Congressional Committee to Hold Hearing in Pasadena City Hall Tuesday to Discuss Plight of Women Business Owners

The United States House of Representatives’ Small Business Committee will conduct a hearing in the Pasadena City Hall Tuesday focused on  the problems that women face when trying to secure business loans and working capital for their businesses or startups.

Pasadena-area representative Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA District 27), a ranking member of the Committee, will conduct the hearing with Congressman Steve Knight (CA District 25).

“It’s an official hearing of the House Small Business Committee in Washington, D.C.,” Chu said. “The Committee looks at the state of affairs for small businesses all across the nation. It does have oversight over the Small Business Administration, but it also looks at all the issues that affect small business. Now I happen to be the lead Democrat on the Access to Capital Subcommittee, which is why I really want to talk in this hearing.”

Chu said the hearing will examine the challenges faced by entrepreneurs typically underserved by the venture capital community. Many of these businesses are owned by women and minorities, who are very likely to be turned away if they go to a bank for conventional loans.

“I wanted to shine a light on this problem and then of course contemplate some solutions,” the Congresswoman said. “One thing that we could look into is an Emerging Managers program. There are so few women fund managers, and this is part of the reason why women get so few funds because, first on, the decision-makers are overwhelmingly men. In fact, I was reading an article and it said that female entrepreneurs navigating the world of equity investors find the experience very frustrating when 96 percent of senior venture capitalists are men.”

Chu added the hearing will also examine ways to increase access to venture capital funding to small businesses, both in the private sector and through the Small Business Administration’s Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program.

Women who have become entrepreneurs in the Pasadena area and elsewhere have been invited to share their experiences and answer questions during the public hearing, including Jeri Harman, Managing Partner and CEO of Avante Mezzanine Partners, testifying on behalf of Small Business Investor Alliance; Renee LaBran, General Partner at Rustic Canyon/Fontis Partners; Louise Wannier, Board Member of True Roses, Inc.; and Laura Yamanaka, President of Team CFO, Inc., testifying on behalf of the National Women’s Business Center.

Chu also pointed to the Small Business Development Center, hosted by the Pasadena City College, which serves the entrepreneurial needs of small businesses in the San Gabriel Valley.

“The small business development centers are the best and most effective program of the SBA and what they do is help small businesses develop their business plans and financing and they do market research for them,” Chu said.

The hearing will be on Tuesday, April 05, 2016, at the Pasadena City Council Chamber at City Hall, starting at 10 a.m.