ATLANTA, Ga., March 8 – The Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA), which represents the majority of U.S. hotel owners, is urging the U.S. Senate to confirm Dilawar Syed as Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
Syed’s nomination to the long-vacant role is scheduled to be heard by the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship on Wednesday, March 8.
In a letter to Committee leadership, AAHOA Chairman Nishant (Neal) Patel noted the importance of the SBA to the 20,000 hoteliers represented by AAHOA. Patel also noted Syed’s long history of advocating for underserved entrepreneurs and of building and scaling companies himself.
“From the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs), the SBA has been at the center of economic recovery for many of our hoteliers,” Patel wrote. “If it were not for these SBA programs, the hotel industry would be in a different position today.”
Patel called on Senators to move Syed’s nomination forward “without delay.” The Deputy Administrator role has been vacant since 2018.
