Comments on: Are We Doing Enough to Help Small Businesses?

By: Kelly Ryan

Kelly Ryan — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:14:15 +0000

The stimulus bill is a great starting point in helping NEW small businesses. However it does not address the urgent needs of small business owners who currently own their buildings, made possible through help of an SBA 504 loan.

Everybody acknowledges that mortgage relief for home owners is a necessity. However, the foreclosure crisis for small business owners is as serious and it has a ripple effect throughout the broader economy.

Over the past 25 years, over 100,000 entrepreneurs have purchased a “home for their business” using SBA 504 loans.

Existing regulations do NOT contain sufficient modification provisions to protect SBA 504 borrowers from foreclosure. . Barbara is proposing changes to servicing existing SBA 504 loans which will enable small businesses to remain operating in their buildings and prevent foreclosures.

Many of today’s borrowers have discovered that their SBA loan has trapped them in a building that they can no longer afford, the value of the property is less than the total loans outstanding, and , given the uncertainty in the economy, there are simply no buyers for these properties. Just like the homeowners who owe more than the value of their homes, and can not sell them, there are thousands of small businesses who can not continue to make their mortgage payments. Losing their buildings likely will mean shutting their businesses and putting all of their employees out of work, which, in turn will exacerbate the home mortgage

By: Bryan Stevens

Bryan Stevens — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 13:53:23 +0000

As a small business owner and SBA lender the problem with SBA is lack of products and pressure from the banking sector. Banks are not lending and will not begin lending until the matter of “toxic assets” is resolved. Banks are not looking for a bailout but corporate welfare – they want the government to purchase the assets at a cost that will not impair their earnings. If the government would agree to a guaranty on all “toxic assets” the banks would begin lending again. Look at the the banking reserves at the St. Louis Fed site. The reserves have increased from around $40 billion to $800 billion in the past three months. They are not going to lend – I think we need to get to this answer sooner than later.
directly lending for a 12-18 months period until the banking matter is resolved. Until than, small businesses will continue to struggle and close their doors as access to capital is denied and restricted. Everyone says, the government is inefficient so the SBA would be unsuccessful. I would ask, if government is inefficient than what would you say as to the efficiency of the private sector. The private sector’s answer to this credit crisis is to – not lend, build reserves, wait for a government solution and handout and let business close – if that is efficient than we have huge problems with the definition of efficiency.

By: Barbara Morrison

Barbara Morrison — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 00:07:34 +0000

I am the President of TMC Development(Top 5 SBA Lender Nationally).The stimulus bill is a great starting point in helping small businesses.However it does not address the needs of small business owners who currently own their buildings, made possible through help of an SBA 504 loan.

Everybody acknowledges that mortgage relief for home owners is a necessity. Much focus has gone to the residential mortgage crisis, and keeping home owners in their houses. The parallel problems associated with SBA commercial mortgages given to small businesses so that they could own the building in which their businesses operate have not been addressed.The foreclosure crisis for these small business owners has a ripple effect throughout the broader economy.

Over the past 25 years, over 100,000 entrepreneurs have purchased a “home for their business” using SBA 504 loans.I propose changes to servicing existing SBA 504 loans which will enable small businesses to remain operating in their buildings.

Given the extraordinary circumstances we are now faced with, existing regulations do not contain sufficient modification provisions to protect SBA 504 borrowers from foreclosure. Many of today’s borrowers have discovered that their SBA loan has trapped them in a building that they can no longer afford, the value of the property is less than the total loans outstanding, and , given the uncertainty in the economy, there are simply no buyers for these properties. Just like the homeowners who owe more than

By: Bryden Thrasher

Bryden Thrasher — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 00:04:41 +0000

Hello Alexis, What i am seeing is that people are scared and are not doing anything that they do not have to do. I am a small business owner.I have friends that are business owners.We are tired of busting our butts and giving so much of our money to the government.The government just wastes it on so much and that it is very frustrating. I have been predicting that the market will fall because there is no way that we could keep going on like this.All this debt has to be paid back.Unless something big time is done,I and other people feel that we will have a bad depression. This country has to get back to being self sufficient again.That is why we are or were a super power.Our politicians cannot be trusted.They have proven that time and time again.Example is when they said we were not in a recession and we were. I have talked to alot of people that believed the government,kept there money into stocks,retiremnt etc.and have lost almost everything or almost everything.I know that you know alot of this already.Our government is completely out of touch with the reallity,it is very scary. The people feel that the government does not care about us.They spend OUR money all over the world and fill there pockets,but do not look out for us.ALL BARK AND NO BITE.What needs to be done is to let these companies fall.The government is not going to bail me out if I need it.It is not the tax payers problem or there fault that these companies or our government cannot manage there own house thanks

By: larksoprano

larksoprano — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:36:10 +0000

Small businesses are getting crushed right now. The industries that surround travel, leisure, food, wine are all down significantly. When we really need a leader that is going to work in a bipartisan way for the country, instead we get Obama, intent on pushing through his radical socialist programs while turning a blind eye on the markets. Moreover, it is clear he and his economic team have no clue how to fix the economy. Nor will it happen unless he embraces capitalism and rejects the failed policies of socialism. How did we get here……

