April 18, 2008


Washington, D.C. -

Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee Ranking Member Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) today congratulated Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Steve Preston for being nominated to be Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Senator Snowe also praised Preston’s remarkable service at the SBA where he has served since July 11, 2006.

"President Bush has made a terrific choice in selecting Administrator Preston to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development," said Senator Snowe. "While the SBA will lose a tremendous advocate for the nation’s small businesses, HUD is gaining a principled leader who will be instrumental in helping to stabilize the troubled housing market that is at the root of the economic downturn we are currently facing. I wish Administrator and his family all the best, and I will work with my colleagues to clear his nomination as expeditiously as possible so that he can quickly assume his new role."

Since joining the SBA, Administrator Preston has made considerable strides to revamp the Disaster Assistance Program and the Agency’s ability to respond to natural disasters, including the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes. With respect to the Gulf Coast Hurricanes, Preston helped to resolve 100,000 borrower cases and disburse almost $6 billion to those who are rebuilding their businesses. Additionally, Preston has worked tirelessly to enhance the SBA’s loan programs by focusing on improving lender oversight, spearhead the creation of a simplified lender standard operating procedures manual, and to bring small- and mid-sized lenders back into the program through his rural lenders advantage program.

Prior to joining the SBA, Preston was Executive Vice President of The ServiceMaster Company, as well as a Senior Vice President and Treasurer of First Data Corporation and an investment banker at Lehman Brothers. Preston graduated with Highest Distinction from Northwestern University with a political science degree, and received an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business. Preston and his wife, Molly have five children and currently reside in Virginia.