Both of Maine’s senators are backing a Hudson consultant to head up the Small Business Administration in New England.

Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins said Thursday that they’ve asked President Bush to appoint Sandford Blitz as regional administrator of the agency.

Both senators have a particular interest in the position. Snowe is ranking member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and Collins was once the regional administrator for the SBA.

Blitz would replace Charlie Summers, who resigned ahead of a tour of duty in Iraq and a run for Congress.

Blitz owns Emesbee Associates, which helps public and private institutions get government grants and loans and devises economic development strategies. He is also executive director of the East-West Highway Association and executive manager of the Bangor Target Area Development Corporation. Blitz is also an adjunct professor in the University of Maine’s Department of Public Administration.

Blitz has worked for the U.S. Department of Commerce, the General Services Administration, and as an aide to the mayor of Bridgeport, Conn. He was also a U.S. Navy reserve officer.

He has a bachelor’s degree from the Bernard M. Baruch School of Public and Business Administration at the City College of New York and a master’s degree from the University of Maine.