SBA administrator visits Bedford zero-waste grocery store
Business owner says she was helped by SBA loan
Business owner says she was helped by SBA loan
Business owner says she was helped by SBA loan
The administrator of the Small Business Administration visited New Hampshire on Tuesday to speak with a local entrepreneur.
SBA Administrator Isabel Guzman visited the Live Free Refillery, a zero-waste grocery store, as part of National Business Week.
Store owner Juliette Buell used the SBA as a critical resource to get her business off the ground.
"She was able to get an SBA loan to start this great business," Guzman said. "And this is a place where you can come and buy fresh fruit, as well as packaged goods that you package yourself."
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Small businesses account for almost half of New Hampshire employment, so Guzman said such businesses are critical to the state's economy.
Buell said it's fulfilling to open a business that offers people a place to shop differently.
"It's definitely got its risks and challenges, but it also has a lot of rewards, too," she said. "I mean, having customers come in here again and again to refill it just makes me so happy."
Shopper Emily Heavin, of Amherst, said she prefers local small businesses and has been actively patronizing them since the pandemic.
"I always seek out small businesses when I can," she said. "Just that neighborhood feel, that local feel, supporting those in my community, I think, is really important."
Buell said she encourages people planning to open a business to seek out resources like the SBA. Guzman said her agency has received about 40,000 new business applications from New Hampshire since 2021.