PORTLAND – Loan guarantees, payroll tax cuts, access to advisers and investment in infrastructure are among the tools the federal government is working to provide small businesses so they can grow, U.S. Small Business Administrator Karen Mills said Friday.

Mills, a Maine resident, spoke to an audience of more than 200 people at the Portland Regional Chamber’s Eggs & Issues breakfast.

This month, President Obama elevated Mills’ job to a Cabinet-level position. Mills said that move reflects the president’s thinking about small businesses.

“From the very first moment, he understood the role small businesses play in driving the economy,” she said.

Mills noted that the role of small businesses is particularly important in Maine, where 97 percent of all businesses are small.

Mills, a venture capitalist, has led the Small Business Administration since 2009. She led Maine’s Council on Competitiveness and the Economy under Gov. John Baldacci.