Small Business Administration
This week I hosted Small Business Administration’s Southeast Regional Administrator, Cassius Butts and Sherry Kinard, Vice President and Manager of Government Guaranteed Lending of Brand Bank. They came by the studio to talk about their State of the Region event held the previous week where they shared information about the variety of indicators that show the economy of the Southeast is on the rise.
As the SBA’s media announcement of the State of the Region Address announcement quoted Cassius, “I am honored to present the SBA Inaugural State of the Region Address. This regional event is timely and encouraging to our economy as we have backed $4.5 billion in loans in the Southeast Region this past fiscal year. Our financial economic forecast looks promising and I am excited to portray where we are now and how we plan to influence our small businesses and lending institutions looking forward,” says Regional Administrator Butts. The regional address will present successes and new data from Region IV of the SBA: Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
Sherry talked about how Brand Bank partners with Small Business Administration to help small businesses gain access to capital needed to make their businesses run. We talked about the variety of mentoring services available for entrepreneurs that will link them up with experienced, successful business executives who can help them craft an effective business plan and insure they have their proposal in order before seeking a small business loan.
We’re pleased to support the business community by giving them a voice in the media through which they can tell their stories and move their businesses forward. And we are happy to collaborate with the Small Business Administration to help them share information that can help entrepreneurs gain access to resources (many of which are free of charge) that can help them have a greater chance of succeeding.
Special Guests:
Cassius Butts, Regional Administrator, Small Business Administration’s Southeastern Region 
- Masters, Public Administration, Urban Administration, Clark Atlanta University
- Fellowship, Presidential Management Fellow, US Office of Personnel Management
- Advisor, South Cobb Redevelopment Council
- Former Branch Chief, Real Estate Division, US Department of Housing and Urban Development
Sherry Kinard, VP and Manager of Government Guaranteed Lending, Brand Bank 
- BA, History, Clark Atlanta University
- Former AVP, Small Business Lending, One Georgia Bank
- Board Member, DEBCO
- Recipient, 2008 SBA Pace Setter Award
