(Radio Iowa) – A cabinet-level federal administrator is in western Iowa today (Friday) to encourage people who’ve seen their homes and livelihoods damaged or demolished by this year’s severe weather to lean on Uncle Sam. Isabel Casillas Guzman heads the U-S Small Business Administration and tells Radio Iowa that the S-B-A isn’t just devoted to helping small businesses recover.

Guzman is in the Adair County town of Greenfield, which was hit by an E-F-4 tornado in May that killed four people and destroyed 153 homes. It’s been an especially bad year for severe weather in Iowa, with significant damage in multiple counties from storms, flooding, straight-line winds, and a record 122 tornadoes.

Guzman plans to visit Greenfield businesses as well as the S-B-A’s Greenfield Disaster Recovery Center which opened earlier this month.

Photo of tornado damage in Greenfield by Melissa Ehrman Johnson

She also plans to host a meet-and-greet with homeowners to hear about their recovery needs. Why haven’t more people in Iowa’s disaster areas signed up for S-B-A assistance? Guzman says there can be many reasons, ranging from pride to a lack of trust to a lack of knowledge about what’s available.

This afternoon, the administrator will hold a roundtable meeting in West Des Moines with federal, state, and local stakeholders, along with business owners and non-profits, to discuss tornado damage recovery efforts. She says the agency’s loans are very affordable.

Before flying back to Washington D.C. later today, Guzman plans to meet with the owners of BLK (black) & Bold in Des Moines, the first black-owned nationally-distributed coffee company, as part of celebrating National Black Business Month.