« Video Napster? | Second Generation not as Successful in Family Businesses »
October 21, 2004
SBA Loan Program is Chugging Along Even With Recent Changes
The recent decision to change the way the SBA loan program was greeted by cries of doom and gloom from those who love to leave such things in the hands of the state (see my recent post on this). On the contrary, I have been a strong advocate that the privatization of much of the SBA 7(a) loan programs was one of the most important and courageous domestic initiatives of the Bush administration this past term.
( Inc.com reported today) that the program is alive and well and helping more than ever to support this entrepreneurial economic recovery. And the SBA Administrator, Hector Barreto, believes that with the changes made in how SBA is funded, its best days are yet to come.
"According to its results for fiscal year 2004, which ended on Sept. 30, the SBA backed 74,825 7(a) loans totaling $12.5 billion to small businesses, and 8,168 loans worth $3.9 billion under its 504, or Certified Development Company, program. The SBA reported that the number of loans made under each program represented a new high, as did the combined total of the two programs, which was more than double the 41,552 loans the SBA backed in 2001."
Mr. Barreto put it best:
"Small business is the economic engine that drives our economy....Our record year is proof that the economy is expanding and creating new jobs, evident by the low unemployment rate of 5.4%."
Posted October 21, 2004 05:15 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://forum.belmont.edu/mt/mt-tb.cgi/583
at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. He consults with a variety of businesses on start-up and growth related issues, and with larger corporations on re-establishing entrepreneurial cultures within their organizations. Dr. Cornwall's current research interests include entrepreneurial finance and entrepreneurial ethics. He has authored or co-authored four books.
