Ed. Note: This week the Obama Administration celebrating America’s entrepreneurs and small businesses as part of National Entrepreneurship Week.
I’m thrilled that we’re taking time this week – as a nation – to support and celebrate America’s entrepreneurial spirit. Entrepreneurs and small business owners continue to drive innovation, strengthen our competitive edge, and create good jobs here at home.
These entrepreneurs need access to capital in order to start and grow their small businesses. When a small business loan gets approved, they get the lines of credit to buy space and equipment and to hire more workers. It’s an exciting moment.
Because of the Recovery Act, the SBA was able to work with its lending partners to provide nearly 70,000 SBA loans to entrepreneurs and small business owners to help them do just that. And now, under the new Small Business Jobs Act, the SBA has already approved 7,000 more SBA loans in just two months.
Noel and Glen Mouritzen are a good example. They attended the event where the President signed the Jobs Act. They’re using their new Jobs Act loan to set up a repair shop for helicopter fuel systems near an airport in Virginia. As a result, they’re planning to hire four or five new workers.
In addition, by strengthening a network of growth capital firms – called Small Business Investment Companies – we’ve reached a 50-year record high of nearly $1.6 billion in overall financing to high-growth small firms in Fiscal Year 2010.
And it’s not just SBA that is playing an active role in the success stories of America’s entrepreneurs. Other federal agencies have unique lending programs, too.
- The Export-Import Bank, like the SBA, has loans that can help small businesses who are looking to export their goods and services.
- The USDA offers loans to farmers and rural businesses.
- The Department of Transportation helps small businesses who need working capital to finance a contract they’ve won from that agency.
All of us throughout the Administration know that it’s more important than ever to help entrepreneurs and small business owners get the capital they need to grow and create jobs.
If you want to find out more about SBA loans – as well as other help we can provide through opportunities in federal contracting and one-on-one counseling for small businesses – I’d encourage you to visit www.sba.gov.
And our commitment throughout the Administration is this. We will continue to help America’s entrepreneurs find the tools they need to do what they do best: build their businesses, create jobs, and strengthen our economy.
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