SBA Deputy Administrator Melanie Sabelhaus Will Leave Agency to Return to Private Sector

WASHINGTON – Melanie Sabelhaus, Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, has resigned from her position at the agency to return to the private sector, where she had been a successful entrepreneur, businesswoman, philanthropist and corporateofficer for 25 years. Her resignation is effective June 15. Sabelhaus, the founder of a property rental and management company in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., was sworn in as Deputy Administrator in April 2002. She is considering several options for the time after she leaves the SBA. “It has been a distinct pleasure for me to have worked these past few years with Melanie,” said SBA Administrator Hector V. Barreto. “I believe I speak for the entire agency when I say we will miss her energy, her passion for women’s business issues, her business sense, and her
tireless work on behalf of small businesses everywhere.” “I feel I have the best job in government, working with entrepreneurs, the engine that is fueling our economy every day all over the country, and working with women, the economic
powerhouse of the 21st Century, who are starting new businesses at twice the rate of men,” Sabelhaus said. “They are the innovators and job creators and heart and soul of America. What an honor this has been to serve President Bush and my country, and to work with Hector Barreto. I will never forget this experience.” As Deputy Administrator, Sabelhaus served as second-in-command to Barreto in managing an agency with more than 80 offices around the country. After a career as an executive at IBM, where she was one of the pioneers in the development of the IBM Product Center, Sabelhaus started Exclusive Interim Properties Ltd. in Baltimore in 1986. The company provided furnished rental properties for relocated executives and individuals on temporary assignment. At its peak, EIP had offices in Baltimore and Washington,
D.C., and employed some 75 people. With 650 furnished units, the company generated $10 million annually. In 1997 the company merged with four other companies to become Bridgestreet Accommodations. Bridgestreet became a publicly held company the same year, when it made its initial offering of stock to the public. Sabelhaus served as vice president of global sales at Bridgestreet Accommodations until 1998. 

While at the SBA, Sabelhaus took a leading role in policy development and program management. She was named a recipient of the Artemis Award, presented by the European American Women’s Conference, and was named a member of Women’s Leadership Board of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Sabelhaus is a founding national chair of the United Way Women’s Initiative and twice cochaired the National Summit on Women’s Philanthropy. She is a recipient of the 2002 Outstanding Volunteer Fund-Raiser Award presented by the Association of Fund-Raising Professionals, the College of Notre Dame of Maryland’s Pro Urbe Award and the Ohio
University’s School of Business Award for Achievement in Business. Sabelhaus and her husband, Bob Sabelhaus, an executive with the financial investment firm of  Legg Mason, live in Owings Mills, Md. They are the parents of two adult children. Sabelhaus is a graduate of Ohio University and a native of Cleveland, Ohio.