Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, issued the following statement after the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a Management Advisory report identifying material deficiencies with Women’s Business Center, Inc., a recipient of the SBA’s Women’s Business Center (WBC) grant program:
 
“The gross lack of oversight uncovered in the SBA OIG’s most recent management advisory is incredibly troubling. SBA must take action to remedy the numerous deficiencies identified and enact the Office of Inspector General’s recommendations immediately,” Rubio said. “I appreciate the Office of the Inspector General’s diligence in this matter and look forward to its swift resolution.” 
 
Women’s Business Center, Inc. is responsible for operating two WBCs, located in Mobile and Brewton, Alabama. In the course of the OIG’s audit of SBA’s oversight of the WBC program, Women’s Business Center, Inc. denied OIG auditors access to both center’s offices and records. After issuing an administrative subpoena, the SBA OIG uncovered that both WBC’s had been permanently closed since the fall of 2018.  Further violations uncovered by the OIG include inadequately staffing centers, late and unpaid payroll, and failure to maintain an adequate financial management system and audited financial statements.