The U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently announced an agreement that expands the Smaller War Plants Commission (SWPC) to provide access to strategic capital for small businesses in the defense industrial base.
The agreement builds on the SWPC’s framework to create an integrated capital pathway for qualified small businesses. The department’s Economic Defense Unit will identify companies with financing needs and refer potential loan candidates to the SBA Office of Investment and Innovation and Office of Capital Access. The office will use its existing lender networks to help connect eligible companies with SBA-backed capital.
The agreement also advances the SWPC’s mission to identify, support, and scale the small businesses essential to America’s military strength such as defense-critical manufacturers, suppliers, and innovators.
“The Smaller War Plants Commission will now be able to surge strategic capital to the small businesses that build the ships, munitions, microelectronics, materials, components, and technologies our warfighters rely on,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said. “Together, the Department of War and SBA are restoring the industrial dominance that underwrites America’s military advantage and securing peace through strength.”
The SWPC is an effort to expand the domestic capacity of industries supporting the military.