll introduce the two witnesses that
    happen to be here from Maryland in a few moments, but whenever
    I have Marylanders in the room--I got some more Marylanders in
    the room--they get special attention. So I'm going to have
    special words to say about Ms. Somerville and Mrs. Sweeney.
        Every day I'm inspired by the tenacity and innovation of
    small businesses across the country, especially women-owned
    small businesses. Today, we are witnessing an historic rise in
    women's entrepreneurship under the Biden-Harris Administration.
    It has lifted individuals and communities across the country to
    prosperity.
        As Chair of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship
    Committee, one of my highest priorities is to ensure that our
    nation taps into the entrepreneurial spirit that is sweeping
    our nation to build a fair and more just economy for all.
        Women-owned small businesses, particularly black women-
    owned small businesses, are leading the charge post-pandemic
    with historic numbers of new small business startups but
    unfortunately still face systemic barriers to success as
    entrepreneurs.
        In a committee staff report released prior to this hearing,
    we outline how access to capital, gaps in mentorship, under-
    utilization of women-owned firms in federal contracting, and
    under-investment in childcare all make the job of operating a
    small business unnecessarily harder for women, and I want to
    compliment my staff for the production of this report.
        I encourage you all to please take a look at it because it
    provides a chronology of the challenges that we face today for
    women entrepreneurs and I hope this will be a guidepost for us
    moving forward in trying to deal with some of the changes in
    the Small Business Administration's tools that are in their
    toolkit that will help our women.
        That's why throughout my tenure in Congress I have been
    laser focused on comprehensive legislation to reauthorize
    several important programs that support American women-owned
    small businesses.
        Last month, for example, I introduced the Women's Business
    Center Improvement Act, which would increase federal support to
    women's business centers or WBCs by doubling the maximum annual
    grant to $300,000. [Applause.]
        Chairman Cardin. Both Senator Ernst and I appreciated your
    initial response. That was great. But I have to exercise the
    responsibilities of the Chair and ask that you allow our
    testimonies to go forward without response from the audience.
        The bill appropriates--even though I like the response.
    [Laughter.]
        The bill appropriates $31.5 million for each fiscal year
    from 2024 through 2027 and requires an annual report on the
    program.
        WBCs provide free or low-cost counseling and training
    focusing on addressing the unique challenges facing women who
    want to start, grow, and expand their small businesses.
        Just last year, I was able to secure a new Women's Business
    Center at Bowie State University, Maryland's oldest
    historically black university. The SBA awarded a grant to
    Rockville Economic Development to launch the center. The new
    center is the fourth WBC in Maryland, joining a WBC in
    Rockville, a WBC operated by Morgan State University, and a WBC
    in Salisbury operated by Maryland Capital Enterprises.
        American women-owned small business owners and
    entrepreneurs deserve the very best tools and resources to keep
    them growing. It's the right thing to do as for the values of
    our nation. It's also important for America's growth.
        Congress must do more to ensure women and particularly
    traditionally underserved women have access to the same
    opportunities as their male counterparts.
        I look forward to the testimony of our witnesses and I'm
    eager to learn more about what Congress can do to further
    advance the interests of women entrepreneurs.
        And now let me recognize the distinguished Ranking Member
    Senator Ernst.

                       STATEMENT OF SENATOR ERNST

        Senator Ernst. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to all
    of our guests here today, as well.
        I walked in the room and I was incredibly impressed by
    having so many just wonderful strong women entrepreneurs. So
    thank you for joining us.
        I also want to welcome the Association of Women's Business
    Centers and thanks for all the work that you are doing and it's
    incredibly important that you're out there supporting women all
    across our great United States, and a special shout-out to T.J.
    Daniels of the Iowa Women's Business Center who is also----
        Chairman Cardin. You can respond to that.
        Senator Ernst [continuing]. With us. Yeah. [Applause.]
        Who is with us here today. So thank you so much.
        Today, we will examine ways to help women-owned small
    businesses succeed. There are more than 12 million women small
    business owners contributing $2.1 trillion in total sales to
    our national economy.
        While women entrepreneurs are creating jobs and igniting
    local economies, according to the National Federation of
    Independent Business, the Small Business Optimism Index remains
    below the 49-year average for the 18th consecutive month.
    Inflation and rising interest rates are top concerns.
        Unfortunately, small businesses continue to suffer under
    Bidenomics. Despite the White House attempting to paint an
    optimistic view of the economy, small business owners aren't
    buying the narrative.
        President Biden has issued nearly $360 billion in new
    regulatory costs on our small businesses. Rather than focusing
    their time and energy on strengthening and growing their small
    businesses, many have to spend time figuring out how to comply
    with burdensome government regulations.
        In an effort to address this, I'm working on the PROVE IT
    Act to ensure small businesses have a voice in federal
    agencies' rulemaking process.
        Another challenge I hear from businesses and families is
    the lack of access to affordable quality childcare options. In
    Iowa, 53,000 women have left the workforce since 2020 due to
    lack of childcare options.
        While the Iowa Legislature and Republican Governor Kim
    Reynolds have made progress, there's much more work to be done
    specifically at the federal level.
        That's why I'm proud to say my bipartisan Small Business
    Childcare Investment Act with Senator Rosen passed out of our
    committee just last week. The bill allows nonprofit childcare
    providers, including religious nonprofits, to access the SBA
    loans. This legislation will create a greater number of
    affordable childcare options, especially in rural areas, like
    mine, and I will continue to advocate for this bill to be
    signed into law.
        Furthermore, accessing quality business training and
    coaching is critical to our women small business owners. By
    modernizing the Small Business Administration's SCORE Program,
    we will be giving entrepreneurs, especially our women
    entrepreneurs, access to quality mentorship.
        My SCORE Act of 2023, which revitalizes SBA's Mentorship
    Program by adding a team of women business leaders called the
    National Women's Business Coaches, will work alongside SCORE
    coaches and pair them with aspiring and existing entrepreneurs.
        These coaches will work to recruit individuals with
    expertise across all job industries to join the SCORE Program.
    This will help guarantee our young entrepreneurs receive the
    relevant and productive assistance to support their path to
    success.
        Lastly, I want to highlight a critical bill I introduced to
    close loopholes that enable fraud in the Women-Owned Small
    Business Contracting Program.
        The Accountability in Women-Owned Small Business
    Contracting Act eliminates self-certification in the program
    and holds federal agencies to task by forcing department and
    agency heads to testify before Congress when they fail to meet
    their own women-owned small business contracting goals.
        Since much of the discussion today will focus on the SBA's
    Women Business Center Program and I'm glad for that, I am
    thankful that we're able to focus on this, but I want to be
    very clear about my priorities as we consider any potential
    reauthorization of this program.
        The distribution of program resources must be made more
    consistent across all states, especially in our rural areas.
        Mr. Chairman, I do commend you for having four women's
    business centers in Maryland, but I'm sure you can understand
    my frustration that in Iowa we only have one, one center to
    service the entire state and our state is very large.
        Many of my colleagues on the Republican side share my
    frustration that as the Administration has added additional
    women's business centers to the program, they haven't seen the
    benefits in their own states, many of which like mine have only
    one service center.
        The placement of new centers and the allocation of taxpayer
    dollars by the SBA must be distributed broadly in the future.
        Again, I want to thank all of you very much for being here
    today and I look forward to our discussion on how we can best
    serve our women entrepreneurs.
        Thank you for being here. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
        Chairman Cardin. Well, Senator Ernst, thank you for your
    opening statement.
        I share your concern. I want to make sure the resources are
    fairly distributed in all parts of our country and you have a
    big state and it's difficult with just one center. So I
    recognize your concerns and I assure you I want to work with
    you to make sure that women entrepreneurs are served throughout
    the entire country.
