Obama to tap new head of Small Business Administration

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Obama to tap new head of Small Business Administration
Posted: 01:07 PM ET
(CNNMoney.com) — Entrepreneur and venture capitalist Karen Mills has been chosen by President-elect Obama to head the Small Business Administration, according to a spokeswoman for Maine Sen. Susan Collins.

Mills is currently president of MMP Group in Brunswick, Maine. She was a founding partner of private equity investment firm Solera Capital in New York City. Her appointment will be subject to confirmation by the Senate.

House Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia M. Velázquez, D-N.Y., was quick to praise the nomination.

"President-elect Obama's decision to name an SBA administrator so early in the transition is a good sign for small businesses," she said. "This appointment shows that his economic team recognizes the key role that small firms play in job creation and the need to take quick steps to revitalize the agency's role in spurring growth."

Velázquez emphasized that Mills has her work cut out for her. "Through budgets cuts and mismanagement during the last eight years, the SBA has become nothing more than a shell of the agency it used to be," she said, adding that it is essential for the new SBA leader to reverse this course.