The White House has confirmed that President Obama will formally announce the nomination of Maria Contreras-Sweet as Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) at an upcoming public event in Washington.
Contreras-Sweet founded ProAmérica Bank, a Latino-owned community bank in Los Angeles, in 2006. Before that, she was the president and co-founder of Fortius Holdings, a private-equity and venture fund specializing in providing California’s small businesses with access to capital. During her career, she also was secretary of the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, served on the board of California Blue Cross, and was employed in state government.
Karen Mills, the former SBA chief, left that post in August 2013, and the position has been vacant ever since.