        I'm now going to introduce our panel of distinguished
    witnesses. I'll be introducing you in the order in which you
    will be presenting--we'll rotate between my introductions and
    Senator Ernst's introductions.
        But I'm very pleased to introduce Ms. Adrienne Somerville,
    the CEO of Somerville Consulting Group, LLC, and Talent &
    Technical Solutions Corporation, located in Hughesville,
    Maryland.
        You have an impressive background of academic achievements
    from Norfolk State University, Florida Institute of Technology,
    Georgetown University, and Harvard University Kennedy School
    Executive Program.
        I was very impressed in your background that you were
    partnering with Apple and Google and developed and produced a
    Mobile Career Guidebook that is downloadable to smart phones
    and tablets. So we thank you for that service that you have
    provided to the community.
        And now for the introduction of Ms. Onwuka, I'll turn to
    Senator Ernst.
        Senator Ernst. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
        Ms. Patrice Onwuka, Director, Center for Economic
    Opportunity, Independent Women's Forum. The Independent Women's
    Forum is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to develop and
    advocate for common sense policy solutions that enhance
    people's freedom, opportunities, and well-being.
        The Center for Economic Opportunity specifically seeks to
    promote and develop policies that expand workplace choice,
    flexibility, freedom, and opportunity.
        Prior to her career at IWF, Patrice served as the Senior
    Fellow at the Alliance for Charitable Excellence and before
    that she worked as the Communications Director for Generation
    Opportunity.
        Thank you for joining us, Patrice.
        Chairman Cardin. We then have Mrs. Nik Sweeney, the Founder
    and CEO of Amani Nicol Wellness in Baltimore, Maryland. We're
    pleased to have you with us.
        In the spring of 2019, Nik was unemployed, recovering from
    surgery. She then decided to take her experience as a Zumba
    instructor and put that to entrepreneurship. In the fall of
    2019, she made the big jump to become a full-time entrepreneur.
    She opened the first and only of its kind holistic wellness spa
    integrating self-care with lifestyle medicine and programming
    to meet the needs of women in under-resourced communities.
        Lastly, we have Mrs. Koch, Koch. Sorry.
        Senator Ernst. Thank you, and thank you, Mr. Chair.
        We have Ms. Catherine Koch and she is the President and CEO
    of K-Tec Systems. K-Tec Systems was founded by Koch in 1989 in
    Southeast Michigan. This small business is a global
    manufacturer of advanced control and automation technology,
    specializing in accurate and reliable temperature flow and
    pressure measurements.
        As a female entrepreneur in a male-dominated industry,
    Catherine is passionate about helping other women start their
    own businesses. As a Global Forum committee Member of the
    Women's Business Enterprise National Council and the Board
    Member and Vice President of--and it got cut off there. So we
    welcome you but thank you, thank you, Ms. Koch, very much for
    being here.
        Chairman Cardin. To our witnesses, your entire statements
    will be made part of our record without objection. You may
    proceed as you wish. We ask you to try to summarize your
    statements in about five minutes and leave a little time for us
    to ask you some questions.
        So we'll start with Ms. Somerville.

    STATEMENT OF ADRIENNE M. SOMERVILLE, CEO, SOMERVILLE CONSULTING
         GROUP, LLC, TALENT & TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS CORPORATION,
                         HUGHESVILLE, MARYLAND

        Ms. Somerville. Good morning and thank you, Chair Cardin
    and Ranking Member Ernst and Members of the Committee on Small
    Business and Entrepreneurship, for this amazing opportunity to
    share my experience as a female business owner and government
    contractor in Maryland.
        My name is Adrienne Somerville and it's an honor to
    highlight my incredible benefit of how technical assistance
    helped me in my pursuit of business ownership.
        I am the Founder and CEO of two small businesses. I am
    Consulting Adrienne Somerville Consulting Firm and we
    collaborate with diverse leaders to ensure the success in
    providing ethical, transparent, repeatable, and affordable
    talent management solutions focused on improving accountability
    and ownership at all levels to build strong performance within
    each company to ensure strong profit margins.
        In addition, Talent & Technical Solutions, we focus on
    building IT solutions that result in a plethora of data
    analytics to help build companies that manage their talent
    portfolios.
        Throughout building a business, I experienced many
    challenges that I later learned are similar to those of other
    women across the nation.
        Today, I will highlight a few: accessing sources of
    funding, navigating available information and tools available
    for business owners, and identifying effective mentorship.
        By far, the biggest barrier, of course, to any business is
    resourcing. I was faced with difficulty identifying capital
    opportunities to support the purchasing of business development
    tools and resources which were expensive and needed to enable
    the success of my business and scale accordingly.
        Ultimately, it was my work with resource partners that
    helped me identify these avenues for private and philanthropic
    capital which took my business to the next level.
        As we identify opportunities to support women business
    owners like me across our nation, I ask this committee to
    consider capital solutions to incentivize both public and
    private avenues to capital.
        Additionally, another challenge I was met with was
    navigating resources available for entrepreneurs. SBA resource
    partners provided me with the tools and strategies during my
    entrepreneurship journey that set me up for success,
    sustainable success.
        The resource partners I worked with uniquely supported my
    needs throughout my entrepreneurship journey. I worked with
    four different small business resource partners in various
    capacities: the Baltimore-Metro Washington Business Center, the
    Virginia Women's Business Center, SBDC, and SCORE, all of which
    helped me as a business owner in different ways.
        I have firsthand seen the uniqueness and the value and the
    impact each resource partner has had in offering me various
    opportunities through the stages of my development.
        SCORE supported me with my pre-business establishment. This
    organization provided robust access to tools and training
    materials early in my process. I was able to leverage the
    tutorials, the manuals, the books, the algorithms, and the
    structural outlines. They helped me with the groundwork and the
    creation of my business.
        Once established as a business, I connected with the
    benefits of SBDC, the network in Maryland, as well, which
    helped me develop the application of the tools, the
    identification of resources, the establishment of mentorship.
        Through this resource I was able to identify local
    opportunities in my community in which I could have the
    greatest targeted impact. As my business infrastructure was
    built, the Baltimore-Metro WBC and Women's Business Center of
    Virginia enabled me through a Guide of Designated Programs that
    were very targeted and rich for my business.
        This resource was critical in providing assistance to
    support my needs as a woman business owner. Through initiatives
    like UpScale, certification, training, digital training,
    conferences, networking events, and specialized finance
    sessions, I was able to build a true access plan.
        Through this program, I was able to apply for the WOSB
    Certification for the State of Virginia which will also open
    doors for my business and increase opportunity in terms of
    visibility in my network.
        As a business owner with only six employees, the WBC helped
    me provide a one-stop shop when approaching this certification
    process. When considering additional solutions that will
    support women entrepreneurs like me in pursuit of ownership, I
    ask that you consider the following: expand reach to
    economically-disadvantaged regions, equal encouragement for
    resource partners to collaborate with other agencies and
    organizations, focus on technology adopting in this hybrid work
    environment, focus on streamlining reporting.
        We heard a little bit of that today in terms of the
    administrative requirements. Designated marketing specifics for
    resource partners, the reauthorization of the WBC Program along
    with other resource partners, and also support increased
    appropriation and funding for the WBC.
        I thank you for your time today and I look forward to
    answering any of your questions. It's truly an honor to be
    here.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Somerville follows:]
        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Chairman Cardin. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
        Chairman Cardin. And you did it exactly in five minutes.
    That's really good.
        Mrs. Onwuka.

        STATEMENT OF PATRICE ONWUKA, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR
     ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, INDEPENDENT WOMEN'S FORUM, WASHINGTON,
                                  D.C.

