SBA's Sixth Month Recovery Act Report Card
6:16 PM September 11, 2009
This past week I participated in the SBA's Sixth Month Recovery Act Report Card Conference Call, hosted by Administrator Mills. We discussed the effect of the Recovery Act on small businesses across the country, as the Administrator reviewed the Recovery Act Report Card presentation.
In March, the SBA implemented two important Recovery Act provisions: 1) 90 percent guarantees on 7(a) loans and 2) fee reductions in both the 7(a) and 504 programs. According to the SBA, these provisions have helped drive improved loan volumes. The SBA has supported almost $8 billion in lending to small businesses since the Recovery Act became law. In addition, from February 17 to July 31, nearly 850 lenders made SBA loans that had not previously made a SBA loan since October 2008. Since February 17, 19 percent of loans have gone to women-owned businesses, and 20 percent have gone to minority-owned businesses.
As of August 6, 2009, 23.4 percent of federal agency Recovery Act contracting dollars have gone to small businesses, and 4.3 percent of Recovery Act federal contracts have gone to women-owned businesses.
Sadie Wathen, Small Business Policy Analyst, WIPP
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