By JOSEPH FITZGERALD

NORTH SMITHFIELD — Small business success stories like Banneker Industries which began as a small machine shop and has grown into a vibrant and innovative supply chain management company, are just the kind of things U.S. Small Business Administration boss Steven C. Preston likes to hear when he's away from Washington and out "in the field" talking to the nation's business owners.

"What makes it fun for me when I'm on these trips is seeing the kinds of businesses people are starting from scratch, businesses that all start with an idea," Preston told a group of local and state business leaders at a breakfast meeting at the Banneker Industries facility on Great Road Friday morning.
"I can't be effective in my job if I sit in Washington all the time. I value my time being in the field because it helps me to do my job better," said Preston, confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2006 as the 22nd administrator of the Small Business Administration.
Preston arrived in Rhode Island Thursday afternoon for the start of a whirlwind tour Friday that included stops in Providence, Cranston, North Smithfield and Newport, where he visited the Naval Undersea Warfare Center for a briefing with military officials and small business contractors on proposed small business contracting opportunities.
A private meeting with   Gov. Donald L. Carcieri was held later in the day. Joining Preston was Sandford "Sandy" Blitz, the U.S. Small Business Administration's regional administrator.
In this capacity as SBA administrator, Preston oversees the delivery of financial and business development tools to America’s entrepreneurs. With a portfolio of direct and guaranteed business loans, venture capital investments and disaster loans worth almost $80 billion, SBA is the largest single financial backer and facilitator of technical assistance and contracting opportunities for the nation’s small businesses.
Preston's visit to Banneker Industries included a tour of the facility led by Banneker Industries President and Chief Executive Officer Cheryl W. Snead,  a mechanical engineer by training who honed her skills at General Electric.
After earning her master’s degree at Purdue University, Snead went on to manage a machine shop for a small business in Rhode Island. In 1991, she took her experience and founded Banneker Industries as a machine shop that later diversified into manufacturing applications and inventory management and out of machining.
Preston's visit to Banneker wasn't just pulled out of a hat.
In 1994, Banneker Industries decided to market its capabilities through the U.S. Small Business Association's 8(a) Business Development Program. During that time, the company was the only 8(a) certified business in New England, marketing both manufacturing as well as supply chain management services to all agencies of the U.S. government.
Issues addressed by Preston during Friday's roundtable breakfast discussion included the national health care debate and the need to make health insurance more affordable. "People don't talk about this as a business issue,” Preston said, :because there is a misconception out there that if you're a business that is doing well then you can afford health insurance for your employees, but that's not the case.”
Preston said only 48 percent of the smallest companies (3-9 employees) offer health benefits. That compares with 73 percent of firms with 10 to 24 workers; 87 percent of firms with 25 to 49 workers; and over 90 percent of firms with 50 or more workers.
He also spoke about pending free trade agreements with Columbia, Panama and Korea. Trade agreements like the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, for example, should help small business owners because 30 percent of U.S. exports are from small to intermediate size companies, Preston said. Currently, products imported from Colombia enter the U.S. duty-free under the Andean Trade Preferences Act. American exporters, however, do not receive similar treatment for products shipped to Colombia and are paying higher tariffs. The new trade promotion agreement would balance the playing field, he said said.
During the first half of his private sector career, Preston worked in investment banking and treasury management, where he was a senior vice president and treasurer of First Data Corporation, and an investment banker at Lehman Brothers. During this period, he advised companies on strategic issues, worked with them to gain access to capital, designed complex financial risk management strategies, evaluated investments and dealt with credit issues.
Preston most recently served as executive vice president of the ServiceMaster company, where he also served as chief financial officer during a period of expansion, restructuring and significant change in the regulatory environment. He currently serves as vice chairman of the Board of Visitors for the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University, and has served on numerous boards of philanthropic and other organizations.
Preston graduated from Northwestern University with a political science degree, and received an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He also has studied at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, Germany.