Rio Grande Valley hotel owners join the fight to lobby SBA for higher loan limits. Here’s why
Vikash Patel is the regional director of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association for the South Region in Texas and president of Haven Hospitality Group in New Braunfels, Texas. Photo Credit | Kristen Mosbrucker-Garza

The last time the U.S. Small Business Administration raised its loan guarantee limits on financial institutions for two main loan programs was about 16 years ago. 

But the cost to construct or renovate hotels and motels — or really anything else — has increased significantly since then, said Vikash Patel, regional director of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association for the South Region in Texas and president of the Haven Hospitality Group in New Braunfels, Texas. 

“That’s been quite some time; we went through all the COVID-19 inflation all these years, so from 2010 to now the amount of money and capital needed to open a business has gone up tremendously,” Patel said. 

Patel recently visited McAllen for an event offering an update to his membership before the start of 2027. 

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