Ronald E. Bew

District Director

Ronald E. Bew was selected as District Director for SBA’s Richmond District Office in March, 2005. Since that time the Richmond district office has consistently provided record levels of support to the small business community. In Fiscal Year 2006, the office approved 1,248 loans for $238 million to the district’s small business owners.  The district’s 8(a) firms were awarded more than 1,000 contracts and modifications totaling over $300 million.  The Richmond District’s territory includes all of Virginia with the exception of Fairfax and Loudoun Counties and the Cities of Alexandria and Arlington.

Mr. Bew is responsible for directing the efforts of the district’s SBA employees to ensure that SBA’s financial and business development tools are delivered to the 621,700 small businesses in Virginia. Additionally, he has oversight responsibilities for 29 Small Business Development Centers, a Women’s Business Center and 11 chapters of SCORE - Counselors to America’s Small Business.

Immediately preceding this position Mr. Bew served as SBA’s Associate Deputy Administrator for Capital Access, a position to which he was appointed by Hector Barreto, the Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in January, 2002.

 As Associate Deputy Administrator for Capital Access, Mr. Bew was responsible for administering SBA’s commercial loan programs, including the 7(a) General Business Loan Program, and the Certified Development Company (504) Program.  With combined loan approvals in Fiscal Year 2004 totaling more than $16.45 billion, he was responsible for the oversight of a loan portfolio valued at approximately $50 billion.  In addition he was responsible for the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program which provides equity capital and long term loans to small business and the Office of International Trade which assists small businesses by providing export financing resources.

Mr. Bew has a diverse domestic and international background in assisting small businesses. He has over twenty-five years of senior-level commercial lending experience with major lending institutions in Virginia.

Mr. Bew also has extensive international banking experience. As part of his international experience, he was a consultant to the U.S.-Russia Investment Fund’s small business lending program and later was a small business lending consultant for KPMG in Bosnia. Mr. Bew received a bachelor’s degree in economics from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia.