[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 56 (Thursday, April 2, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4295-S4296]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                    NOMINATION OF KAREN GORDON MILLS

  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, today the Senate Committee on Small 
Business and Entrepreneurship unanimously reported the President's 
nomination of Karen Gordon Mills to serve as Administrator for the 
Small Business Administration. I would like to thank my ranking member, 
Senator Snowe, who recommended Ms. Mills for this post and her staff 
for their work on this nomination.
  I am pleased that President Obama nominated Karen Mills. I believe 
she has the right mix of experience and education and a willingness to 
serve that will benefit her in this challenging position. As our new 
SBA Administrator, Ms. Mills will be an extraordinary role model for 
entrepreneurs across America--particularly for women entrepreneurs.
  Ms. Mills graduated magna cum laude from Harvard with a degree in 
economics. She then stayed at Harvard to earn her MBA. She started out 
working as a product manager for General Mills and then segued into 
what was to become her true passion--growing new businesses. Ms. Mills 
is a founding partner and was managing director of Solera Capital, a 
NY-based venture capital firm run largely by women. She currently 
serves as President at MMP Group, Inc., a private equity investment and 
advising firm.
  Ms. Mills has balanced her role in private, for-profit enterprises 
with active involvement in her community. This has been demonstrated in 
the work she has done in Maine, serving on the boards of many 
nonprofits that work to promote economic development. It also shows in 
the work that she has done for organizations like the Council on 
Foreign Relations.
  From my meetings with Ms. Mills, it is clear that we share many of 
the same priorities--for example, assisting women and minority 
entrepreneurs and making sure small businesses can access credit in 
these trying economic times.
  The SBA is an agency at a crossroads. Under the previous 
administration, the agency's funding was slashed by 28 percent--the 
biggest cut of any Federal agency. In my view, the agency was relegated 
to the back benches during important policy debates on health care, 
trade and technology innovation, to name a few.
  We need strong, capable leadership to return this agency to its 
rightful place as a Federal advocate for small business interests. In 
Ms. Mills, I am confident that we have it.

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