        Ms. Onwuka. Good morning. Thank you, Chairman Cardin,
    Ranking Member Ernst, and the Members of the Committee, for
    having me to appear today.
        I work for the Independent Women's Forum and, as mentioned,
    we want women to value free markets and personal liberty and so
    we advance policies that enhance people's freedom, opportunity,
    and well-being.
        I've got to say entrepreneurship has created ladders of
    opportunity for women of all ages, backgrounds, and races. So
    it's critical to ensure that government policies do not erect
    barriers to opportunity for women.
        Now the growth of female entrepreneurship over the past few
    decades has been tremendous. As the Ranking Member mentioned,
    women own 12 million businesses, small businesses, or 43
    percent of them.
        Interestingly, only about one in 10 actually employ
    workers. Most women that own businesses are one-woman shops and
    they tend to be concentrated in sectors that track closely with
    where women's labor force participation is.
        Most female business owners strike out on their own because
    they're looking for independence, flexibility, and the ability
    to fulfill their passion. This actually sets them apart from a
    lot of their male counterparts.
        Now despite many bright spots, women's businesses face
    struggles. Some challenges are universal to men- and women-
    owned businesses, such as labor shortages. We've seen this in
    the national economy. Inflation, unfortunately, still has not
    gone back down to pre-2021 levels. Regulations, taxes, and
    uncertain economic conditions.
        Average women's revenue for women-owned businesses are
    rising but they lag behind those of firms owned by men, a lack
    of capital. I'm sure we're going to hear a lot about that.
    Interestingly, men start their businesses with six times as
    much capital as women do.
        Women also lack robust networks and that particularly is
    true in rural environments. Almost half of female founders cite
    a lack of available mentors or advisors as an impediment and so
    it's important that government programs where private programs
    are not available be a support to them.
        Two additional challenges to starting businesses that I
    actually think are directly the result of government-imposed
    barriers to building human capital, Number 1, overly
    restrictive occupational licensure at state levels, and Number
    2, restrictions on independent contracting.
        I'll skip a little bit on the occupational licensure since
    that tends to be a state level issue.
        But on independent contracting, many women have found the
    flexibility and the freedom to balance work-life-careers by
    being an independent contractor, and unfortunately we see some
    congressional legislation currently pending that would impose
    restrictions on the nation's 65 million freelancers in this
    country.
        I bet you we have some freelancers right in this room
    today. They're not traditional employees. They work for
    themselves. They define when, where, and how they work, and for
    women flexibility is what allows them to continue to raise
    their families, to take care of aging parents and sick family
    members, and, frankly, just to fulfill their passions.
        So it's important that Congress does not needlessly
    reclassify independent contractors across this country. We
    would lose thousands of jobs, millions of jobs, frankly, and
    raise business costs on small businesses by anywhere between
    $18 to $64 billion each week.
        So Congress should not be nationalizing independent
    contracting. A piece of that, though, a piece of the
    entrepreneurship and what makes it so interesting is that it
    allows for flexibility for care-giving and I dropped my kids
    off right at daycare before this, so I understand how important
    it is.
        That's why we should make childcare options more
    affordable, plentiful, and diverse. Diversity is key. Not every
    parent wants a formal childcare center. Some informal childcare
    options that are home-based care, for example, or, frankly,
    staying with relatives is really important and, unfortunately,
    unnecessary regulations that don't have anything to do with the
    quality of care in childcare centers is increasing costs by up
    to $1,800 per child each year.
        So there's opportunity for us to look at legislation that
    would make it easier for small businesses to be able to offer
    quality childcare for their employees and I thank Senator Ernst
    for mentioning the Small Business Childcare Investment Act
    because I think that's one of those opportunities.
        Congress needs to consider also just reducing the burden on
    small businesses. On average, regulatory costs amount to
    $11,700 per employee each year, and small businesses, they are
    the ones who bear the brunt of those increased regulatory
    costs.
        So there are lots of measures that are floating around that
    look at how do we ensure that the Small Business Administration
    is ensuring that every new piece of regulation that is passed
    by Congress does not impose new compliance costs on small
    businesses.
        I have lots of other ideas but I will stop right there.
    Thank you.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Onwuka follows:]
        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Chairman Cardin. Thank you very much for your testimony,
    appreciate it very, very much.
        Ms. Sweeney.

     STATEMENT OF NIK SWEENEY, FOUNDER/CEO, AMANI NICOL WELLNESS,
                          BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

        Ms. Sweeney. Good morning, Chair Cardin, Ranking Member
    Ernst, and Distinguished Members of the Committee.
        It is a pleasure to be here and I'm honored today as a
    business owner in Baltimore, Maryland, sharing my experience
    with the Baltimore Metropolitan Women's Business Center.
        I'll first start with Amani Nicol Wellness, where we are
    today and how we would not be in the position that we are if it
    was not for the support of the WBC.
        So in 2019, unemployed with this big mission and only
    $2,000 in my pocket and an opportunity to make this dream
    happen, we developed an innovative approach to help disrupt the
    health care system when it comes to prevention and management
    of diabetes.
        But how are we able to do this? Well, at this time we are a
    for-profit social enterprise which means there are two sides to
    our business model, one specifically for women who are looking
    to get well while we're able to leverage those resources to
    fund our programs for women in underserved and under-resourced
    communities.
        We are a CDC-recognized prevention program with the highest
    rank that the CDC delivers which is 4+ recognition because of
    our ability to sustain our impact.
        We partner with Notre Dame School of Pharmacy as an
    accredited diabetes self-management provider to support women
    specifically with Type 2 diabetes.
        We were accepted to Innovation Works and Accelerated
    Program that helped us to raise our first six figure capital
    raise and we have partnered with the Office of Women's Health
    to help support self measuring of blood pressure, our Blood
    Pressure Program.
        In 2021, in the midst of the pandemic, we were fortunate
    enough to be able to relocate from a top office to a
    professional office park that more than doubled the size and
    helped us to become ADA-compliant so that we could benefit from
    becoming Medicaid-approved, contracted with six managed care
    organizations from Aetna to BlueCross, as well as Medicare.
        Why is that significant? Because in Baltimore City alone,
    one of the cities with the highest disparities in terms of
    diabetes, we are one of only four Medicare providers when it
    comes to diabetes prevention.
        We're happy to note that we're also the only diabetes
    prevention program for the deaf and hard-of-hearing in the
    entire country and yet we're facing many challenges and
    barriers.
        While all that success if notable, it would not be possible
    without the support of the Baltimore-Washington WBC where as
    soon as we closed doors in March of 2020, within a week we
    received a mentor, Carmen Braxton, who for nine months walked
    us through strategically to keep us on point so that those
    goals that we just outlined could become realized.
        So as a result of that, we were able to contract federally.
    We were able to expand access, including to the Hispanic-Latino
    community. Our Diabetes Prevention Program that was launched in
    2022 was the first one launched in the state of Maryland next
    to Johns Hopkins.
        So while all that sounds great, what about these barriers?
    Well, interestingly, we had just provided access to women and
    the deaf community and three months later, April 2022, I was
    diagnosed with breast cancer. With capacity constraints,
    revenue suffering, and trying to figure out how to keep working
    because there was no option to close, what mattered most would
    be the resources and the ecosystem like that provided by the
    WBC.
        You see, it goes full circle with support. Being able to
    access other resources like additional funding would not have
    been possible. Being able to benefit from Morgan State
    University who is a partner for us because we are able to
    benefit from interns and a Master's of Public Health Program
    and Doctorate Programs.
        We are excited because that program is the reason why Amani
    Nicol Wellness did not become one of those businesses that
    failed. In less than four years in the heart of a pandemic, we
    are supporting the health in Baltimore and Maryland as a whole
    because of their efforts.
