Linda McMahon wants Orange County small businesses to know one thing: The Donald Trump administration has their backs.
It’s cut taxes and more than 900 regulations, such as those on community banks and construction, said the administrator of the Small Business Administration.
“The SBA has the full backing of President Trump. He is looking to grow small businesses,” she said during a 30-minute interview at the SBA’s district office at the Hutton Centre in Santa Ana.
“This is such a great time to be lending and helping these small businesses grow.”
McMahon, the longtime chief executive of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: WWE) visited Orange County on June 20 and 22.
During her stopover, she toured [AV] Irvine, a producer of corporate and private events, such as shows and weddings. The SBA helped the company purchase its building.
“It was cool” to meet the business icon, said [AV] Irvine owner Kristopher Plourde, pointing out that he’s in the entertainment industry like McMahon.
“She’s obviously an innovator. She came by for an hour and hung out. She asked a lot of questions about what we do at the facility.”
McMahon visited the OC SBA office as No. 48 on her goal of visiting all 68 locations. After a lunch meeting with its executives, including Director J. Adalberto Quijada, McMahon praised the Santa Ana location “as a really great office.”
She said she was surprised that previous administrators didn’t visit all of the offices or talk to all of the branch managers.
“It’s no different to me than if I was the CEO coming into a company that has branch offices,” she said. “Would I not connect with the branch managers? Would I not try to find out what I can do to make them more effective?”
She also gave the keynote speech at the America West Lending Conference, which trains SBA lenders, at the Hilton Costa Mesa.
McMahon also praised the Small Business Development Center for the June 22 grand opening of its latest technology-focused center at UCI Applied Innovation.
“So much is going on in the tech community here,” she said.
She said she wants small OC businesses to realize that the SBA, in addition to helping with loans, provides counseling, networking and mentoring, among other services.
“I’d like them to know what a resource they have here. The SBA is the best-kept secret in the country. We haven’t promoted ourselves.”
