Last week, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) led a group of Massachusetts lawmakers in sending a letter to Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Kelly Loeffler. The letter was also signed by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Representative Richard Neal (MA-01), and Representative Jim McGovern (MA-02). The lawmakers are seeking answers regarding the closure of the Springfield, Massachusetts SBA district office and its impact on small businesses in western Massachusetts.
The closure of the Springfield office has left local small businesses with reduced access to SBA assistance. Lawmakers previously wrote to the agency criticizing the decision and requesting information about how support would be maintained for area businesses. According to their latest correspondence, they have not received sufficient responses from the SBA, nor has there been any movement toward reopening or relocating the district office.
In their letter, the lawmakers stated: “Throughout the summer, our staff engaged with SBA officials to determine the timeline and details for a western Massachusetts district office reopening. On July 17, 2025, your staff stated that, ‘SBA is evaluating whether the new location will be accessible for small business owners and whether it will be cost efficient for taxpayers,’ implying that potential new office spaces had been identified. However, when pressed for basic details on the status of the new location, your staff failed to respond.”
They further expressed concern over what they describe as political interference affecting access to federal resources: “The senseless political games President Trump and his Administration are playing by picking and choosing which small businesses have access to SBA’s resources must come to an end. Small businesses are the heart of our economy and deserve your full attention and resources that meet them where they are.”
The lawmakers requested an official briefing from SBA by October 10, 2025. They asked several questions about site selection for a new district office; measures taken to ensure ongoing service delivery in rural and underserved areas; hiring practices under recent federal directives restricting civilian appointments; authorization processes behind terminating leases at 1 Federal Street in Springfield; justification provided for closing this particular office; associated operating costs; public consultation efforts prior to closure decisions; feedback received from local stakeholders; and how these actions align with SBA’s mission.
Earlier this year, Markey, Warren, Neal, and McGovern sent similar letters criticizing both SBA leadership over its handling of local services as well as General Services Administration decisions impacting lease renewals across Massachusetts.
