During a stop in Fredericksburg Thursday, Natalia Olson–Urtecho—U.S. Small Business Administration Mid-Atlantic region administrator—said Fredericksburg is poised for significant growth in the cybersecurity industry and in unmanned systems.
She said managing big data is a huge concern for government and institutions like the University of Mary Washington.
“We have so much data and don’t know how to manage it,” Olson–Urtecho said. “There’s a lot of opportunity in how to make government more efficient.”
With people moving farther south and infrastructure for information technology businesses already in place, she said the region is ideally located for future growth in that sector.
And with Fredericksburg centrally located between Northern Virginia and Norfolk—two hot spots for innovation in unmanned systems—that industry is also poised to grow here.
“Fredericksburg is centrally located to connect those two hubs of acticity, there is huge potential there,” said Carl Knoblock, director of the Richmond district SBA office, who visited Fredericksburg with Olson–Urtecho on Thursday.
He said that small businesses need to consider how they are protecting data even if they’re not directly involved in cybersecurity.
“Set guidelines now and start to develop a plan,” he said. “Be proactive instead of worrying about losing contracts later.”
Olson–Urtecho also said the region should be using its university system as a tool for economic development.
She said the university’s Center for Economic Development can help. Small Business Innovation Research grants, as well as Small Business Technology Transfer grants, are a good place for businesses starting out in the cybersecurity or unmanned systems industries to begin looking for funding, she said. The grants, coordinated by the SBA, are intended to help small businesses conduct research and development.
Knoblock said colleges should hype student innovations online to attract investors to the region.
But he said Fredericksburg should also look to cities like Pittsburgh, where colleges have created help at the university level to grow student businesses, as well as the infrastructure to support them after students graduate.
Among those initiatives outside of the university sector is the “Startup in a Day” program, launched by the SBA this year. The program aims to make it easier for entrepreneurs to start a business by reducing the amount of time it takes to register and apply for permits and licenses on the local level.
The SBA provides grants to cities that make business permitting possible in one day.
“It makes business owners more comfortable and they feel like the local government is protecting them and helping them out,” she said. “Businesses stay longer in areas where they feel government is accessible.”
She said another new SBA program called LINC helps small businesses get off the ground. Businesses interested in a loan can complete a 20-question application that goes out to a group of banks. She said not only does it match businesses with the appropriate loan, the amount of interest from banks can help determine whether an idea is viable or not.
“We’re trying to get the word out,” she said. “Many people don’t know about the grants and programs we offer. When I got to this job, people kept telling me SBA is the best kept secret in government.”
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