By: Morgan Johns

Morgan Johns — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:59:33 +0000

SBA is an excellent tool when ustilized properly. I have led SBA lending groups for over a decade at several banks, both big and small, and now own two small businesses. Most banks used SBA like mortgage lender’s used their secondary markets. Used the system to make bad loans because a lack of oversight. Pure greed. Politicians involvement just gets in the way. Bureaucrats running a lending business letting bad industry practices go unchecked for years because they were afraid of shutting down large SBA loan producers. They should have third party auditors located in each state that have lending and specifically SBA lending background do ongoing audits. People who are willing to tell the SBA the truth about what is going on out in the marketplace, good and bad. SBA is going to a credit scoring system to help drive the triggers for potential audits. More automated mindless decision-making from Washington on a model that is untested. The agency needs people in leadership positions that have practical, real life experience as bankers. SBA lending is personal, one-on-one relationships with the borrowers. The folks at SBA have no clue what that means and their model reflects their ignorance. Credit Scoring models are what helped get us into this mess to begin with. I am out of banking but consult with small local banks and economic development groups to try and figure all of this out as it is shoved down their throat. Feel free to contact me to get first hand info 6105684647

By: Ruth E Hedges,CEO

Ruth E Hedges,CEO — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:54:21 +0000

No we are not doing enough, but we could do so much more.
We have recently launched the new FundingRoadmap.com, an online business plan and due diligence reporting system to replace paper based business plans for entrepreneurs to use when applying for funding. Funding Roadmap is a standardized, SBA compliant, comprehensive and transparent vehicle for funding applications, analysis and approval that digitizes an outdated paper-based and template-driven process.

The engine of our economic growth is the creativity and ambition of millions of entrepreneurs, and our online platform is a timely matchmaking tool for the marriage of capital to these new expanding businesses. The Funding Roadmap system provides the kind of disclosure and transparency that will rebuild the confidence necessary to accelerate the flow of capital into the hands of more compliant and successful companies. President Obama said “We have to have the private sector involved.”

It is now the SBA’s/ resource partners, responsibility to incorporate the best technology available from the private sector which is the Funding Roadmap Online Business Plan and Due Diligence reporting system to their service and advice programs. It’s time to provide an online alternative too, and replace outdated templates and ineffective narrative paper based business plans, (most of which never get read by investors) to bring the kind of change our country so desperately needs. American Entrepreneurs need this technology now

By: Ruth E Hedges,CEO

Ruth E Hedges,CEO — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:39:46 +0000

Alexis,
You are so right.Here is what we are doing about this problem.
We have recently launched the new Funding Roadmap, an online business plan and due diligence reporting system to replace paper based business plans for entrepreneurs to use when applying for funding. Funding Roadmap is a standardized, SBA compliant, comprehensive and transparent vehicle for funding applications, analysis and approval that digitizes an outdated paper-based and template-driven process.

The Funding Roadmap system provides the kind of disclosure and transparency that will rebuild the confidence necessary to accelerate the flow of capital into the hands of more compliant and successful companies. The engine of our economic growth is the creativity and ambition of millions of entrepreneurs, and our online platform is a timely matchmaking tool for the marriage of capital to these new expanding businesses.

It is now the SBA’s and its resource partners responsibility to incorporate the best technology available from the private sector which is the Funding Roadmap Online Business Plan and Due Diligence reporting system to their service and advice programs. It’s time to provide an online alternative too, and replace outdated templates and ineffective narrative paper based business plans, (most of which never get read by investors) to bring the kind of change our country so desperately needs. American Entrepreneurs need this technology now.

By: Karma

Karma — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:26:11 +0000

I’m a small business owner with 120+ employees. As a benefit to my employees, my company pays the bulk of employees’ health insurance costs. However, health insurance benefits costs for my company are increasing 17% this year, which seriously impacts my ability to continue providing a meaningful benefit. If the Obama Administration is serious about helping small business, it should allow health benefits to be a tax deduction instead of merely an expense. A tax deduction approach would provide a win-win for employees and small businesses by allowing the businesses to support more of the incremental cost increases through the dollars saved by the tax deduction.

By: Tom Marquardt, The Profit Repairman

Tom Marquardt, The Profit Repairman — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:16:09 +0000

Alexis;

I wanted to personally send a letter and thank you for caring about small businesses and the crisis which is affecting them in every country, because they are the backbone of a country’s economic and future growth, but so many of them never survive or even make a profit.

We do not do enough for small and mid-sized businesses and that is why my mission is:

Increasing the Success Rate of Small and Mid-Sized Businesses!

My Goal Is To Do 3 Things For Small And Mid-Sized Businesses

Reach, Teach and Send!

I want to Reach as many small and mid-sized businesses as I can.

I want to Teach every small and mid-sized business owners and those associates, rock solid, time tested principles for their individual and company’s success.

“And then, because words are meaningless without actions behind them”

I want to Send small and mid-sized businesses into motion with concrete, corrective action plans to implement TODAY, so that the owners and associates have a tomorrow to look upon.

If you like to discuss future opportunities with me, I would welcome hearing from you.

Thank you for your time and attention and I look forward to your reply, make it a great day.

Dedicated to the Mission!

Tom Marquardt, The Profit Repairman®