WASHINGTON – After three years with the SBA, Deputy Administrator Melanie Sabelhaus will resign from her position on June 15 to return to the private sector, the agency said. As deputy administrator since April 2002, Sabelhaus served as second-in-command to SBA Administrator Hector Barreto in managing an agency with more than 80 offices around the country. While at the SBA, Sabelhaus took a leading role in policy development and program management, the SBA said. Sabelhaus said she is "considering several options" for the time after she leaves the SBA. "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." Barreto said the agency will miss "her energy, her passion for women's business issues, her business sense, and her tireless work on behalf of small businesses everywhere."