Front row, from left: Kathy Moran (in white pants), Rosa Rodarte, Maria Hughes, Cyndi Harris, Paul Hollenbach, George Chandler, Anthony Vigil, Josie Amiana, Terry Ashken, Sharon DeMaclli, Ming Yee, Suzanne Ghorpade; Back row, from far left: Patti Ellsworth, Bonnie Valentine, Al Converse, Teddy Luszcz, Ivan Hankins, Mark Raynes, Ron Serafine, Debbe Sandoval, Lori Brown, Heidi Ball. Missing: Laurie Ayala, Linda Coakley. (photo/lambertphoto.com)

It’s a season of celebrations for small businesses in San Diego. Not only does June 9 mark the start of the annual Small Business Week in San Diego, but 2003 is the 50th anniversary of the Small Business Administration, and the 23rd anniversary of George Chandler’s reign as director of the San Diego District.

Under Chandler’s leadership, San Diego’s SBA lending has increased from about 100 loans for $25 million in 1981 to 950 loans for $335 million in 2002, making the local district among the best, if not tops, in the nation over 20-plus years. This year, San Diego is projected to break the thousand level and rise to about 1,100 loans approved.

Running the best SBA office in the land may not be, rocket science, but before moving west, Chandler was a mission engineer in the Apollo and Gemini programs, was involved in early planning for the space shuttle at NASA headquarters in Washington, and was Gemini flight controller at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

“I used to come out here on business visiting General Dynamics, and I just fell in love with San Diego,” Chandler says.

Virtually every bank and non-bank lender in the county participates in the SBA program. Not only is San Diego’s SBA among the league leaders in loans made, it boasts the best currency rate (non delinquent) in the nation at 97.9%; the next closest competitor checks in at 96.5%.

Chandler says a unique combination of factors makes San Diego a magnet for small business development. “You have spin-offs of existing businesses, people who used to work for the GenDyns, ex-military, and more women in business than anywhere I know of.”

One measure of Chandler’s leadership is his willingness to spread the credit, along with the loan guarantees.

“We have the nation’s best SBA staff, a great group of lending partners and best certified development company in the country by far,” Chandler says. “Our SCORE service chapter of retired executives is ranked the top in the country, and we’re helped by Small Business Development Centers at Southwestern College and Mira Costa College, the Chamber of Commerce, and government entities such as the city’s small business department and Small Business Advisory Board.”

In spite of the economic downturn, Chandler says San Diego SBA is growing the number of loans by about 20 percent a year. “The dollar average of loans is coming down, because we’ve come up with small loan products for the newer businesses that need help the most, such as the micro loan and the SBA express.”