Outgoing SBA director deserves state’s gratitude, well-earned break

The heroes of the pandemic came in a number of different forms — health care workers, first responders, meal providers, medical researchers and many more — but they had one thing in common. What set them apart was their extraordinary commitment to helping people.

Joe Amato, who returned to the private sector last week after four years as Nevada director of the Small Business Administration, exemplified that spirit.

Amato and his team helped thousands of Nevada businesses weather the pandemic by providing them with information about federal relief funding, assisting them through application processes and providing follow-up support.

It was a gargantuan effort for a relatively small team. The need for relief was crushing in Nevada, one of the worst-hit states by pandemic closures. With as many as 1 in 3 Las Vegas residents out of work during the height of the pandemic, the sense of urgency was running high and patience was thin among some business owners who ran into turbulence in obtaining funding.

“I got at least half a dozen death threats,” Amato said during a farewell interview with Sun reporter Bryan Horwath. “Some were in emails, saying I destroyed their life and ruined their kids’ lives. The first couple, I tried to reason with them because these were people who were hurting. There was not one day that I didn’t try to do something over and above to try to help people who were devastated.”

But Amato, who had planned on keeping the job only two years after being appointed in 2017, stuck with it. He and the dedicated state SBA staff stood out as bright spots during the dark times.

As he steps away, we applaud him and his team for a job well done, and for being models of public service.

Here’s an anecdote that illustrates Amato’s commitment.

It happened shortly after Gov. Steve Sisolak ordered a shutdown of nonessential businesses in mid-March 2020, a time when Amato and his team were fielding requests from thousands of businesses for help. The Sun was putting together a how-to guide for businesses wanting to apply for information, and we reached out to Amato for information.

At that time, Amato said he was working 20 hours a day, and we had no reason to doubt him — business owners had told us independently that he was going above and beyond to help.

So when we asked him for contact information, we expected him to perhaps offer the SBA’s main phone number and shared email address.

Instead, he urged us to publish his direct phone number and email.

No doubt, this only added to his workload, which, as he told Horwath, involved fielding 500 calls and emails per day and conducting 169 webinars during the first year of the pandemic. But Amato’s 25-year career as a business and finance consultant before joining the SBA gave him an understanding of the agony that businesses were experiencing, so he took the calls, presented the webinars, even went door-to-door in commercial corridors to notify business owners about relief opportunities.

What’s more, he blew the whistle on major banking institutions that shied away from helping businesses obtain Paycheck Protection Plan loans. In a teleconference that was recorded by The Washington Post, Amato complained that banks “that had no problem taking billions of dollars of free money as bailout in 2008 are now the biggest banks that are resistant to helping small businesses” under the PPP program.

Amato was appointed by President Donald Trump, whose administration was touting the PPP as a success. So he could have played politics and kept his thoughts to himself about the banks. But he didn’t, and instead helped raise awareness that eventually led to public pressure on the lenders to play ball. It should also be noted that in his interview with the Sun, Amato called out for special praise our local community banks for their effectiveness in getting PPP support to businesses.

Amato’s willingness to call out the national banks was a moment of great leadership, and one of several reasons we commend him for his four years of service to Nevadans with the SBA.

Fortunately, the New York native says he’s building a house in Las Vegas with his new wife, whom he married last week.

Sounds like a promising new chapter for someone who served our community extraordinarily well during our time of need.