Obama picks Sen. Snowe ally for SBA

Maine economist Karen Mills is President-elect Obama’s
nominee to be administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Mills was recommended for the post by her home-state
senator, Olympia Snowe (R), who hailed the decision in a statement to
reporters. The Maine Republican said she was told Thursday, and that Obama
wanted her to be the first person outside his transition team to be informed of
the selection.

{mosads}“Karen has a tremendous background in venture capital and
lending, which will prove beneficial during these times in which small
enterprises require every tool at their disposal to create jobs,” said Snowe,
who added that Obama had made an “outstanding” selection.

The pick shows the pragmatism of the president-elect, who
will need Republican support in the Senate to move his agenda forward.
Democrats hold 58 seats in the chamber, two short of a filibuster-proof
majority. That includes conservative Democrats representing states that voted
against Obama in the 2008 election, who might oppose Obama on some positions.

Snowe, who is known as a centrist, could be an Obama ally
and an important vote on healthcare, taxes and other issues.

Snowe said she hoped Obama would consider her call to
make the SBA administrator a Cabinet-level position, as it was during the
Clinton administration.

Mills has served as president of a private equity
investor group since 1993. She also was a founding partner and managing director
of a venture capital firm.

She is also the chairwoman of the governor’s Council on
Competitiveness and the Economy of the State of Maine, and serves as director
of the Maine Chapter of the Nature Conservancy.