        So reauthorizing that program, sustaining the money that it
    needs in order for it to continue is not just about helping the
    women entrepreneurs like myself to feel good about the dream
    that's been realized but it is a powerful impact on the
    community as a whole and not just for today but we're talking
    about the ability to affect generations to come.
        Thank you. [Applause.]
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Sweeney follows:]
        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Chairman Cardin. Thank you very much for your testimony,
    but thank you for what you have meant to our community in
    Baltimore. We appreciate it as a fellow Baltimorean.
        Mrs. Koch.

     STATEMENT OF CATHERINE KOCH, PRESIDENT & CEO, K-TEC SYSTEMS,
                      INC., ST. FERNDALE, MICHIGAN

        Ms. Koch. Chairman Cardin, Ranking Member Ernst,----
        Chairman Cardin. Your mic's not on.
        Ms. Koch. Chairman Cardin, Ranking Member Ernst,
    Distinguished Committee Members and guests, good morning.
        My name is Cathy Koch. I am the Founder and Co-Owner of K-
    Tec Systems, a Detroit area manufacturer of temperature
    sensors, wire harnesses, and control systems. We serve diverse
    industries, including automotive, aerospace, food, medical, and
    chemical.
        I am also an alumni of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small
    Business Program.
        It is an honor to be here today. I appreciate your
    invitation and your attention to leveling the playing field for
    female small business owners.
        I would like to begin by thanking the committee for its
    bipartisan work last week to pass a series of bills to
    modernize the Small Business Administration.
        I'm here today to share my personal experience and the
    unique barriers I have faced and, importantly, what can be done
    to create equity and leveling the playing field.
        Let me start from the beginning. It was 1989. I had a one-
    year-old daughter. I was a recently divorced single mother and
    I was working in sales in a male-dominated auto industry. '89
    was a different time. I loved sales and I loved being a mom,
    but I was told by my male boss that a woman couldn't do sales,
    let alone a new single mom. I disagreed.
        I knew my value and my talent. So I went to a competitor.
    While things were better, I was still held back. Eventually, I
    realized the only way I could reach my true potential was to
    start my own business. I put together a business plan. I sought
    a loan from a traditional lender but because I was a woman, I
    couldn't get one without a co-signer. In fact, I hadn't been
    able to secure a loan without a co-signer until three years
    ago, even though I've been profitable in business every year.
        Do you think male small business owners face similar
    circumstances?
        I can honestly say the women I speak to are not aware of
    the Women's Business Centers and I don't know the programs they
    offer. Wow! Since I couldn't get a loan to start a business, I
    bought a house with a land loan. I used $10,000 from the loan
    to finance the start of K-Tec. I had succeeded in overcoming
    the first challenge female small business owners face, far more
    limited access to capital than their male counterparts.
        Starting a business is hard. I made sacrifices. I brought
    my daughter to work with me regularly because like many female
    small business owners access to affordable and reliable
    childcare was another barrier I faced.
        Eventually my hard work paid off. We were doing business
    with every major automobile manufacturer and had broken into
    other industries. Then COVID-19 changed everything. I didn't
    think my company would survive. Thanks to PPP, EIDL Loan, seed
    loan from Great Lakes Women's Business Council, and my amazing
    employees, K-Tec pulled through COVID and is thriving again.
        In fact, we are doing some of our most meaningful work yet
    with the new contract to supply temperature sensors for the
    transportation of a new cancer drug.
        Here's the truth. My story, while troubling, is a success
    story. The challenge that I faced and still face didn't stop me
    but they persist. The extra challenges female women businesses
    face in our nation's economy output.
        Think of the charge we could put into our economy if we
    weren't wasting time and energy breaking through these
    barriers. As this committee continues to work, I offer these
    perspective where Congress and the SBA can focus to give us a
    fair shake.
        First, make mentoring and coaching opportunities more
    accessible and tailored to the women they serve. I wish I had
    more female mentors who understood my situation and could help
    me navigate the challenges of starting a business. That is why
    I mentor female entrepreneurs.
        I can honestly say that women I speak to are not aware of
    the Women's Business Centers and don't know the programs they
    offer.
        Second, reform the procurement process. It is nearly
    impossible for small business owners to sell their product to
    the Federal Government. Even though I am a WOSB, I've
    effectively given up and I'm far from not alone. It's no wonder
    the SBA regularly misses its five percent contracts awarded to
    female small business centers.
        Here's a true story that should resonate. My products are
    currently purchased by the U.S. Air Force. They aren't bought
    from me. They're purchased from a larger male-owned business
    who quite literally is the middle man because he can afford the
    resources to navigate the procurement process. If that doesn't
    trouble you, consider this.
        The Federal Government is paying more for them than they
    would be purchasing directly from me because he marks up the
    price. The only reason for this is because the procurement
    process is too difficult and resource-intensive to navigate.
        And third, continue to modernize the SBA to address the
    challenges of today's small businesses. A lack of access to
    childcare is a workforce issue and a small business issue and
    it must be treated as such.
        I'd like to thank this committee and Senator Ernst for
    working to address the childcare challenges small owners face.
    We must also examine how the SBA Federal Government can
    increase access to affordable capital for small businesses.
        I could share more as this is a real passion for me.
    However, in the interest of time I would conclude by thanking
    the committee. I look forward to answering any questions you
    have and stand ready to work with you to find solutions.
        Thank you.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Koch follows:]
        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Chairman Cardin. Well, thank you very much for your
    testimony. [Applause.]
        I must tell you we've always been impressed with the
    Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses. We now see a face for
    one. So thank you very much for your testimony.
        Well, I just want you to know, Senator Ernst, I know, will
    agree with me, we hold many hearings during the course of a
    Congress. The four of you, very impressive testimony, very
    helpful to us, and each one of you stayed exactly within the
    five minutes. That's the type of--that's right. It is unheard
    of here. So thank you very much for the input that you've made
    to our committee.
        I just really want to underscore a couple points. I'll
    start with Mrs. Sweeney. We had a hearing that I chaired in the
    Senate Finance Committee last week on transplant needs which
    basically we do a lot of kidney transplants because people are
    not taking care of their diabetes and hypertension.
        So what you're doing is critically important for the
    individual, but it's also important for our health care system
    because dialysis and transplants are extremely expensive,
    necessary but expensive, but if you do the maintenance and
    prevention of diabetes or management of diabetes and dealing
    with hypertension, you reduce significantly the number of renal
    diseases, particularly end stage renal disease.
        So I just want to thank you for that, and you're focusing,
    which I thought was really extremely impressive, on underserved
    communities.
        So how did you get into that commitment and does the system
    reward you for reaching out because, as Mrs. Koch said, a lot
    of people don't know about the services. You have to do
    outreach. So how did the SBA tools help you in reaching this
    very vulnerable community?
        Mrs. Sweeney. Well, thank you.
        With the WBC, we were able to focus on prevention right at
    the heart of the pandemic. That has always been our focus, but
    with the impact of COVID, that's where we narrowed down on
    prevention as the primary focus.
        One out of three adult Americans have pre-diabetes which is
    the precursor. So what is the support that we have? Well, (1)
    we are reimbursed through Medicaid and Medicare. Those are
    small numbers. Where the barrier comes is that there's a lot of
    administrative responsibility on our staff and medical
    reimbursement does not cover it all.
        We're also a for-profit. So that limits our ability to get
    a lot of the funding that's in place. Maryland alone has
    received millions just these past few years related
    specifically to diabetes prevention and management, but we're
    rarely ever in those conversations. So that's one of our goals,
    but we do a lot of outreach in the community and a lot of that
    is done with our outreach team and that is primarily because
    that is the only way we're going to keep the conversation going
    about these preventable illnesses.
