U.S. Chamber Supports President Obama's Small Business Lending Plan

"Small Business Owners Struggling to Gain Capital and Stay Afloat Were Offered a Helping Hand Today," Donohue Says

WASHINGTON, D.C.—After attending a White House event to introduce President Barack Obama's small business lending initiative today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue offered his support for the plan.

"The small business owners who are struggling to gain capital and stay afloat were offered a helping hand by the President today," Donohue said. "Since this decline began and the credit markets started to tighten, the U.S. Chamber has pushed for a plan like this to increase capital to small businesses."

Like the White House's plan, the U.S. Chamber has pushed for a reduction of the Small Business Administration's (SBA) 7(a) and 504 lender and user fees in order to incentivize banks to lend and make funds more affordable for small businesses to borrow. The Chamber has also advocated for increasing the government guaranteed percentage of the SBA 7(a) loans and making changes that would allow banks to more easily sell the guaranteed portion of the SBA 7(a) and 504 loans on the secondary markets.

"Going forward, small businesses should have increased opportunities to receive bank funding since banks will now have reduced risks in making the loan," Donohue said. "What the President has done today is to implement provisions of the stimulus bill and address some secondary market issues that should have positive benefits for lending."

The U.S. Chamber is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

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