Small business forum reports to White House

Dec. 4, 2009 – NAFCU recommendations for increasing credit unions’ statutory member business loan cap and expanding emergency assistance funding to all credit unions are included in a report to the president Thursday from the Small Business Financing Forum.

The forum, led by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Karen Mills, head of the Small Business Administration, issued the report based on input from forum participants, including NAFCU President Fred Becker.

The forum was held in November to generate ideas on how to get more capital to small businesses, which have seen their funding sources dry up as credit has tightened. Becker urged support for H.R. 3380, the Promoting Lending to America’s Small Businesses Act, introduced by Reps. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., and Ed Royce, R-Calif. He also urged that an administration initiative to provide low-cost capital to all community banks as well as credit unions certified as community development financial institutions be open to all credit unions.

In addition, Becker recommended an increase to $5 million in the cap on SBA 7(a) loans and increases to $5 million and $5.5 million, respectively, in SBA 504 loan limits for standard borrowers and manufacturers.

The forum, in releasing its report, said that many of the recommendations in the 52-page report are not ones that the administration supports or agrees with, “but we believe that the best policy occurs when we engage in an open dialogue.”

In addition to the NAFCU recommendations, the report also includes suggestions made to increase funding of the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund financial assistance program and for rural and Native American CDFIs. Specifically, it includes a suggestion that there be rural set-asides within the CDFI Fund and that set-asides for Native American CDFIs be increased.

To download the full report, use the link below.