Dilawar Syed
Deputy Administrator Dilawar Syed of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) traveled to the Seattle area on Aug. 5 and 6, to meet with businesses that benefited from the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing In America agenda, particularly those led by women, people of color, and underserved communities.
Washington state alone has seen over 325,000 new business applications filed since President Biden took office.
Syed visited the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle’s new Entrepreneurship Community & Cultural Office, and AeroGo and Starfish Space in Tukwila.
He also met participants of Pioneer’s Reentry Entrepreneurship Program (PREP), a partnership with former Seattle Seahawk Doug Baldwin’s social impact investment firm, Vault89. PREP helps formerly incarcerated individuals in launching businesses.
The tour’s final stop highlighted the entrepreneurial spirit of a Ukrainian refugee at a local construction site, who utilized a microloan from the New Roots Fund to start a tile services business.