While
it is true that women's business is among a number of areas for which
Labor Secretary Mary Landrieu intends to increase funding as part of
the overall effort to rebuild the Small Business Administration,
there is no specific stimulus aimed at women-owned small business.
What has been done for small business includes:
-
Small
Business Credit
: $430 million for new direct lending
and loan guarantee authorities to make loans more attractive to
lenders and free up capital. The number of loans guaranteed under
the SBA’s 7(a) business loan program was down 57% in the first
quarter of this year compared to last.
-
Rural
Business-Cooperative Service
: $100 million for rural
business grants and loans to guarantee $2 billion in loans for rural
businesses at a time of unprecedented demand due to the credit
crunch. Private sector lenders are increasingly turning to this
program to help businesses get access to capital.
-
Industrial
Technology Services
: $100 million, including $70
million for the Technology Innovation Program to accelerate research
in potentially revolutionary technologies with high job growth
potential, and $30 million for the Manufacturing Extension
Partnerships to help small and mid-size manufacturers compete
globally by providing them with access to technology.
-
Economic
Development Assistance
: $250 million to address
long-term economic distress in urban industrial cores and rural
areas distributed based on need and ability to create jobs and
attract private investment. EDA leverages $10 in private investments
for $1 in federal funds.
There
is also an up and coming SBA
loan relief program. For more information, visit www.sba.gov.
