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Gov't To Dramatically Expand Small Biz Programs
By Marc Tracy
We're...really not sure exactly how to respond to this breaking-news article in the Washington Post. Fridays are known in Washington as "Take Out The Trash Day", the time of the week when you casually release news that you want a minimal number of people to know about. So when you see a relatively thinly and mostly anonymously sourced, as well as altogether vague, story appearing at 5 P.M. on a Friday afternoon, you don't know exactly what to think.
But! The story reports that the Treasury Department is considering using some of the original $700 billion in TARP money to increase small-business lending programs, including the Small Business Administration's flagship 7(a) program as well as "an existing government program that helps small companies borrow money from banks at low rates to keep their businesses going". It's not clear whether that is in reference to 7(a) loans or perhaps the brand-new America's Recovery Capital microloan program.
Other things we learn: top economic adviser (and former Treasury Secretary) Larry Summers is skeptical of the idea where current Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner supports it. If enacted, the measure would be sold the way so many other federal programs for small business are--as investing in job creation (even if the question of whether small businesses actually create jobs is somewhat up for debate). The proposal could prove "the riskiest investment made under the bailout program to date." Karen G. Mills has become the first Small Business Administration head to be invited to join the National Economic Council (which Summers leads), "a sign," the article says, "of the administration's focus on the issue."
We also learn that any proposal would not actually be rolled out until the fall. That should give the administration ample time to iron out the details. And it should give us ample time to learn said details and present them to you. Til then, developing...
Comments (0)July 10, 2009 5:31 PM
