Chairman Williams: “From Startup to Scale: The Role of the SBA Office of Investment and Innovation in Powering America’s Small Businesses”

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the House Committee on Small Business is holding a hearing titled "From Startup to Scale: The Role of the SBA Office of Investment and Innovation in Powering America's Small Businesses."

Chairman Roger Williams' opening statement as prepared for delivery:

Welcome to today's hearing titled, "From Startup to Scale: The Role of the SBA Office of Investment and Innovation in Powering America's Small Businesses."

I want to thank our witness for appearing today and for sharing the important work being done in the SBA Office of Investment and Innovation.

As we look back on 250 years of American history, we see a country built on innovative ambition and the drive to build what comes next. America's economic strength has rested on a simple promise that if you are willing to take a risk, back an idea worth believing in, and contribute to something greater than yourself, this country will give you a fair shot.

In fact, America has always grown stronger when people who take risks and innovate are given room to try, and more importantly, the chance to succeed.

The Office of Investment and Innovation exists to support that work and ensure the risk-takers have the tools, capital, and pathways they need t turn ambition into tangible impact.

OII connects America's small businesses to capital, research funding, and ecosystem support they need to launch, scale, and compete. Through the Small Business Investment Company program, OII licenses privately managed funds that channel billions of dollars in equity and long-term financing to qualifying small businesses.

Through the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs, OII coordinates federal research awards that translate laboratory ideas into the technologies our warfighters depend on. Thanks to the work of this Committee, we successfully re-authorized those programs through September 30, 2031.

For more than 20 years, the SBIC program has operated at a zero-subsidy cost to the taxpayers. Over the past five years, it has run with a near-zero default rate. And under Administrator Loeffler's leadership, this Office has delivered historic results.

In Fiscal Year 2025, the SBIC program closed with a record $53 billion in combined private capital and SBA leverage.

In addition, the SBA approved 48 new SBIC licenses and issued a record 88 Green Light letters, building a pipeline projected to drive approximately $27 billion in new private sector investment, concentrated in manufacturing, critical technologies, and the industries our country needs most.

On the research side, more than 1,600 SBIR-funded small businesses reported nearly $29 billion in commercialization activity, delivering real products, jobs, and returns on federal investment.

Today's hearing will examine how OII has been restored to its core mission, how its programs are delivering measurable results for America's small businesses, and how Congress can continue to support this work in the years ahead.

Thank you again for joining us today. I look forward to the conversation ahead.

I now recognize our Ranking Member from New York, Mrs. Velázquez.

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