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Jovita Carranza

Official · SBA

PPP · EIDL
Type
Person
Role
Official · SBA
Programs
PPP, EIDL
Updated
  • Pandemic-program role: SBA Administrator who signed the first PPP interim final rule and the agency's COVID-19 EIDL disaster declarations in spring 2020.
  • Institution · office: SBA · Office of the Administrator · Type: political
  • Tenure (relief-relevant): SBA Administrator from January 2020 (she signed the first PPP interim final rule in April 2020) through the end of the Trump administration in January 2021.

The job (role mechanics)

  • Level / appointment: PAS (Presidential appointment, Senate-confirmed): SBA Administrator, Executive Schedule Level II (5 U.S.C. 5313). Senate-confirmed in January 2020, after a nomination hearing before the Senate Small Business Committee.
  • Reports to: The President (Cabinet-rank agency head); coordinated with the Treasury Secretary on CARES Act relief.
  • Core responsibility: Head of the agency: sets and signs SBA policy and rules, directs all program offices (Capital Access, Disaster Assistance, Advocacy, etc.), and is the agency's principal accountable officer for the 7(a)/504, disaster-loan, and pandemic-relief programs.
  • Pay: Executive Schedule Level II ≈ $199,300 (2021 statutory rate; the governmentwide senior-pay freeze held the payable rate to ~$183,100 in 2021). Source: Ex Pdf 6009Adaafdb86580 (original: opm.gov · stored capture).
  • Expectations / mandate: Administer the Small Business Act and SBA's loan/disaster programs; under the Coronavirus Preparedness/CARES Acts, issue EIDL disaster declarations and promulgate the PPP interim final rules; serve as the agency's public face and report to Congress.
  • Tenure norm: Serves at the pleasure of the President (political).

Who they are

Jovita Carranza was the 26th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration and a member of President Trump's Cabinet.

Education

Per her official SBA biography, Carranza earned an MBA from the University of Miami (Coral Gables, FL) and received executive, governance, management, and financial training at INSEAD (Paris), Michigan State University, and the University of Chicago. The SBA biography does not state an undergraduate institution.

Career before the pandemic

Per her SBA bio, Carranza had a 30-year career at United Parcel Service (UPS), starting as a part-time, night-shift box handler and rising to President of Latin America and Caribbean operations; the Senate nomination-hearing record says UPS hired her in 1976 as a part-time hub operations and human resources supervisor. She first served the SBA as Deputy Administrator under President George W. Bush, with what her bio calls a bipartisan, unanimous Senate confirmation, then founded a small-business consulting company. She was named Treasurer of the United States in June 2017 under Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and held that post at the time of her SBA nomination.

Role in the pandemic relief programs

Under authority from the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, Carranza issued Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) declarations for every U.S. state and territory (issued March 16–21, 2020), and relaxed the criteria states needed to qualify. When the CARES Act created the Paycheck Protection Program, she signed SBA's first PPP interim final rule. The program's daily operations ran through William Manger as Associate Administrator for Capital Access; the Office of Financial Assistance, directed by Dianna L. Seaborn, issued the procedural notices that operationalized the rules for lenders.

Documents written or signed

  • First PPP interim final rule: "Business Loan Program Temporary Changes; Paycheck Protection Program," 85 FR 20811 (FR Doc. 2020-07672), effective April 15, 2020; signature block: "Jovita Carranza, Administrator." (Filed April 10, 2020, 4:15 pm.)
  • COVID-19 EIDL declarations: "Disaster Declarations of Economic Injury for the Coronavirus (COVID-19); Administrative Declarations of Economic Injury Disasters for the Entire United States and U.S. Territories," 85 FR 20015 (FR Doc. 2020-07501), published April 9, 2020; lists declarations for all 50 states + territories (March 16–21, 2020); signature block: "Jovita Carranza, Administrator."
  • SBA blog posts under her byline, listed on her SBA bio page.

Career after / where they are now

Carranza left office at the end of the Trump administration in January 2021; Isabella Casillas Guzman was confirmed as her successor in March 2021, and during the transition James Rivera served as Acting Administrator (he signed the American Rescue Plan PPP rule in March 2021). Her SBA bio states no later government role.

Sources held in this archive

Original source documents and archived captures

Sources (first-party)

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