GoWest Represented in Arizona Small Business Administration Roundtable

Posted by Brooke Parent on August 13, 2026

Recently, GoWest was invited by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce to participate in a lender’s roundtable hosted by National Bank of Arizona with the Small Business Administration. We were joined by SBA Deputy Administrator Bill Briggs, SBA Associate Administrator Lisa Shimkat, and Senior Advisor, Office of Capital Access, Jamie Ensley. Deputy Administrator Briggs provided an overview of the agency’s current priorities and initiatives before opening the discussion for questions and feedback from the group, which primarily included lenders.

SBA leadership repeatedly emphasized its focus on supporting the manufacturing sector and highlighted Arizona’s strong position for continued growth in this area.

The discussion also centered on the agency’s efforts to combat fraud, particularly related to COVID-era lending programs. SBA officials noted that despite lenders’ due diligence efforts, applications are still received with obvious fraud indicators, including applicants listed as younger than 5 or older than 120. They emphasized their close collaboration with the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute these cases and deter future fraudulent activity.

The roundtable provided great insight into all the work the agency is doing to streamline operations and ensure everyone has a better experience. It also opened the door to direct relationship-building between Arizona credit unions and agency staff.

Posted in Advocacy on the Move, Arizona Advocacy.