SBA’s Elevating Small Business Webinar: Celebrating Rural Entrepreneurship

Join the U.S. Small Business Administration for a virtual armchair discussion to celebrate Rural Entrepreneurship! The event will feature a live webinar panel discussion with Allen Thomas, Regional Administrator for SBA Region IV, Terri Billups, Acting Director, Deputy Director for SBA Office of Field Operations and Office of Rural Affairs, and Morgan Beavers, Business Operations Officer of Graylee Construction and Demolition in Austin, Arkansas.

The discussion will focus on the importance of financial wellness, creating generational wealth through business ownership, and increasing equity and access to opportunities to help uplift and support Rural-owned small businesses. The panel will also discuss SBA initiatives and resources that support small business recovery, new Rural startups seeking to launch, and existing Rural-owned small businesses as they pivot and grow in a post-COVID world, a priority of the Biden-Harris Administration and SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman.

All SBA programs and services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. SBA’s support of/or participation in this event is not an endorsement of any product, service, or entity. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least four (4) days in advance of this event. Please send an email to reasonableaccommodation@sba.gov with the subject header “ACCOMMODATION REQUEST.”

Moderator

Allen Thomas | Region IV Administrator | U.S. Small Business Administration

As Region IV Administrator, Allen Thomas oversees SBA programs, offices, and operations in the SBA’s Southeast region, serving Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Mr. Thomas is a former three-term mayor, businessman, entrepreneur, and leader in public and private enterprise. As mayor of Greenville, one of North Carolina's largest cities, Mr. Thomas led the post-recession recovery, rapid expansion, and robust economic growth, better connecting the city and region. He was recognized by the White House during the Obama-Biden Administration for community engagement in law enforcement and public safety.

A serial entrepreneur, Mr. Thomas co-founded healthcare technology startup IQMax, which grew to service 160 medical facilities in 36 states, processing 18 million patient records per day. Mr. Thomas was appointed Executive Director of North Carolina Global TransPark by the Governor of North Carolina Roy Cooper, to revitalize the state's global multimodal transportation and logistics hub, spearheading growth in advanced manufacturing jobs, innovation, and investment.

Featured Speaker

Terri Billups | Acting Director, Deputy Director, Office of Field Operations and Office of Rural Affairs | U.S. Small Business Administration

Terri Billups is the  Acting Director, Deputy Director for SBA's Office of Field Operations and Office of Rural Affairs and is responsible for identifying regulatory, legislative and rural issues of concern to small entities in rural areas of the U.S. and its territories. Prior to returning to the SBA in the rural affairs role, Ms. Billups served in various federal positions within the SBA and the Department of Defense.

Terri’s previous SBA experience includes serving as the Assistant District Director of: Economic Development, Lender Relations and the 8(a) Business Development Program in Los Angeles which covered Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.  Ms. Billups was also the Deputy District Director (DDD) for the SBA, Michigan District Office covering the entire state of Michigan and the Deputy District Director for the Pittsburgh District Office in Pennsylvania.  In her DDD roles, Terri worked with private corporations, other Government Agencies, Lending Institutions,  Small Businesses and Resource Partners to ensure that the SBA's programs and initiatives were effectively communicated and implemented.

Terri holds an MBA from Walsh College in Troy, MI with a specialization in International Business and has been Level III Certified in Government Contracting from the Federal Acquisition Institute. Ms. Billups completed the Excellence in Government Leadership Development Program in 2018.  

Featured Speaker

Morgan Beavers | Business Operations Officer | Graylee Construction and Demolition LLC| Austin, Arkansas

Morgan Beavers is the Business Operations Officer of Graylee Construction and Demolition, LLC.

The company was founded in 2016 by Morgan’s husband, Sean Beavers. Sean has an extensive resume in heavy civil construction management and has supervised projects throughout his career before launching Graylee. His passion is construction, and together, they enjoy the process of creating something meaningful for the communities in which they work.

While completing a large project for an international firm, Sean and his crew worked extremely long hours seven days a week. At this point, Sean felt that the conditions that he and his team members were working under were unfair and that employees deserved better. That was when he founded Graylee Construction and Demolition not only to build projects that mattered and to build a company that treats its employees fairly and enriches their lives.

There have been many challenges over the last six years, and the resources and assistance that the SBA has provided have been crucial. Graylee has been a member of the 8(a) Business Development program since 2020, which has helped the firm flourish in the federal contracting field. Additionally, the Emerging Leaders Program was a great tool that helped refine Graylee’s business management capabilities.

Like most small businesses, Graylee had humble beginnings, with a few employees and smaller heavy-civil projects. Each year, Graylee has grown and has tackled larger and larger projects – including starting and completing a $1.71 million project in 2021.

“When Sean founded the company in 2016, I was still teaching chemistry in Cabot and working for Graylee after school. I completely understood Sean’s vision for the company and did everything in my power to help him realize it. We spent many late nights spent reviewing reports, putting proposals together, or working on project submittals after our kids were asleep. At the start, things were extremely challenging for both of us. Sean was wearing multiple hats within the company – CEO, superintendent, project manager, operator, and truck driver. I was working a full-time teaching job and also wearing multiple hats in the company – accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, benefits coordinator, networking, website designer, and more.

As the business grew, Sean was able to delegate more and more, and I was able to transition into working full-time for Graylee. Shifts that have not only made our company more efficient and profitable but also made our lives drastically better. Our company has faced so many challenges over the last six years – labor and material shortages, access to capital, and access to projects just to name a few! Operating a business in a rural area presents its own set of additional challenges. Our business, like most in rural areas, has to cover a large geographic footprint in order to have a high enough project and sales volume. This means that struggles like recent fuel cost inflation affect our business more than businesses that operate in more metropolitan places. However, the fact that we have been able to grow our business despite those challenges gives me such hope for the future of our business and others like ours."