Bronx Latina responsible for billions of dollars of support for area small business

NEW YORK (PIX11) — A Latina from the Bronx is advocating for thousands of small businesses in New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Marlene Cintron never imagined she would be responsible for about $7 billion in small business capital each year. She said her focus is empowering the historically underserved, especially Latinas.

Cintron said poverty was a big part of her story growing up in the South Bronx to Puerto Rican parents. Through hard work and determination, Cintron gives money to more than 20,000 small businesses as a regional administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration .

From humble beginnings, Cintron was the first in her family to go to college and went to law school at Georgetown. She rose through the ranks of business, appointed by President Joe Biden in 2020.

Cintron’s agency has helped create 60,000 new jobs this year alone. Most days Cintron is out in the community. Her passion is fighting for female minority-owned businesses and celebrating the greatness of other trailblazing Latinas such as Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez.

One of her proudest achievements is her work in the Bronx where she has helped businesses, attracting more than $9 billion in private equity to the borough. Cintron still lives in the South Bronx and says the best is yet to come.

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