        Chairman Cardin. Thank you.
        The report that I referenced in my opening statement points
    out the disparities with women-owned small businesses. The
    number of loan rejections are higher than the male businesses.
    The number of women-owned businesses that have to use their own
    savings and resources and family resources versus their male
    counterparts is much, much higher and the list goes on.
        The number of 7(a) loans, the number of 504 loans are much
    lower than the demographics would have you think would be
    right, and then you go to venture capital which is almost
    nonexistent in women-owned small businesses.
        Then on the contracting side, you mentioned this, Mrs.
    Koch, the government has reached all of its goals on small
    business set-asides, except for women. We have not reached the
    five percent which is not acceptable.
        So, Ms. Somerville, you mentioned the use of the Women's
    Business Centers, the SCORE Program for mentoring, and we
    talked about the need for mentoring, and it seems to be working
    well for you.
        Mrs. Koch, you had some concerns as to whether we have
    women mentors available which I think is a really strong point
    in the SBDCs.
        How do you put together the tools that are there today and
    how can we make them more effective?
        Ms. Somerville. I had a really good experience in terms of
    outreach and exposure to the different tools that are available
    at each of the SBA resources and one of the greatest take-aways
    was the building of the networks that are offered that allowed
    me to have access to other ways to generate revenue.
        For example, with the Women Business Center, I was
    introduced to philanthropic opportunities in which I was able
    to compete at a pitch competition, if you will, to gain
    additional resources.
        I was able to win about $14,000 and it enabled me to buy
    the IT tools I needed, my computers, licenses to build my
    company and so I think it's the outreach and it's the resources
    that they exposed me to that were also in the community
    available.
        I simply would never have been aware had they not granted
    me the opportunity, access, and exposure.
        Chairman Cardin. Senator Ernst.
        Senator Ernst. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
        Patrice, I'll start with you. In your testimony, you had
    highlighted findings from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that
    demonstrated businesses with 50 employees or fewer incur
    regulatory costs that are nearly 20 percent higher than for the
    average firm.
        Earlier this year, I introduced the PROVEIT Act which will
    hold federal agencies accountable when they overlook important
    due diligence requirements as they impose sweeping regulations
    that maybe aren't right for small businesses.
        Do you think that businesses with 50 employees or fewer
    should be subject to the same regulations as businesses with
    over 500 employees?
        Ms. Onwuka. Well, Ranking Member Ernst, I mean, I think
    that they are unfair. A lot of mom and pop shops, they don't
    have the same resources as large companies do, particularly
    when it comes to compliance costs and legal experts that they
    have. So that they can dive into the minutia of all of the
    federal code and figure out what regulations are new and how
    they can, you know, abide by them.
        When we think about women entrepreneurs, I mean, the
    members here, the panelists here have talked about it, but I've
    also talked about the research that, you know, you're starting
    with a capital deficit to begin with and so you're trying to
    build your business and at the same time trying to figure out
    what the regulatory burdens are at the federal level, not to
    mention state and local regulations that add a new layer of
    challenge.
        So, absolutely, I think your bill and there are other bills
    on the House side that look at, you know, every piece of new
    regulation coming out from every single agency, from Energy all
    the way to Labor, to ensure that there's going to be zero costs
    on small businesses and then to ensure that at least small
    businesses understand what those regulations are so that they
    can figure out how they can comply with them.
        Senator Ernst. So the regulatory burden is pretty heavy on
    our small businesses.
        What about those broader economic challenges, like the high
    interest rates, workforce challenges, how do those affect our
    women entrepreneurs, as well?
        Ms. Onwuka. Sure. Well, labor shortages are obviously not
    new. For decades some industries, like construction, have had
    them, but we're seeing them in industries where women are
    concentrating their businesses.
        In the retail industry but particularly in caring
    industries, whether it's home care services and in AIDS,
    whether it's, you know, daycare centers, childcare, a lot of
    businesses, small businesses find it hard to find people to
    compete with larger companies that can offer greater pay and
    benefits and so, you know, all of these make it difficult for
    you to be able to hire and retain your folks and then add to
    that the regulatory costs that can come with keeping people
    employed.
        Senator Ernst. Thank you.
        As I mentioned in my opening statement, women in rural
    communities lack the same resources available to those that are
    living in more densely populated areas and as I mentioned,
    there are four WBCs located within a 50-mile radius of
    Washington, D.C. and yet there's only one that is located in
    the entire state of Iowa.
        So how can we better assist women in those rural
    communities?
        Ms. Onwuka. Well, interestingly,--thank you, Ranking
    Member. Interestingly, there are a couple of different pieces
    that I think rural female entrepreneurs--challenges that they
    face.
        I mean, women, they tend to have lower incomes to begin
    with. Obviously that means less capital to start their
    businesses. They have higher poverty rates, interestingly, and
    then there are the infrastructure gaps and particularly when it
    comes to technology, we're seeing that rural women have--
    they're the least likely group to have internet access at home.
        So when we look at the information system today and how
    many new entrepreneurs are starting their businesses simply
    with this little gal right here in their hands, if you don't
    have access to internet at home, then it's going to make it
    very difficult for you to be able to sell your wares on the
    internet and to find folks.
        So I think looking at how we build infrastructure, make
    sure that infrastructure is particularly high-tech
    infrastructure is available, it's going to be important, and
    then, you know, I think the mentoring and the peer-to-peer
    coaching is very important and so while it may be hard to find
    mentors, there may be peers in your area.
        You mentioned the fact that there are so few women business
    centers in rural areas, but maybe there are peer networks that
    can be built up and utilize technology to tap into all of the
    other women centers that are in other states or in other
    regions. That can be a way of helping to ensure that our rural
    female entrepreneurs have access to the resources that they
    need.
        Senator Ernst. Yes, and I appreciate you mentioning how
    much work we do on our phones, and I think a lot of women do
    actually start by using this type of technology and in Rural
    Iowa I know of one woman that lived in Southern Iowa. She did
    not have internet access at her home and she lived on a farm
    and so she would drive into her little tiny rural community in
    the evenings and sit outside of the Iowa State Extension Office
    and draw off of their Wi-Fi and do all of her ordering and
    distribution on her phone. So we've got to figure out better
    ways of doing business.
        So thank you very much, really appreciate that. Thank you,
    Mr. Chair.
        Chairman Cardin. Senator Hirono.
        Senator Hirono. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Welcome all of the panelists and you brought your cheering
    section, I see. So welcome to all of the women in the audience.
    Aloha. [Applause.]
        So for our entire panel, how many of you had trouble
    getting access to capital? Raise your hands.
        [Show of hands.]
        Senator Hirono. So obviously and I bet, yes, I see some
    hands from people in the audience, that that is one of the
    often-cited very practical concerns is access to capital.
        Is there anything more that Congress can do to enable small
    businesses, especially women-owned businesses, to have access
    to capital? Any of you have very specific ideas about what
    Congress can do? Anybody? Go ahead.
        Ms. Koch. Thank you.
        They could access more--the greater loans. They have a
    micro loan that SEED has in our local community. It's only
    $50,000. It's been the same for, as I know, the last 15 years.
    Nothing's changed.
        Then also look at second stage companies. As myself, you
    know, you start out at one point, you need different needs as
    you grow. Let us continue to grow.
        Senator Hirono. Anybody else? Yes, Ms. Sweeney.
        Ms. Sweeney. Yes, thank you.
        The beauty of the WBCs is their ability to provide
    additional resources. There has to be an opportunity to include
    access to capital internally. From micro grants, other private
    funding within Baltimore, there's a huge resource, so an
    ecosystem built on nontraditional funding. Being able to tap
    into those resources and leverage those opportunities within
    the WBC so that it increases access to capital for mentees.
