Small Business Jobs and Credit Act

Earlier this week, President Barack Obama signed the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act to help business owners expand their businesses and create more jobs.

This new law offers small business owners tax incentives totaling $12 billion and establishes a $30 billion Small Business Lending Fund to spur community bank lending to small businesses. The White House estimates that more than 1,400 businesses are currently waiting for loan approvals from the SBA, which represents about $730 million in new borrowings. This legislation is expected to provide much needed relief to businesses who have experienced a difficult time obtaining credit since the beginning of the economic downturn.

“This is one of the most important measures we have passed this year, in terms of supporting economic recovery,” Congresswoman Melissa Bean said. “… Community business owners have told me that lack of access to affordable credit remains the biggest obstacle to business recover, expansion and diversification.”

The bill is designed to improve access to capital for small businesses by extending Small Business Administration lending, increasing the available loan sizes and lowering fees. Specifically, maximum loan amounts for SBA loan programs 7(a) and 504 loans have been increased to up to $5 million and SBA 7(a) Express loan limits have also been raised to $1 million. Loan guarantees for the SBA’s 7(a) loan program were also increased to 90 percent for small business borrowers.

“This is important because small businesses produce most of the new jobs in this country,” President 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.”

About Sunbelt
Sunbelt® is the premiere network of franchised business brokerage offices in the world. On any given day, the network has 10,000 small and medium-sized businesses listed for sale. The asking price for these businesses ranges from $50,000 to $10,000,000, with an average of $600,000. With nearly 250 locations worldwide, no other business brokerage firm can match Sunbelt’s geographic coverage, visibility to buyers, and business sales experience. Because each office is independently owned and operated, Sunbelt’s global reach is balanced with intensive knowledge of and involvement in the business communities in which it operates. Simply put, Sunbelt® is the place to go to buy or sell a business®. To learn more, please visit http://www.sunbeltnetwork.com.