The and the signed an agreement on October 12, 2026 that expands access to for small businesses in the defense industrial base.
The agreement builds on the , announced in late August. The commission was billed as an equivalent to the , which Congress established in the 1940s to help smaller businesses build war supplies during World War II.
The name is a deliberate callback to a wartime mobilization body. The framing is industrial policy at wartime scale.
Under the agreement, the Pentagon's will identify firms with financing needs through its effort and refer them to the SBA. The SBA will use its existing lender networks to connect those firms with SBA-backed funds. The agreement aligns the Economic Defense Unit with the SBA's and .
The SBA can also back the Economic Defense Unit's investments in small and medium-sized businesses working on essential materials, mining of strategic and critical metals and minerals, and munitions.
No new money was appropriated. Two agencies agreed to route existing programs at each other.
Small manufacturers make up , according to SBA Administrator . The SBA oversees .
Defense Secretary said the commission will now be able to surge strategic capital to the small businesses that build the ships, munitions, microelectronics, materials, components, and technologies the military relies on.