        Senator Hirono. Anyone else with other ideas?
        Ms. Onwuka. Yes, Congresswoman. I would just add that and
    underscore particularly small business in the childcare sector
    that are nonprofits being able to have access to the for-profit
    SBA loans and then broadly I think it's important that women
    are able to keep as much income coming into their households as
    possible and that gets into tax policy but also gets into
    regulatory sides, but that's what I would suggest.
        Senator Hirono. Ms. Somerville, did you want to add
    something?
        Ms. Somerville. Yes, ma'am. Thank you for the opportunity
    to share.
        I'd also like the recognizing of larger business and the
    strengthening of the partnerships between the larger business
    and the small business in terms of mentorships. That's another
    way to continue to enable our success.
        Thank you.
        Senator Hirono. I know some of you, I think at least two of
    you have benefited from the mentorship opportunities that were
    provided through the Women Business Centers.
        So was that a very critical aspect of your ability to start
    your businesses, the mentoring? What can we do to increase
    those mentoring opportunities, Ms. Somerville?
        Ms. Somerville. It was truly a significant supporter. I
    think the biggest thing was with the WBC and applying for my
    women-owned certification as a small business was the
    handholding aspect. The flexibility, as the Ranking Member
    Ernst mentioned, that we do a lot of things in the evenings.
        I think they were relentless in being accessible on
    weekends and late evenings and literally enabling me line by
    line, step by step because the process can be extremely
    challenging navigating through that. The support was unyielding
    and I think the flexibility that the program offers in terms of
    accessibility was bar none.
        Senator Hirono. I have visited the Women's Business Center
    in Honolulu and I know that it makes a really big difference.
        One of you mentioned the need to access broadband. I think
    that's very true and that is why some of the funding that we
    provided for this purpose, especially for rural areas, through
    the Infrastructure Bill and others, I think that's going to be
    really critical to enable entrepreneurs in the rural areas of
    our country to be able to sell their products.
        So I think that was Ms. Sweeney who mentioned that. So
    thank you very much.
        I think one of the challenges is the need for affordable
    childcare and our country provides less support for early
    childhood education and childcare than just about any other
    developed country, probably the least, and so there are some
    bills that would provide additional support for access and
    affordability to childcare.
        Would you agree that for the panel that that is an
    important element of enabling business women to--yes, to have
    successful businesses?
        Ms. Koch. It is hard. I lost most of my female workers. It
    was hard for them. We have a training program that we started
    because we partnered with a local organization called COTS.
    They are a nonprofit that helps take women off the street with
    children. They teach them skills and we bring them in and teach
    them how to make wire harnesses and provide a place for them to
    work. If we don't have work, we sub them out to our
    competitors.
        Senator Hirono. And, frankly, the only three countries that
    do worse than us in terms of supporting childcare affordability
    and availability, Ireland, Costa Rica, and Turkey.
        So we need to do a heck of a lot better and there are a
    number of bills that would enable the affordable access to
    childcare, and I think that's something that we need to do for
    the women in our country and I say about time. Do you agree in
    the audience? Go ahead and clap. [Applause.]
        Senator Hirono. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Mr.
    Chairman.
        Chairman Cardin. Certainly.
        Senator Hawley.
        Senator Hawley. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thanks
    to the witnesses for being here.
        Ms. Koch, could I just come on to you? I'd like to talk a
    little bit more about your manufacturing background as well as
    about women in the industry.
        Can you just give us a sense of what some of the biggest
    constraints are to success in manufacturing in particular for
    women-owned businesses?
        Ms. Koch. There's not enough women-owned manufacturers to
    get mentorships from, but the things that are hurting us today
    are the employee rates, the finding the good talent, learning--
    I didn't have a manufacturing background. I had a marketing
    background. I just had a passion on making things. So I did.
        But there's a lot of--we need help with capital, being able
    to get to that next step. I've been presented to companies that
    wanted to do work with us but I couldn't get the funding or
    they thought we were too small and we do work with all the
    automotive companies, but, you know, to get to the next level
    is difficult, especially in this field of manufacturing.
        Senator Hawley. Absolutely. Let me just ask you about an
    issue in your industry, in the manufacturing industry, which is
    offshoring, particularly with regard to China.
        I'm just curious if the offshoring of our manufacturing
    capacity to China over decades now has created any challenges
    for you that you see, whether that's in the educational
    pipeline as it were that we used to have in this country that
    we've now lost in many instances because now those jobs have
    gone overseas and so now we don't have the education to train
    workers any longer or whether it's other things.
        I'm just curious about your firsthand experience.
        Ms. Koch. Okay. I can talk about the education piece.
        Senator Hawley. Please.
        Ms. Koch. STEM. Okay. I'm heavily believing that STEM is
    very important right now. It's where the future of
    manufacturing is. It's where the future of the jobs are. So we
    have to start early in our schools partnering with
    manufacturing companies, letting us bring them in early, at an
    early stage, also have mentoring and good programs to start
    with children at early ages, even in elementary, to show how
    important STEM is.
        Today, even just in the female sector, 29 percent of women
    of the whole STEM industries are holding those positions.
    That's still very low in this day and age.
        Senator Hawley. Yeah. Yes, thank you for that. You talked
    about the need to cut red tape and reform the procurement
    process, and I'm just wondering if you have any specific
    recommendations for this committee that maybe we could help
    with when it comes to that.
        Ms. Koch. Navigating the system is difficult. You can get
    certified as a WOSB through our local chapters and our local
    thanks to WBENC and our local Great Lakes Women's Business
    Council.
        However, once you get certified, then you go to the system
    and there you just get a runaround. If you ever try to go get
    into their--you have to go hunt and find the contract and then
    when you get the contract, the language is so difficult to
    understand because it's a military language, it doesn't break
    it down to what we're used to in the industries.
        So I think that the other thing is that having more of a
    networking group where you bring your procurement agents to
    some of our events to find us, help connect those procurements,
    the purchasing to see what we do, that would really help. They
    have events all the time through WeBack where women bring and
    show their products. Why isn't the military, why isn't the
    government there?
        Senator Hawley. Very good. Thank you very much. Thanks to
    all of the witnesses for being here.
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Chairman Cardin. Senator Hickenlooper.
        Senator Hickenlooper. Thank you, Mr. Chair, Madam Ranking
    Member.
        I thank all of you, the entire audience for being here, but
    especially you being on the firing line here.
        I had the great fortune. I was an entrepreneur that had a
    very hard time raising money to build my first brew pub, a
    restaurant that brewed its own beer. I got turned down by 33
    banks and I was just trying to get $50,000. You know, no one
    knew what it was back then, but the process, the bank that
    finally took the risk on me was a women's bank, which I thought
    was ironic. [Applause.]
        Senator Hickenlooper. But they understood the concept of
    doing something that someone hadn't done before and they also
    understood the challenge of having to deal with the bureaucracy
    that we often find.
        I think we're in a global competition in terms of
    technology and innovation. I think whether you're talking about
    climate change, whether you're talking about quantum computing
    or artificial intelligence, we need all hands on deck and we
    cannot leave a large portion of our population not part of the
    effort, and I think it's going to have to be a national effort.
    I think you're all working in different aspects of this that
    really are important and going to bear fruit.
        It's not a question of fairness and making sure people get
    good jobs. That's great. That's very important. But the nation
    needs everyone to be committed to this effort because we are in
    this incredible competition.
        So, Ms. Somerville, let me just ask and, you know, roughly
    25 percent of all our innovation firms are led by women. I
    think that's a generous estimate. How can the SBA better
    implement education programs among its resource partners to
    provide young women with the hands-on training to develop tech
    businesses and to support innovation?
        Ms. Somerville. Thank you for that question, sir.
