Trump and Musk Kill Programs that Help Small Businesses Succeed

As they swing their wrecking ball again and again...

I was at a local Chamber of Commerce Office in South Central Iowa last Thursday, likely bothering the Executive Director while he was working on producing a video about a local business. I saw him look at his phone and check an email that came in.

“No way,” he said.

“No way, what?” I replied.

“I can’t believe it!”

“Can’t believe what?

“That our Chamber Lunch and Learn Program next week with ISU (Iowa State University) was canceled.”

“What’s the Lunch and Learn about?”

“They were coming down to help our small businesses.”

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Above is a redacted screenshot of the body of the email. If you are like me and have difficulty reading the small type above, here is what the email says:

Good Morning,

Thank you again for the opportunity to have an SSBCI Lunch & Learn with the XXXXXX. We were very much looking forward to sharing our work with you. Unfortunately due to the current administration putting the Collateral Support & Manufacturing 4.0 Participation Loan programs on hold XXXXXX, myself, and the SSBCI team cannot participate in the presentation. This decision was made necessary by the program changes.

We appreciate your understanding in this matter. Please let me know if you have any questions or require further information.

Sincerely,

XXXXXX

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Now ask yourself, why did I choose to redact this email? Why not just show the names of the people mentioned? But you already know the answer—state employees in Iowa and other red states, as well as federal employees under Trump, are fearful of retribution if they say or do the “wrong” thing, which is most often the truth. I will not put them at risk.

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Iowa’s Small Business Development Center, or SBDC is a state of Iowa subcontractor for the Federal State Small Business Credit Initiative, administrated by the Iowa Economic Development & Finance Authority. Since the SSBCI funding comes from the Federal Treasury, my interpretation is that the “administration” the email from ISU is referring to that placed the program “on hold” is the Trump/Musk administration since there is federal funding involved. It could be either an executive order or an administrative hold that impacted the program.

According to the SBDC website:

Our program is a public-private partnership that leverages the resources of government, higher education, and the business community to assist Iowa’s businesses to grow and be successful. Our 15 regional business assistance centers are hosted by the three Iowa Regent institutions, and eleven community colleges, all coordinated through the state center at Iowa State University. Each regional center encourages unique local efforts, region to region and community to community, to meet small business needs throughout the state.

What a great program! Exactly the kind of expertise and partnerships our business community needs. That’s smart government.

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I reached out to ISU, host of the SBDC, asking why the chamber event was canceled, and while everyone I spoke with was helpful, I didn’t get the information I asked for. I did get:

“After receiving notification that SSBCI is not accepting applications at this time, the decision was made to cancel all outreach events.

That didn’t tell me why. But since the SSCBI was funding the program, they referred me to them, and that made sense. So, I reached out to the SSCBI, and haven’t heard back.

That’s OK. I have attended these kinds of functions many times. These are great people with priceless expertise doing their best to help make our small communities grow and prosper. I suspect these are difficult times for them, and they have my appreciation.

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Let’s dig in and try to figure out what’s happening. Again, it seems it could be either a Trump executive order or an administrative hold that impacted the program. From the Iowa Workforce Development website:

The State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) is a $96 million investment in growing Iowa's small businesses, including startups, manufacturers, and businesses owned by veterans and individuals from diverse backgrounds. The funding is available through the U.S. Treasury Department's SSBCI, a small business aid program that was expanded through the federal American Rescue Plan Act. The Treasury Department approved Iowa's amount based on a plan submitted by IEDA. Iowa's SSBCI dollars will focus on encouraging venture capital and investment in scalable innovation companies through the following programs…

Note the “and” above. Not just “veterans,” and “individuals from diverse backgrounds.”

Elon Musk has the keys to the U.S. Treasury Department, and to me, it looks like the program was just one of the mass casualties inflicted by Musk with the blessings of Trump.

While several programs help small businesses with loans and other funding, reading further down the page of the website:

Funding to help small businesses offset collateral shortfalls as they secure loans through commercial lenders. Eligible borrower's owners include small businesses that are 51% owned by women, individuals from diverse backgrounds, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and long-term rural residents; and small businesses that enhance arts and culture in Iowa.

Wait, there’s more!

Socially and economically disadvantaged businesses can receive support of up to 40% of a collateral gap needed to secure loans ranging in size from $50,000 to $250,000.

I’m thinking that Trump’s hatchet man Musk killed the program because he considered it “woke.”

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Whoever killed this program should know the incredible results they achieved in 2023:

And this is just Iowa—imagine the positive impact these investments have made into all of America. We should be expanding these programs, not putting them on hold or killing them.

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Trump has demanded the end of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs both in the private and public sectors, and DEI was part of this initiative. The shift from the general public perception and reality that DEI is good for everyone, to it is “bad,” is a remarkable cultural inversion that happened fairly quickly. That this cultural inversion is paired timewise with the rise of a White “Christian” Nationalist authoritarian movement within the Republican party is unsurprising, as they go hand in hand.

History knows who the oppressed are, and while most of us celebrate and honor the success they have earned in resistance and in their contributions to society, it’s ironic that the American White “Christian” Nationalists, some of the most privileged people in the history of the planet, claim victim status as a rationale to shut down these important programs that benefit us all.

It’s a power grab and a grift that manufactures enemies to anger the Republican base and undermine democracy in an attempt to usher in an authoritarian state.

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In the meantime, the 15-20 small business people who had signed up to attend the local Chamber of Commerce Lunch and Learn, to hear about the opportunities the Federal Government, the State Government, and Iowa State University had to offer their small businesses, are SOL.

Some of those who signed up may be from diverse backgrounds, and some may be veterans. Some of them may be socially disadvantaged, and some may be disabled. Based on my experience attending previous Lunch and Learns, most of them are women.

And every last one of them is rural. Every. Single. One. All of them would be eligible.

This is what smart government offers people, and we need more of it—investment, education, and opportunities for everyone. That’s diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Instead, Trump and Musk killed it.

And just think how far and wide this kind of destruction goes—this is just the tip of the iceberg. If I hadn’t been in that chamber office at that specific time, we might not have ever known about the loss of this important program.

I don’t see any press releases about it. And no news reports.

What else don’t we know?

Multitudes.

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If you have a story you want to tell about how the Trump/Musk administration policies are hurting you and yours, or here in Iowa, the Reynolds administration, I’ll let you tell your story anonymously if you need to be protected. If you want to tell it to me in an interview, I’ll record the audio and change your voice. Just email me at rdwleonard@gmail.com. I won’t give you up.

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