SBA Celebrates 70 Years

By Mike Switzer

Published August 4, 2023 at 5:30 AM EDT

The Small Business Act, signed into law by President Eisenhower in 1953, created a new government agency whose mission was to promote the interests of small businesses in order to enhance competition in the marketplace. Seventy years later, the institution continues to be a valuable resource for our nation’s small business community. Mike Switzer interviews Gregg White, the SBA’s district director for South Carolina.

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Mike Switzer

After almost 20 years, Mike Switzer retired from Wells Fargo Securities in 2001 as Senior Vice President/Investment Officer and Certified Portfolio Manager. In 1999, he and his wife, Maggie, purchased and operated for eight years the Baskin Robbins ice cream store on Forest Drive in Columbia. They grew the store from a bottom-tier operation in the Baskin Robbins franchise system to one in the top 5% nationwide within three years, tripling sales along the way. While operating the ice cream store, Mike and Maggie received patents for a portable ice cream sink and fold-down sneezeguard they invented and in 2002 started Magnolia Carts, an ice cream cart manufacturing company, which they sold in 2013.

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