On Friday, Kelly Loeffler, Administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), visited Northern Alabama to tour the Hadrian Alabama Factory 4 (F4) facility in the Shoals region. Ahead of next Wednesday's (April 15) Tax Day, the Trump cabinet has been touring the country to promote how the "Working Family Tax Cut" is saving Americans thousands of dollars in refunds, and bringing greater incentives and cost-savings to small businesses.
Loeffler was joined by Hadrian Vice President of Federal, Michael Manazir, Southeastern Regional SBA Administrator, Tyler Teresa, along with Shoals area small business and government leaders.
Our team had a great tour of Hadrian’s new $2.4B advanced manufacturing facility that will soon be fueling our warfighters and American military might.
— Kelly Loeffler (@SBA_Kelly) April 10, 2026
It will create 1,000 new local jobs – and generate hundreds of purchase orders for small businesses across northwest Alabama. pic.twitter.com/RjFyXjBmbv
This is one of the things I appreciate about the Trump administration: for the most part, they work to make connections between the small dots of policy and the big picture of the economy, and how these affect American individuals and American businesses. Loeffler teased this during her interactions with the Shoals small business leaders.
We had a great conversation earlier here about how small business is absolutely critical, because not only are they building out and maintaining and developing systems and facilities like this, but they support the communities that are coming here to serve the families that are part of this business. So, they're absolutely part of the ecosystem. And that is my job: to ensure that small businesses aren't disadvantaged by regulation, lack of access to capital, unfair trade, and other things that a larger business might be able to solve on their own.
This is the way you get people to pay attention, not to mention make your case ahead of the November midterms.
Alabamians love their small businesses. According to the 2025 SBA stats, 465,610 of businesses in Alabama are small businesses: that's 99.4 percent. Among these businesses, they employ 816,850 citizens, making up 46 percent of the workforce. So, as Loeffler said above, as SBA administrator she understands the assignment: to reassure small business that the Working Family Tax Cuts are making a difference in the way they live and work, and reinforce how a large defense facility like Hadrian F4 will only complement, benefit, and help expand and grow the work they do.
After Loeffler took the tour of the F4 facility, she gave remarks, saying:
This is such an impressive example of what's happening thanks to President Trump's economic national security agenda, which is about reassuring industries that had been hollowed out in our country for the last 50 years. [..] And as we approach Tax Day, you might say, well, what does this have to do with Tax Day? Look, next Wednesday, April 15th. Americans will see tremendous relief in their tax bills, [are] already seeing 15 percent higher refunds, averaging about $3,500. [And] about 20 million workers are already taking advantage of No Tax on Overtime. Those workers tend to work in places like this great manufacturing facility.
VP Manazir affirmed Hadrian's commitment to be a part of America's revitalization.
Hadrian is committed to reindustrializing America. That's what we're doing here. We have recognized it over the last 40 years. We have deindustrialized.[...] We've recognized for national security we need to reindustrialize and onshore, as the Administrator just said. That's why Hadrian, as the anchor tenant here at A.E. Shoals, is to bring those jobs back, to bring that manufacturing capacity back, to partner with small businesses, because we are the anchor tenant here. And so, you see so much potential in this factory. We're going to build this factory out. We're going to attract more small businesses back.
As RedState reported in March, the U.S. Secretary of the Navy John C. Phelan cut the ribbon on the Hadrian Alabama F4 facility to great fanfare and attendance by the Northwest Alabama community, as well, top elected officials like Republican U.S. Senators Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt, and the District's Congressional Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL-04). Hadrian plans to use its AI-driven technology to supercharge the manufacture and production of submarine components and ships, and F4 will become the flagship factory for this endeavor.
Dive Deeper: SECNAV John Phelan Cuts Ribbon in Alabama on 'Golden Fleet' Manufacturing Facility
Shipbuilder Teams With Robotics Company to Speed-Boost Ship Production
Loeffler then touched on how the F4 facility, partnered with small business, is not just a part of the revitalization of the region, but strengthening our national security.
"Small business is innately ingrained in manufacturing," Loeffler said.
She further affirmed that:
Ninety-eight percent of all of America's manufacturers are small businesses, and this country is reindustrializing thanks to President Trump's economic agenda. Nowhere is that more clear than right here.
This facility will ultimately host almost 1,000 jobs, maybe more. That's transformative for a rural community. It's going to be transformative for our country on a national security basis.
But when you think about the importance of incentives to invest in America, the Working Family Tax Cut did just that. It created 100 percent expensing for Made-in-America factories, for R&D, for purchasing capital equipment, for reindustrializing this nation, and we all know how important that is. This is a great example of Peace through Strength. That's what companies like Hadrian represent to America.
Loeffler thanked the community and governmental leaders for giving her the tour of F4.
So, I'm really grateful to the leadership team here for giving me [the tour] just about a month after they opened their doors, to show us around and to talk about the strategic relationship that we can have with small businesses, and how small businesses are critical to supporting big business. As President Trump always says to me, “Kelly, small business is big business.” It's 99 percent of all of our businesses in this country. It makes our small towns, our big cities work.
And it's not a zero-sum game.
The March ribbon cutting at Hadrian Alabama and Loeffler's visit represents a sea change for small-town America, and American small business.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and bold policies, America’s economy is back on track.
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