Obama taps Scotts director to head SBA - Business First of Columbus:

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Disclosing the appointment of Karen Gordon Mills tothe job, Obam said he chose someone who investes in small businesses and understands their challenges. “I am confiden that Karen will lead an SBA that will not onlyhelp small-busineszs owners realize their but help our nation rebuild our Obama said. Mills, 55, is president of Brunswick, Maine-based privatee equity investor and was a foundingg partner and managing director ofNew York-based equity firm Solera Capital. She also chairzs Maine Gov. John Baldacci’s Council on Competitivenessx andthe Economy.
She has been a director at Marysville-base Scotts (NYSE:SMG) since 1994 and also sits on the boardzs of the and the Maine chaptefr of theNature Conservancy. Mills said building and growing smallk businessesis “a defining tradition in America.” “Thix is a legacy I’m proud to be a part of and promoted for our future,” she said. The selection of Millsd “seems to be a sound one, particularly given her venturee capital background and experience workingwith venture-backed CEO Karen Kerrigan said. The “key take-away” in Mills’ selection is that Obamaz made it early in thetransition process, Kerrigan said.
That shows “thee SBA’s work will be a priority in thenew Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., agreed the early selection of Mills was a welcome sign forsmall businesses. “Thies appointment shows that his economic team recognizes the key role that smalpl firms play in job creation and the need to take quici steps to revitalizethe agency’s role in spurrinh growth,” said Velazquez, who chairs the House Smalk Business Committee. “Through budget cuts and mismanagement during the last eight the SBA has become nothing more than a shell of the agency it usedto be,” she said.
“Reversing this coursee is essential, and I look forward to working with the new administratorr to accomplish this during the nextfour years.” The SBA’ acting administrator, Sandy Baruah, said Mill s is “ideally suited to lead the agency,” citingb her experience in management, venture capital and publi c policy, as well as her “record of Baruah also defended the SBA’s recor during the Bush administration. “Mills will head an agency that has vastlyg improved its delivery of services and has a dedicatec team of civil servants to help carry outthe agency’ s mission,” she said.