By Daniel Jackson | djackson@repub.com
The congressional lawmakers representing Western Massachusetts have once again urged the Trump administration to swiftly reopen a Small Business Administration office in the region after it closed the office in Springfield last year.
U.S. Sens. Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren, along with U.S. Reps. Jim McGovern and Richard Neal, sent the General Services Administration a letter Thursday, asking for details about its process to identify a new location for an SBA office in the region.
The lawmakers also asked the administration why there was a delay in telling them when the office would reopen.
“The decision to close the Springfield office was not based on any metrics concerning its usage or productivity; it was purely political,” the letter says. “Consequently, Western Massachusetts’ small business ecosystem unfairly lost valuable technical assistance and lender relations.”
In the weeks after President Donald Trump’s return to office, his administration, through the efforts of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, terminated the leases of 17 properties across the state, including the SBA office at 1 Federal St. in Springfield.
The office in Springfield helped encourage banks to use SBA programs when residents sought to fund their ventures.
In response to The Republican’s request for records about the terminated lease, the GSA provided a document that showed one of its lease contracting officers making a unilateral change to the agreement with Springfield Technical Community College Assistance Corp. The notice was sent on Feb. 24, 2025. The lease ended on June 30, 2025. The document did not provide a reason.
SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler told the lawmakers in June that the Springfield office was 900 square feet but only had one person working out of it. She added that there would “be no loss of service,” because plans were in the works to relocate the office.
In their letter, the lawmakers said they had communicated with the SBA several times about the shuttered office but were told the decision rested in the hands of the GSA. They urged the GSA to prioritize identifying a new office for the SBA in the Springfield, saying, “Small businesses and entrepreneurs in Western Massachusetts deserve an SBA that works for them.”
The lawmakers asked for a response to their letter by March 19.
Thursday’s letter follows a few others the lawmakers have sent about the terminated leases. At the end of September, the lawmakers sent a missive to Loeffler, asking why the SBA had not announced the location of the relocated office. It had been three months, they wrote.
