Joseph O. Montes was appointed regional administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Region VI on November 1, 2001.  As Regional Administrator, Montes is responsible for the delivery of the agency’s financial assistance, management counseling, business development and minority enterprise development activities throughout Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

The five states of Region VI include more than 548,000 square miles.  In fiscal 2006, 10,266 guaranteed loans worth more than $2.2 billion were approved for small businesses in Region VI.  The regional office oversees district offices in Little Rock, AR.; New Orleans, LA.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Oklahoma City, OK.; Dallas/Fort Worth, El Paso, Harlingen, Houston, Lubbock, and San Antonio, TX; and a branch office in Corpus Christi, TX.

Montes, a business development and economic policy consultant, holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from George Washington University and completed graduate studies at the University de Navarra, Barcelona, Spain.  Montes held previous positions in the U.S. government, including associate administrator, Office of Business Development at the SBA; special assistant at the U.S. Department of Interior; deputy director of the Office of Minority Economic Impact at the U.S. Department of Energy; and officer in charge of the Community Relations Service, and assistant program manager of the Criminal Division (Haiti) at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Montes is a native of Santa Fe, New Mexico