        One of the things I think we focus on in my company is
    internships, partnering with academic institutions to develop
    curriculum that will enable individual students from high
    school and college to apply the academic piece in the real
    world, so looking at what those technical competencies are
    needed in the real world and infusing them in the academic
    curriculum, and then offering those internships sponsorship,
    ally ships, mentorships, if you will.
        We also integrate in terms of being keynote speakers to
    tell many students what it's like in the real world. We sponsor
    a lot of STEM events which is also good in terms of IT because
    one of the things we've been able to do is to with the
    resources we receive from WBC and other partners was to build
    out our IT infrastructure so we can employ people and educate
    people throughout the nation.
        We even have an employee in a teeny tiny home in the middle
    of Colorado somewhere, very rural area, and so it actually
    works, but exciting, our youth, about the opportunity and
    giving them opportunities to demonstrate that and partnering
    with academic institutions, podcasts, being very relevant and
    relatable with today and STEM is definitely, as mentioned
    earlier, it's key in terms of our IT infrastructure.
        Believe it or not, that mentorship goes both ways because
    we learn from the amazing bright future leaders of women and
    young men in our communities. So the future looks bright and
    when we get out there and have that outreach opportunity, but
    it starts with the academic institutions, sir.
        Senator Hickenlooper. I love your emphasis on
    apprenticeships and partnering with those. I think you all at
    various times in your materials support that and, you know, the
    Department of Labor has apprenticeships. I mean, Commerce has
    apprenticeships. Everyone's got apprenticeships but no one's
    really focusing on making that a national movement because I
    think especially for people that are from lower income
    backgrounds apprenticeships allow them to have those models.
        In Colorado, I was partners in a project with a woman named
    Joyce Meskis who started the Tattered Cover Bookstore which was
    the most amazing bookstore any of us had ever seen, and she
    told me one time, she said the hardest thing was I didn't have
    any role models as a woman entrepreneur. There was no one I
    could go and hang out with and she said, you know, if I hang
    out with the guys, they didn't treat me as a guy, you know, and
    I think that's something we too often overlook.
        Ms. Sweeney, research shows that women are less likely to
    choose being entrepreneurs and that there's a resistance there,
    largely it is because they don't encounter other women
    entrepreneurs.
        So what type of public/private partnerships should we think
    about expanding to foster an environment where we create an
    ecosystem where women have more access to mentors?
        Ms. Sweeney. Well, a good example of that is actually the
    Baltimore Metro Women's Business Center because they are
    connected to Morgan State. So they are right there amidst other
    programs that have already launched. Their entrepreneurial
    programs are designed for college students and they have
    extended beyond that to high school students.
        For us particularly, we're a partner. We take on summer
    youth workers and now we're moving into taking in youth workers
    throughout the entire year starting in the fall.
        So it goes back to some of those partnerships that was
    mentioned earlier that we get into not just the high schools
    and colleges but we start working our way through middle
    schools and we can build from the WBC because of all the
    partners that they're leveraging so that we can begin to have
    real world experiences and I'll say I'm a 10K SB alum, as well.
        So that partnership already there has a built-in system to
    help us to continue to help the next generation of
    entrepreneurs.
        Senator Hickenlooper. All right. Well, I'm out of time but
    not out of heart and I love what you guys have all done. I
    think it's inspirational and delighted to see ways we can help
    expand and accelerate the progress you all have made.
        Yield back to the Chair.
        Chairman Cardin. Senator Rosen's timing is just perfect.
    Senator Ernst has already mentioned, several of you have
    mentioned one of the initiatives that we have taken to expand
    the tools of the SBA for childcare businesses, nonprofits, and
    I want to congratulate Senator Ernst for her leadership on that
    and Senator Rosen for her leadership on that, and we're now
    joined by Senator Rosen.
        Senator Rosen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Ranking
    Member Ernst, for your patience. We were in a Homeland Security
    markup. We just finished and I ran over. So I appreciate your
    timing and thank you all for being here today.
        Obviously we're here talking about women-owned businesses
    and I'm going to talk, of course, about my state Nevada and in
    Nevada, women make up 45 percent of all businesses throughout
    the state which is equivalent to more than 80,000 small
    businesses that are women-owned.
        In fact, Nevada has led the nation in women-owned
    businesses for the last decade and so I'm so proud of all the
    women entrepreneurs and I want to see women-owned businesses
    increase in the years to come and so one way to ensure that
    increases is to prioritize, of course, the proper resources for
    women and other underserved communities and so it's why I
    introduced the Minority Entrepreneurship Grant Program with
    Senator Tillis and this legislation would establish a minority
    entrepreneurship grant program at SBA.
        It's going to award grants to minority-serving
    institutions, historically black colleges and universities to
    promote and increase opportunities for minority student
    business ownership and entrepreneurship.
        So, Ms. Sweeney, can you speak to the resources that you
    utilized to start your business and how did you hear about them
    and what do you wish you had known or had available to you so
    we can maybe potentiate that? Ms. Sweeney?
        Ms. Sweeney. Thank you, Senator.
        I've benefited greatly right at the start of the pandemic
    from the Baltimore Metro WBC. That connection was pivotal for
    us being able to be able to strategize what our next step would
    be at a time of great uncertainty.
        So I was thankful that I knew about the WBC, but what wish
    I knew before, before I jumped into entrepreneurship that I had
    a mentor prior to. So a lot of our initial meetings was to
    clean up some of what needed to be cleaned up.
        So the first step, of course, is how important it is when a
    woman is ready to start a business, how connecting with the WBC
    is so important from the entrepreneur education perspective.
        Thank you.
        Senator Rosen. Thank you. I do agree. Mentors make all the
    difference in so many things, so many things.
        Next, I want to move on to reducing burdens for our small
    business owners, something that I think you all know about, as
    well, and because there's many factors, as we know, that go
    into starting a small business, develop your business plan, you
    register your business, you have to understand perhaps your
    compliance requirements, and, of course, so much more,
    depending on what type of business it is.
        I've heard from Nevadans about the complex process of
    starting their businesses and not fully knowing every operating
    requirement to ensure their business is up to par for their
    state standards.
        So it's important that the Federal Government creates a
    streamlined process for Americans to work through the
    oftentimes bureaucratic red tape to start a small business more
    easily. It's why I introduced The One Stop Shop for Small
    Business Licensing. It's going to require the SBA to create a
    central website for licensing and business permit information.
    All these materials kind of in the wish you had known before
    you started category.
        So again, Ms. Sweeney, can you speak about your experience
    in getting the proper licensing and permit requirements and how
    difficult was it and what else do you think we can do to
    streamline a little bit?
        Ms. Sweeney. Thank you. Because we are medical, we are part
    medical, so there's a lot of compliance around Medicaid,
    Medicare. The biggest piece, as you mentioned, is not just
    being able to go to a website because you have access to the
    site.
        Senator Rosen. Right.
        Ms. Sweeney. So what has helped me specifically has been
    mentorship within the State of Maryland and that mentoring has
    actually come through some of our managed care organizations,
    our direct contact with our partners, like Aetna, like Notre
    Dame School of Pharmacy.
        So what I think of and in my experience, wouldn't it be
    awesome, especially with the burden of health care right now,
    if there was actually a committee in place or an infrastructure
    in place that would help people who are interested in tapping
    into health care to be able to navigate the compliance much
    better and we know then we would see a huge increase in
    especially small business owners that would be willing to tap
    into Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement which means more
    support for communities that need it the most.
        Senator Rosen. Well, thank you. I appreciate especially
    working on the workforce, skilled nursing, long-term care, all
    of those things, we're all going to need it.
        Thank you again, Mr. Chair and Ranking Member, appreciate
    it.
