Five members of Congress has signed a bipartisan letter to the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) associate administrator, Allen Gutierrez, requesting that the agency report its progress in implementing last year’s outreach goals to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
In April 2019, Gutierrez testified on how SBA could provide better entrepreneurial services to HBCUs in a hearing held by the Small Business Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight and Regulations. Then, nine months later in December 2019, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report recommending a course of action SBA could take to improve its engagement with HBCUs as well.
In the letter, led by House Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia M Velázquez, D-NY, lawmakers further probed SBA by asking for a written report of its progress in implementing GAO’s recommendations. It has asked to receive answers from the SBA no later than Feb. 21.