Sharon Heaton, Founder of sbLiftOff, Appointed to New Investment Capital Advisory Committee

Heaton Will Advise SBA on a More Inclusive and Accessible Ecosystem for Small Businesses Nationwide

HERNDON, Va., Sept. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has appointed sbLiftOff CEO and Founder Sharon B. Heaton to the Federal Investment Capital Advisory Committee (ICAC). The Committee includes leaders from the nation's small business community and was formed to help America's 33-million small businesses get access to investment capital. 

"I'm honored to help the SBA look at the challenges small business owners face," said Heaton. "I'm honored to help the SBA look at the pressing capital challenges small business owners face." said Heaton. "Small business is the backbone of the US economy, and we must look at all tools to increase capital access to this sector."

Administrator Guzman explained that the ICAC will deliver, "insights and recommendations that will help the SBA expand access to investment capital, increase public awareness of SBA resources, and identify and fill capital gaps facing small businesses and the fund managers seeking to support them."

Sharon B. Heaton is the CEO and Founder of sbLiftOff, a national mergers and acquisitions advisory firm specializing in commercial and government contracting companies with revenues between $7 million to $100 million. Known as one of the country's leading small business advocates, she publishes in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Washington Business Journal and is a popular speaker on capital access issues.

Her new book, LIFT OFF: 12 Things to Know Before Selling Your Company, a guide for the small business owner seeking a transition, will be published by Forbes in 2024. 

Heaton has served as a senior staffer on the US Senate's Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, the Senate's Finance Committee and the Senate's Committee on Environment and Public Works. Her government policy work focused on ensuring fair and efficient markets and providing capital to small businesses. Early in her career she served as a judicial clerk on the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. 

In the private sector, Heaton worked for the global law firms of Skadden Arps and Latham & Watkins, and Columbia Energy Group, a Fortune 500 diversified energy utility operating in ten states. She co-founded Wellford Energy Group, an investment bank serving clean energy and low carbon companies.

Heaton holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Chicago Law School and a B.A. from Barnard College.

Additional information about the Investment Capital Advisory Committee can be found here. 

Contact:
April Umminger
[email protected]
7033406716

SOURCE sbLiftOff