        Chairman Cardin. Senator Ernst.
        Senator Rosen. Okay. Yes. I just want to expand upon that
    because so many members of the committee have asked about
    mentorship and I want to make sure that once again I highlight
    The SCORE Act of 2023 which is seeking to strengthen mentorship
    and coaching opportunities for women, especially in our rural
    communities.
        Cathy, Ms. Koch, in your experience, what obstacles do
    women small business owners face when it comes to accessing the
    mentorship program and especially maybe in some of the rural
    communities?
        Ms. Koch. Well, I did not know where to find one. Access to
    female mentors that understand my challenges, my challenges
    from the time I started my company to the challenges that I
    still face today as a growing manufacturer.
        I need mentors that are more like someone said earlier. I
    had a lot of male mentors early on because that's all there
    were and I didn't even know there was such a thing as a coach.
    I didn't have access to that. Today I do.
        Senator Ernst. So did you--I'm sorry to interrupt, Ms.
    Koch. Did you have experience with The SCORE Program?
        Ms. Koch. Yes, I did early on and it was--so then it was--
    they paired me up with an engineer that was, you know, a
    retired engineer. I was young in my career. He didn't
    understand anything about running a business and he didn't
    understand anything I was trying to ask or say. It was so
    embarrassing for me that I just gave up.
        Senator Ernst. Okay. And that's unfortunate and I think
    it's important to point out when we do have failures in the
    system and then how do we correct those failures and I think
    that's why it's important that we continually take a look at
    The SCORE Program and make sure that we're meeting the right
    fit with the needs of the individuals that are accessing the
    program.
        I want to close with just a final question about childcare
    and maybe you can just share your story, as well, because I
    know probably a number of you have struggled with childcare and
    many in our audience and even as a young worker, I would take
    my daughter to work after hours because we didn't have access
    to nontraditional times and I think we need to modify the way
    we think about childcare because not everybody works a 9 to 5
    position and having access afterhours or before school, a lot
    of that is really important.
        But as a single mother with a young toddler when you were
    working, what obstacles did you face when you were starting
    your business?
        Ms. Koch. Finding the affordable childcare, so that's why
    she came to work with me. After school programs that I felt
    were good for her, not just a daycare, you know, options,
    something that she could still excel and learn in. Even though
    bringing her to work with me, I felt like, you know, now I
    learned later in life because my daughter is now a--she's a
    chemical engineer and she is now a partner at one of the
    largest consulting firms and a young mother and she's a female
    partner.
        So to me, it was probably bringing her here was--now I look
    back and think it was probably good for her to see a role
    model. However, you know, I felt guilty when I was at work and
    she was with me working and I was not paying attention to her.
        So having those programs are so important and they're also
    important for my employees. I said earlier we partnered with
    this program to bring women off the streets and teaching them.
    Part of the problem is when we pay them a salary and we pay
    twice the amount of our local Michigan wages to start with no
    experience and they still can't afford childcare.
        Senator Ernst. Wow! That is incredible.
        Patrice Onwuka, you had mentioned earlier, as well,
    thinking about childcare differently. If you could just help
    close us out on how we should think differently about
    childcare.
        Ms. Onwuka. Absolutely. Thank you, Ranking Member.
        Childcare is so important to women and women small business
    owners because many small business owners have children and
    they're trying to balance how they can raise their kids but
    they're also employing, as my colleague here mentioned on the
    panel, they're employing workers who need childcare and so,
    Number 1, I think we want to be careful about suggesting that
    there should be a one size fits all solution to childcare.
        I think daycare centers are one form of childcare. You also
    have in-home-based childcare that a lot of parents would rather
    have someone in a home that they trust than, you know,
    necessarily a daycare center. So we want to make sure that
    there is many different types of options as possible and I
    think you can do that through the Tax Code. I think you can do
    that through, you know, different acts.
        We talked about the Small Business Childcare Investment
    Act. I think that's a really smart way of looking at it and
    then ensuring that the SBA provides those resources as a
    clearinghouse to where employers can find information about
    different childcare options and resources to offer at their
    centers.
        Senator Ernst. Thank you very much. Thank you very much,
    Mr. Chair.
        Chairman Cardin. I want to thank again our four witnesses
    and thank those that are in attendance for what you do every
    day to help entrepreneurship in America.
        Senator Ernst and I recognize we have a responsibility as
    the Chair and Ranking Member of the Small Business Committee to
    modernize and update and oversight the small business laws of
    our nation and unfortunately that hasn't been done for a long
    time.
        So some of the issues that you are referring to, such as
    micro loan caps or some of the issues concerning oversight of
    The SCORE Program, Congress has not acted on these areas for a
    long, long time. The same thing with the financing tools, we
    haven't done that.
        Well, we're determined to exercise our roles as legislators
    in that regard and we've already started that process. We
    started that process with the passage last week of 12 bills.
    One of those bills dealt with the financing issues by
    recognizing we need permanency with mission lenders, with the
    Community Advantage Program, and modernizing the 504 Program.
        So we are taking steps to try to respond to many of the
    concerns that you have already expressed.
        We talked a lot about childcare. Childcare is absolutely
    essential for women to be able to enter the workforce and
    become entrepreneurs and so we have taken steps to remove the
    disqualification of childcare businesses from participating in
    the SBA financing tools.
        So we are taking those steps and there's several others
    that we've already looked at.
        You've made a lot of really good suggestions that we are
    going to absolutely take a look at. The SCORE Program, we need
    to make sure that we have mentors that are contemporary with
    the needs that are out there and your example points out that
    there's improvement that needs to be made. We need a mentoring
    program, as some of you have pointed out, extremely important
    to your successful start up of business, but let's make sure
    that the program is done correctly.
        Women's Business Centers are absolutely essential and
    you've pointed out that, yes, there is a difficulty in figuring
    out how to deal with the tools that are available through the
    SBA, but then when you get to the private sector, which is
    another important source for help for small businesses, women
    are at a tremendous disadvantage and the Women's Business
    Centers can make a big difference.
        I just want to point out to my Ranking Member four years
    ago we had no Women's Business Centers in the Baltimore Region
    and Baltimore was our largest city in Maryland. We now have a
    center located at Morgan State University and it makes a huge
    difference.
        We also have one at Bowie, I might say. They happen to be
    HBCUs, but connecting to a college campus allows us to connect
    to mentors. It allows us to deal with some of the technical
    needs that businesses need by connecting the dots and having
    the programs available.
        So it's important to update the Women's Business Center
    laws to make sure that we have the resources to take care of
    the people of Iowa as well as the people of Maryland.
        So it's past time that we look at how we can exercise our
    responsibilities as legislators to update these laws.
         I might tell you the Administration took steps in the
    Rules. We think we have responsibilities to make sure that
    there is legislative oversight and so we also want to make sure
    that we don't go a long period of time without us reviewing and
    we also want to make sure that as we allow lenders into our
    program that there's protection for the public from
    unscrupulous-type lending practices.
        So all of that is part of our responsibility and we think
    we are making progress.
        Contracting reform is desperately needed. Many of you have
    mentioned that. I understand the DoD has a foreign language in
    their rules and we really do need to be able to allow the
    access from small businesses, women-owned small businesses to
    be able to access government contracting in an easier way.
        You don't have the large staff that can get you through
    those types of challenges. The resource partners help you, but
    we also have to make sure that the agency helps you. So these
    are all part of what we're trying to do on contracting reform.
        The bottom line is the suggestions that you have made here
    will help us in our process in our reauthorization of these
    programs and we thank you very much, the four witnesses plus
    the people that are in the room. You're invited back again.
    [Applause.]
        Chairman Cardin. Thank you all very much.
        The Committee stands adjourned.
        [Whereupon, at 11:20 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

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