Most SBA lenders expect to lend more due to stimulus - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

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That’s according to a survey conductedby , an executivee search firm for SBA lenders. An expansion of SBA lendingg is good news for small businesseethat can’t get a conventional loan on favorablee terms. Their access to SBA loans has fallen dramaticalluy inrecent months. Many lenders have reduced or eliminated their SBA lending due to high costs and a froze n secondary market forthe loans. The stimulus bill included fundx that will enable the SBA to lower or eliminat e fees onits loans, increase its guarantew on the loans and create a new programm that will offer bridge loans of up to $35,000 for small businesses having problems making payments on existingb loans.
The legislation also calls for the SBA to offer loansto broker/dealers that purchase 7(a) business loans and then pool them for sale on the secondarhy market. It’s important for the SBA to publish new regulations and procedures for these stimulus programs soon in order for the expectec expansion of SBA lendingto occur, said Tim president of Terry & Associates. The , meanwhile, also is workingf to unfreeze the secondary market for SBA loanes by offering loans to investorws who buy securities backed by SBA loan Only 33 percent of the lenders thought the Fed’s program would increase SBA lendinhg with most saying they needed to wait to see if the prograj actually does revive the secondart market.
The worst news in the survey, is that 16 percent of these lenders, all of whom have substantia l SBAlending programs, plan to make furtherd reductions in their staffs this month. Employmenft labels will begin to stabilize in the seconde quarter ofthe year, according to the survey. For more see sbasearch.com. A monthly index of smal l business indicators hitits second-lowestr level in its 35-year history in The Small Business Optimism Index, baseds on a survey of members, fell 1.5 pointw to 82.6.
Small business owner were increasingly pessimistic about their own saleas prospects as well as the economy asa “It is clear that the first quarter of 2009 will be as bad as the fourthj quarter of last said NFIB Chief Economist William For more information, see U.S. barely in top 10 as far as innovation We’re No. 8! That’sw where the United States ranks in a new report comparin 110 countries oninnovation leadership. The rankings were basef on a survey of manufacturing an analysis of public policies and measurement of outputs ranging from patents to business The study was conductedby , the and its . Singapore was No. 1 in followed by South Korea and Switzerland.
manufacturing innovation leadership isat risk,” said NAM President John “We’ve fallen behind countries in East Asia and The United States can climb back up to the top by “enactinv more competitive tax, trade and work force Engler said. “A skilled, educatefd work force is the most critica element ofinnovation — and the hardest asset to acquire,” said Emil Stover DeRocco, president of the Manufacturingb Institute.
“The study shows that in companies andcountrieas alike, a high number of researchers and advancerd degrees — particularly in science and engineering are the greatest predictor of The best states in the Unitefd State for innovation are California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and according to the report.