This week was supposed to be dedicated to veterans and their small business endeavors. That is no longer the case as Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Kelly Loeffler blames Democrats for perpetuating the ongoing government shutdown and cutting funding in the short term.
This year’s National Veterans Small Business Week (NVSBW), intended to be the 12th annual celebration of veteran entrepreneurs, was supposed to take place Nov. 3-7. As of last week, at least 32 virtual and in-person events were scheduled to celebrate and empower current service members, veterans, National Guard and Reserve members, and military spouse entrepreneurs.
The SBA says the second-longest federal shutdown in U.S. history, which began Oct. 1 and has currently exceeded the 34-day mark, has resulted in lapsed funding with vital SBA programs and services being put on hold.
“By refusing to support a clean funding bill to reopen the government, Senate Democrats have frozen the majority of SBA’s services—including our small business lending programs and public events like National Veterans Small Business Week,” SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler, a former U.S. senator in Georgia, said in a statement.
“I am disappointed that [the] SBA will be unable to recognize our nation’s veteran entrepreneurs, and that Senate Democrats continue to block pay for more than 1 million active-duty military members. The Trump administration is pursuing every option to support our troops, but until Senate Democrats reverse course, our veteran-owned small businesses and service members will continue to feel the pain of the federal shutdown,” she added.
Military.com reached out to SBA, which remains understaffed like other federal agencies, for further comment.
Vets Operate Over 1.6 Million Businesses
The most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau from 2022 shows 1,651,542 veteran-owned firms in the U.S. Figures were provided by the SBA to Military.com.
Federal agencies, local stakeholders and private-sector partners were scheduled to take part in this year’s theme, “Honoring Veteran-Owned, American Made,” designed to showcase how veteran-owned small businesses’ impact in manufacturing, strengthening national security, and contributing more than $1 trillion in annual sales to the economy.
“Those plans, along with dozens of in-person and virtual events offering training, capital access, and government contracting resources have been suspended,” the SBA says.
The blaming of Democrats for the shutdown follows uniform messaging across the Trump administration the past 30-plus days, from SBA to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, which has used federal government platforms to display partisan messaging.
'Frustrating' Cancellation
Barry Mattson, a U.S. Air Force and Army veteran who is now CEO of the Brian Hamilton Foundation, like others in the nonprofit and humanitarian spheres looked forward to NVSBW as a method of like-minded individuals to connect, forge connections, and collectively find a “sense of purpose” in post-military life.
After telling Military.com last week that “there's enough opportunity here at home for people to work on their own terms,” he laments the cancellation of this week’s events but encourages veterans to surge ahead in their own way.
“The SBA canceled National Veterans Small Business Week,” Mattson wrote Tuesday on LinkedIn. “That’s frustrating—not because of the event itself, but because it highlights a truth veterans already live with: Our support systems are fragile.
“Every year, ~200,000 service members take off the uniform and try to build a new life. They can’t wait for Washington to resolve funding disputes before they earn income, provide for their families, and rediscover purpose.”
