Karl Swanson, President of PCT Ebeam and Integration, was invited by Senator Joni Ernst to testify at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Senator Ernst is the Committee Chair. The hearing examined the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 504 loan program and how it can be made to operate more effectively and efficiently, particularly for small manufacturers. Swanson testified in support of The Made in America Manufacturing Finance Act of 2025 (MAMFA) (S. 1555) introduced by Chair Ernst. This proposal would increase the maximum total loan size from $5 million to $10 million.

PCT utilized the 504 loan program to support both the purchase and expansion of the company’s manufacturing facility in Davenport, Iowa. The current program limit prevented PCT from leveraging additional SBA programs to support funding of recent export business. Swanson testified, “Having access to this additional loan capacity would provide PCT with a cost-effective means of supporting more export business, which in turn improves our competitiveness in foreign markets and enables us to accelerate further investments in additional staff and production equipment domestically. I strongly support this effort and hope Congress passes this legislation.”

“It was an honor to represent my valued teammates at PCT,” states Swanson. “It was also humbling to represent the interests of the hundreds of thousands of small manufacturers that fuel the American economy.”

PCT is both a systems integrator and a manufacturer of industrial electron beam systems. The company’s ebeam machines are used in a variety of different industries where they enable energy efficient production of pre-painted steel, are used in the manufacturing of advanced medical materials, and can be used to achieve more sustainable production of lithium-ion batteries.

A recording of the hearing can be found at: https://www.sbc.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/hearings?ID=8933D237-F160-4279-B03C-A75BCB047AAC.