Chair Ernst, chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, opened the hearing by saying the committee would examine how the Small Business Administration could expand and support investment in small manufacturers and called current manufacturing declines “staggering.”

The committee and Administrator Loeffler focused on the Made in America Manufacturing Finance Act of 2025, bipartisan legislation described at the hearing as a proposal to raise SBA-backed loan limits for the 7(a) and 504 loan programs from $5,000,000 to $10,000,000 for small manufacturers. Administrator Loeffler described the bill as a first step to “supercharge the return of American manufacturing,” and said the higher caps would let manufacturers invest in equipment and hire workers to onshore production and rebuild supply chains.

Why it matters: committee members and the administrator framed the proposal as a way to channel more private capital into U.S. factories, to support plant expansions and to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers. Chair Ernst noted long-term employment declines in manufacturing and said the committee wanted to pair federal financing with private investment and defense-related capital efforts.

Key details and supporting initiatives
- Bill purpose and scope: The Made in America Manufacturing Finance Act would increase SBA-backed loan limits to $10,000,000 for qualifying small manufacturers under the 7(a) and 504 programs; proponents said the change responds to loan-limit stagnation of roughly 15 years.
- SBIC and DoD link: The hearing referenced the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program and a federal partnership with the Department of Defense’s Office of Strategic Capital as mechanisms to attract private capital into manufacturing.
- Onshoring portal: Administrator Loeffler described a newly launched onshoring portal (referred to at the hearing as the “Make Onshoring Great Again portal”) intended to help small businesses identify domestic suppliers. She said the tool lists roughly 1,000,000 onshore production and manufacturing facilities searchable by small businesses.
- Loan program performance: Loeffler said the SBA has increased manufacturing loan approvals and cited a comparison of loan volume in the first 100 days of the current administration to the first 100 days of the prior administration, characterizing that comparison as an increase in 7(a) lending activity for manufacturers.

Clarifying context from the hearing
- Multiple participants framed the measure as aimed at plant expansions and workforce investment rather than direct grants. Administrator Loeffler told the committee that manufacturers told SBA they “already have the machines planned that they will purchase when they can get that access to capital.”
- Committee members asked about timing and about whether higher loan caps would change underwriting risk; Loeffler said the agency had run back-testing and adjusted fee levels to aim for no net cost to taxpayers.

What the hearing did not decide
The hearing included testimony and questions but produced no committee vote or formal legislative action on the bill during the session. Senators and the administrator discussed next steps, including working with Congress on legislative language and oversight.

Ending note
Senators and the administrator emphasized that expanding financing is only one piece of a broader strategy that committee members described as pairing access to capital with workforce and supply‑chain development.