WASHINGTON – The United States Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chair Mary Landrieu, D-La., today held a confirmation hearing on President Barack Obama’s nomination of Peggy E. Gustafson to be the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Inspector General and Winslow Lorenzo Sargeant to be the Agency’s Chief Counsel for Advocacy. The Committee is expected to vote on the confirmation of Winslow Sargeant and Peggy Gustafson after the August recess.

“I’m happy to say that the SBA is very close to having an exceptional leadership team complete, led by Administrator Karen Mills,” Senator Landrieu said. “With capable leaders like Dr. Sargeant and Ms. Gustafson at the helm, we’re hopeful the agency will be more ready than ever to play an important role in assisting small businesses as they continue to lead this country to an economic recovery.”

Peggy Gustafson currently serves as the General Counsel for Senator Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. Before working as General Counsel for Senator McCaskill here in Washington, Ms. Gustafson worked for her when the Senator was the Prosecutor for Jackson County, Missouri. She also served on the Kansas City Fraud Task Force, the Kansas City Arson Task Force and taught at the University of Missouri School of Law.

“[Peg Gustafson] has been a trusted member of my staff since she has been here,” Sen. McCaskill said at the hearing. “She got a great reputation as a prosecutor with judges and with defense attorneys as being tough, fair, smart and prepared. And since she’s been here, I think she’s gotten the same reputation. She has worked on a bipartisan basis on very important legislation dealing with the inspector general community. In fact I’m willing to bet that if right now you ask any inspector general in government what they thought of Peg Gustafson they would say she been a spectacular advocate for the independence and effectiveness of the inspector general community…I know she will make all of us proud as Inspector General.”

With a PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in electrical engineering and a background as a very successful small business owner, Dr. Winslow Lorenzo Sargeant is not only well-educated, but well-educated about the challenges facing small businesses today. Dr. Sargeant is currently the Managing Director of Venture Investors, a Midwest venture capital company with a concentration on starting up healthcare and technology companies. Previously, he co-founded Aanetcom, a technology company now owned by PMC Sierra (a publicly-owned company) and served as a program manager for the Small Business Innovation Research program in electronics at the National Science Foundation.

“The role of the Office of the Advocacy in the Small Business Administration is to promote and encourage federal policies that support the growth of small businesses. Through his impressive work history and educational experience, Dr. Sargeant has gained valuable knowledge and understanding of the challenges that small businesses face in today’s ever changing environment. He has served as a valuable resource to entrepreneurs and start-up companies throughout the Midwest by providing technical assistance and business advice to help them identify opportunities and grow,” Senator Herb Kohl, D-Wis., said.

Chair Landrieu’s opening statement, Dr. Sargeant and Ms. Gustafson’s testimony and video of the hearing in its entirety are available online here.