Obama signs small business bill, extends SBA lending

President Barack Obama yesterday signed the Small Business Jobs Act into law. The bill extended the Small Business Administration Recovery Act provisions, which increases loan guarantees for the SBA’s 7(a) loan program to 90 percent for small business borrowers. The bill also lowered fees for the 7(a) and 504 programs.

The bill was approved by the House of Representatives last week. The Senate approved it one week earlier.

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The White House said Monday that there are more than 1,400 businesses waiting for loan approvals from the SBA, representing about $730 million in new borrowing.

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The Small Business Jobs Act has also raised the maximum loan size for SBA loan programs –7(a) and 504 loans will now be available for up to $5 million. The SBA’s 504 manufacturing loans will also be available in for up to $5.5 million.

Limits on SBA 7(a) Express Loans have also been raised to up to $1 million, intended to give small businesses more access to working capital.

The act has also created a Small Business Lending Fund, which is designed to give capital to small banks with incentives to increase lending to small businesses.

“This is important because small businesses produce most of the new jobs in this country,” Obama said. “They are the anchors of our Main Streets. They are part of the promise of America – the idea that if you’ve got a dream and you’re willing to work hard, you can succeed. That’s what leads a worker to leave a job to become her own boss. That’s what propels a basement inventor to sell a new product – or an amateur chef to open a restaurant. It’s this promise that has drawn millions to our shores and made our economy the envy of the world.”

 

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