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Matthew ("Matt") Stevens

Official · SBA

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Type
Person
Role
Official · SBA
Programs
Other programs
Updated
  • Pandemic-program role: SBA's SVOG Program Director, the operational lead and public spokesperson for the $16.25B Shuttered Venue Operators Grant after its troubled 2021 rollout.
  • Institution · office: SBA · Office of Disaster Assistance (SVOG Program Director) · Type: career (not stated verbatim in a first-party source)
  • Tenure (relief-relevant): SVOG Program Director in 2021, through the program's award and closeout phases (into 2022).

The job (role mechanics)

  • Level / appointment: Career civil servant; SVOG Program Director (career status is not stated verbatim in a first-party source; he entered SBA as a 2012 Presidential Management Fellow).
  • Reports to: Up through the Office of Disaster Assistance (the office that housed SVOG) to its Associate/Deputy Associate Administrator, and ultimately the Administrator.
  • Core responsibility: Operational lead and public spokesperson for the $16.25B Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, managing application/award operations after the troubled April 2021 portal launch and through the award, supplemental-grant, and closeout phases.
  • Pay: His grade and salary are not in a first-party document.
  • Expectations / mandate: Run SVOG day-to-day — application processing, awards and supplemental grants, grantee guidance/FAQs, public reporting of disbursement figures, and program closeout.
  • Tenure norm: Continuing (career; not a political appointee). His actual service: SVOG Program Director in 2021 through closeout (into 2022); later Director of MySBA and (Aug. 2024) Deputy AA of the Office of Investment and Innovation.

Who they are

Matthew "Matt" Stevens is an SBA civil servant who ran the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program as its Program Director within the Office of Disaster Assistance. He was SBA's named operational voice for the $16.25B program for theaters, live-music venues, and cultural businesses during and after its rocky launch.123

Education

B.A. in Economics and Spanish, Southwestern University (Georgetown, Texas); M.B.A., University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business.13

Career before the pandemic

Stevens first worked with small-business owners as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador, with earlier private/nonprofit stops (Milliman, TXU Energy, The Plan Fund, and the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's Business Assistance Center). He joined SBA in 2012 as a Presidential Management Fellow in the Office of Entrepreneurial Development, eventually leading the Regional Innovation Clusters program; he also briefly served as a PMF at the State Department, and between SBA stints worked defense-manufacturing/community programs at the Department of Defense (OLDCC). He returned to SBA in 2021 to run SVOG.13

Role in the pandemic relief programs

SVOG was a ~$16.25B grant program whose application portal opened April 8, 2021, malfunctioned within hours, was shut down that afternoon, and did not reopen until late April.4 In an August 27, 2021 SBA release Stevens announced roughly $9 billion awarded to about 11,500 venues; at the July 2022 National Independent Venue Association conference he reported $14.57 billion disbursed to more than 13,000 grantees (with $9.26 billion to businesses under 50 employees).25 SBA's SVOG FAQ documents were issued institutionally (unsigned); no congressional testimony by him was found.6

Documents written or signed

  • SBA news release 21-75 (Aug. 27, 2021), quoting "SBA Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program Director Matthew Stevens" on supplemental SVOG awards.2
  • Public statements as SVOG Program Director: NIVA Conference, July 2022 (award-figures report; SVOG "closeout" workshop panelist).57
  • SVOG FAQ guidance — institutional/unsigned SBA documents he oversaw.6
  • (Program-oversight context, not about him personally: SBA OIG Report 25-21 on SVOG recipient oversight.)8

Career after / where they are now

After SVOG, Stevens became Director of MySBA (the agency's unified borrower platform), and in August 2024 was named Deputy Associate Administrator of SBA's Office of Investment and Innovation, leading its enterprise shared services. He was still listed in that OII role on sba.gov as of an April 2025 capture.39 By September 2026 his sba.gov biography page returned "not found," and the Office of Investment and Innovation's page listed Tami Howie as acting Deputy Associate Administrator.10

Sources held in this archive

Original source documents and archived captures

Sources (first-party)

  1. SBA official bio, "Matthew Stevens." SBA official bio, "Matthew Stevens." archived full text (original: sba.gov) (archived full text: SBA official bio, "Matthew Stevens." archived full text (original: web.archive.org · stored capture)) ↩
  2. SBA news release 21-75, "SBA Opens Supplemental Grant Applications for Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Awardees" (Aug. 27, 2021) — quotes "SBA Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program Director Matthew Stevens." SBA news release 21-75, "SBA Opens Supplemental Grant Applications for Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Awardees" Aug.... (original: sba.gov · stored capture) ↩
  3. ExecutiveGov, "Matt Stevens Named Deputy Associate Administrator at SBA Investment and Innovation Office" (Aug. 2024) — full chronology + education. ExecutiveGov, "Matt Stevens Named Deputy Associate Administrator at SBA Investment and Innovation Office" Aug. 2024 —... (original: executivegov.com · stored capture) ↩
  4. Billboard, SVOG application-portal shutdown coverage (Apr. 2021) — the rollout he managed. Billboard, SVOG application-portal shutdown coverage Apr. 2021 — the rollout he managed (original: billboard.com · stored capture) ↩
  5. Variety, NIVA Conference coverage (July 2022) — Stevens as SVOG director reporting disbursement figures. Variety, NIVA Conference coverage July 2022 — Stevens as SVOG director reporting disbursement figures (original: variety.com · stored capture) ↩
  6. SBA, SVOG FAQ (institutional, unsigned). SBA, SVOG FAQ institutional, unsigned (original: sba.gov · stored capture) ↩
  7. CelebrityAccess, NIVA Conference panel lineup (lists Stevens on the SVOG closeout workshop). CelebrityAccess, NIVA Conference panel lineup lists Stevens on the SVOG closeout workshop (original: celebrityaccess.com · stored capture) ↩
  8. SBA OIG, "SBA's Oversight of Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Recipients" (Report 25-21) — program context. SBA OIG, "SBA's Oversight of Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Recipients" Report 25-21 — program context (original: oversight.gov · stored capture) ↩
  9. Internet Archive capture of his SBA bio (Apr. 21, 2025), still listing the OII Deputy AA role. SBA official bio, "Matthew Stevens." archived full text (original: web.archive.org · stored capture) ↩
  10. SBA, Office of Investment and Innovation page (viewed Sept. 26, 2026), leadership listing; the SBA biography page for Matthew Stevens returned HTTP 404 the same day. ↩
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