On Wednesday, SBA Deputy Administrator Dilawar Syed visited Valdosta, Georgia to meet with local officials, small business owners, homeowners, and renters who were impacted by Hurricane Helene. He started the day visiting the Portable Loan Outreach Center (PLOC) located at the McMullen Southside Library where he received a briefing and operational overview of SBA’s ground footprint and loan application volumes. 

Deputy Administrator Syed next visited with local Valdosta entrepreneur Samantha Schreiber, owner of Cottonwood Market & Boutique, who discussed the impacts of Hurricane Helene on her business.

In the afternoon, Deputy Administrator Syed engaged in a roundtable discussion with Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson, Lowndes County Emergency Management Director Ashley Tye, Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber and Southern Georgia Black Chamber Association leadership, SBA resource partners, and community leaders to share resources and discuss how the assembled stakeholders can collaborate to speed access to services. 

On Thursday, October 17^th Deputy Administrator Syed traveled to Savannah, Georgia where he started his day at the Chatham County Business Recovery Center (BRC) located at the Savannah Entrepreneurial Center. At the BRC, he received an operational overview and met with SBA loan officers and business owners seeking assistance from the center.

The Deputy Administrator then visited Savannah Bee Company, where he met with the manager and discussed the impacts of Hurricane Helene on their business operations.

Finally, the Deputy Administrator participated in a roundtable discussion with leadership from minority chambers of commerce, SBA resource partners, community leaders and officials to discuss how we can ensure all communities are getting equitable access to disaster recovery resources. 

For follow-up interview requests for Deputy Administrator Syed, please contact Lola Kress at [email protected].