House Small Business Committee hears SBA OI official cite record $53 billion SBIC year, pledges data fixes

Associate Administrator Joshua Carter testified before the House Committee on Small Business that the Small Business Administration's Office of Investment and Innovation recorded an historic year for the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program, closing fiscal 2025 with $53 billion in combined private capital and SBA leverage.

Carter told committee members the SBIC program approved 48 new SBIC licenses last year and issued 88 conditional “green light” letters, and he said the program’s pipeline was projected to drive roughly $27 billion in future private investment concentrated in manufacturing and critical technologies. "For more than six decades, the SBIC program has been one of the federal government's less well-known but most successful investment programs," Carter said in his opening remarks.

Why it matters: committee members from both parties emphasized that SBIC and SBIR/SBTT programs are core instruments for moving federally funded research into commercial markets and for deploying capital outside coastal hubs. Carter said the Office of Investment and Innovation (OI) is aligned to three administration priorities—reindustrialization, supply‑chain resilience and commercialization—and described regulatory changes intended to speed fund licensing and broaden eligible investments, including targeted allowances for project finance in critical minerals transactions.

Members pressed Carter on data and transparency. Ranking Member Tran noted the committee had not received a recent SBIC annual performance report and asked why public reporting had lagged. Carter replied he had a draft SBIC annual report and "we're going to be producing an SBIC annual report in the next two weeks," adding OI is consolidating disparate data centers and benchmarking private‑equity performance to produce accurate public reporting.

Members also asked about implementation of the Investing in All America Act and related changes that raise leverage caps and add "bonus leverage" incentives for funds that invest in targeted geographies or sectors. Carter said guidance for requesting the higher leverage has been made available in a letter to industry and that the agency is re‑writing regulations to operationalize the new authorities.

What was not decided: there were no formal votes or committee actions during the hearing. Several members requested written follow‑up, including specific timelines and obligation schedules. Carter committed to providing written figures on unobligated balances and to continue engagement with members' offices.

Next steps: Carter told the committee he will work to publish the SBIC performance report and to supply requested data on Growth Accelerator and Regional Innovation Cluster obligations. The hearing record remains open for five legislative days for additional material and questions.