| IMMEDIATE
RELEASE: Monday March
16, 2009
MBRT Supports President's Plan to Unlock Credit Restrictions for Small and Minority Businesses to Boost Ailing U.S. Economy and Protect America's Small & Minority Businesses from Bankruptcy
-
Raises federal SBA loan
guarantees to 90%
- Temporarily
eliminates SBA loan
fees to reduce the cost
of capital
- Restore
confidence in American
financial markets
- MBRT
Members attend White
House Briefing with
President and Treasury
Secretary
Washington, D.C.
- The President announced
today immediate action
to ensure that credit
and loans are made available
to entrepreneurs and businesses
owners. "Cash flow is
the lifeblood of America's
small and minority businesses
and without it, we cannot
stimulate growth and create
jobs", said Roger A. Campos
President & CEO Minority
Business RoundTable. Credit
is tightening and banks
are not lending. This
initiative gives a boost
and incentive for banks
to lend more with little
risk.
MBRT
member Jim DeFrancesco,
Chairman CMSI and ACell
companies located in Columbia,
MD said, "We need bold
new ideas and initiatives
to help businesses sustain
themselves and grow. It
hurts us to reduce salary
benefits and layoff valuable
employees who are like
part of our family. We
need to provide incentives
to bankers to lend more
and more often to meet
our cash flow demands.
We need help now. Without
such help, we will be
forced to shut our doors
laying off hundreds of
people and impacting their
families."
After
the White House Briefing,
MBRT Vice Chairman Andra
Rush CEO Rush Trucking
located in Wayne, MI and
MBRT member Jim DeFrancesco,
Chairman CMSI located
in Columbia, MD were interviewed
on Fox Business News.
Andra Rush commented to
a question from the TV
announcer and said, "I
loved what I heard today.
It's been an enormous
task for small businesses
to get loans and especially
minority business entrepreneurs."
There
are almost 5 million minority
businesses employing millions
of American workers with
annual sales totaling
over $700 billion. Minority
owned businesses were
growing the fastest before
the financial crisis.
Most minorities businesses
lack adequate access to
capital and traditional
sources of financing are
hard to find. The SBA
has been an important
source of business financing
for minorities. They received
27 percent of all SBA
backed loans made between
2001 and 2004 according
to a 2008 report by the
Urban Institute. By contrast,
minorities received only
10 percent of conventional
small business loans during
this time period.
About the Minority
Business RoundTable:
The Minority Business
RoundTable is the only
national non-profit organization
for CEOs of the nation's
leading African-American,
Asian-American, Hispanic-American,
Native-American and other
minority-owned businesses.
Its members analyze and
help formulate effective
public policies that impact
minority-owned business.
Our corporate members
work to create sustainable
communities and national
economic viability through
successful partnerships.
The
Minority Business RoundTable
is proud to have Glaxco
Smith Kline, Equifax,
IMPAC real estate holding
companies, the Allegis
Group and Aerotek, Inc.,
the Business Roundtable,
an association of chief
executive officers of
the country's leading
corporations, Western
Union, the Kauffman Foundation,
U.S. Department of Energy,
U.S. Small Business Administration,
U.S. Department of Homeland
Security, U.S. Department
of Labor and other federal
agencies, corporations
and business trade groups
as strategic partners.
For more information on
the Minority Business
RoundTable, please visit
www.mbrt.net.
#
# #
Minority Business
Roundtable 1629 K Street,
N.W., Suite 300 Washington,
D.C. 20006 202-289-8881
rogercampos@mbrt.net
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