| IMMEDIATE
RELEASE: Friday May 1,
2009
Senate Passes President's FY 2010 Budget Resolution with 25% Increase in SBA Funding
-
MBRT praises the leadership
of Senator Cardin for
his amendment to restore
$180 million funding
to the agency
- The
funds are essential
to help small and minority
businesses deal with
the worst financial
crisis since the Great
Depression
- New
SBA rule makes 70,000
businesses eligible
for lending
Washington, D.C.
- "We applaud Senator
Ben Cardin's leadership.
With $180 million added
to the SBA FY 2010 budget
(which begins October
1, 2009), the agency can
provide essential services
and expand needed programs
to assist this nation's
27 million small and 5
million minority businesses",
said Roger A. Campos,
President & CEO. "As fuel
for engines of economic
growth, job creation,
and innovation, the new
SBA lending rule allows
more small and minority
businesses greater access
to much needed capital
in this tough economy".
"After
years of cuts to the SBA
during the previous Presidential
Administration, it is
exceptionally encouraging
that the Budget Committee
has increased funding
for this vital agency,"
Senator Landrieu said
after the vote. Since
November, small businesses
have lost 80 percent of
the jobs in the country.
Banks have slowed lending
and dried up lines of
credit, and the SBA is
more needed than ever.
This additional funding
level will allow the SBA
to back additional loans
to entrepreneurs, provide
technical assistance to
struggling businesses
and help ensure that small
businesses lead the country's
way toward economic recovery.
"Senator Cardin is a true
friend to small business,
and I am grateful that
he took the initiative
so early during the budget
process to make sure small
businesses remain a top
priority. I'd also like
to thank Senate Budget
Committee Chairman Kent
Conrad for keeping small
businesses at the forefront
by fighting for increased
funding for the SBA,"
Senator Landrieu said.
"I
am pleased that the Senate
Budget Committee heeded
our request to increase
funding for the SBA to
the level of $880 million
for Fiscal Year 2010 by
adopting Senator Cardin's
amendment," said Senator
Snowe.
"I
introduced my amendment
because small businesses
are the key to our economic
recovery," said Senator
Cardin. "My amendment
will increase funding
for the SBA, an agency
that has been short-changed
for too long and now more
than ever needs to be
well-funded and fully-staffed
so that it can offer small
businesses the technical
assistance and support
they need to weather these
difficult economic times."
New
SBA rule means that more
small businesses will
be eligible for U.S. Small
Business Administration-backed
loans as a result of a
temporary alternate size
standard for the agency's
largest lending program.
SBA's
alternate size standard
for its 7(a) loan program
will go into effect early
next week through Sept.
30, 2010. As a result
of the temporary change,
more than 70,000 additional
small businesses - including
auto and RV dealerships,
auto industry suppliers
and others - could be
eligible to apply for
SBA 7(a) loan.
"This
is just one more step
we are taking to make
sure small businesses
have access to capital
to keep their doors open
and employees working
during these tough economic
times," SBA Administrator
Karen Mills said. "We
have seen signs that small
businesses that are just
outside the traditional
7(a) size standard are
being shut out of the
conventional lending market.
This temporary change
will help those businesses
weather these tough times
and help move our nation
closer to economic recovery."
The
temporary 7(a) loan size
standard will parallel
the standard for the agency's
504 Certified Development
Company loan, and will
allow businesses to qualify
based on net worth and
average income. The net
worth for the company
and its affiliates can't
be in excess of $8.5 million
and average net income
after federal income taxes
(excluding any carry-over
losses) for the preceding
two completed fiscal years
can't be more than $3
million. This change also
means more small businesses
can take advantage of
benefits made possible
through the Recovery Act.
On March 16, the SBA implemented
two key provisions of
the Recovery Act that
raised the guarantee on
7(a) loans to 90 percent
and reduced fees for borrowers.
Since then, the agency
has seen average weekly
7(a) loan volume increase
by more than 25 percent
and new SBA loans made
by nearly 450 lenders
who had not made loans
since October 2008.
About
the Minority Business
RoundTable:
The Minority Business
RoundTable is the only
national non-profit organization
for CEOs of the nation's
leading African-American,
Asian-American, Hispanic-American,
Native-American and other
minority-owned businesses.
Its members analyze and
help formulate effective
public policies that impact
minority-owned business.
Our corporate members
work to create sustainable
communities and national
economic viability through
successful partnerships.
The
Minority Business RoundTable
is proud to have Glaxco
Smith Kline, Equifax,
IMPAC real estate holding
companies, the Allegis
Group and Aerotek, Inc.,
the Business Roundtable,
an association of chief
executive officers of
the country's leading
corporations, Western
Union, the Kauffman Foundation,
U.S. Department of Energy,
U.S. Small Business Administration,
U.S. Department of Homeland
Security, U.S. Department
of Labor and other federal
agencies, corporations
and business trade groups
as strategic partners.
For more information on
the Minority Business
RoundTable, please visit
www.mbrt.net.
#
# #
Minority Business
Roundtable 1629 K Street,
N.W., Suite 300 Washington,
D.C. 20006 202-289-8881
rogercampos@mbrt.net
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