WASHINGTON — In its continuing efforts to improve its response to major disasters, the Small Business Administration has brought back James Rivera as deputy associate administrator to lead the agency's Office of Disaster Assistance.

Rivera is a program director at SBA and heads the agency's commercial loan programs, but his newest role is not so new. Rivera, who has been at SBA since 1989, had previously served as deputy associate administrator for the Office of Disaster Assistance as well as assistant administrator for Equal Employment Opportunity and Civil Rights Compliance.

In early September, SBA Administrator Steven Preston launched the Accelerated Disaster Response Initiative to identify and help implement process improvements to enable the agency to respond more rapidly after a disaster declaration. The initial focus will be on accelerating the disbursement process for disaster loans to victims of last year's hurricanes along the Gulf Coast. Preston appointed Chicago Regional Administrator Patrick "Pat" Rea as head of the initiative.