Thursday, September 16, 2010

Small Businesses: Good things come to those who Wait.

The small business community was left out of the Bail Out, as I pointed out in a previous article “Too small To Succeed”, small banks and businesses were left to sink or swim. Sadly many small banks and businesses have met an untimely end. It’s too bad that help is on the way nearly 2 years later. You may be thinking it’s too little too late, but I say, better late than never.

Last Month Timothy Geithner paid a visit to New York to convey his message to the financial industry, bankers in particular that the new Regs are good for business. His objective was to communicate to Wall street that finance reform would ultimately be the “foundation of a stronger economy”. His NYU audience was told that the Obama administration seeks to strike a balance with safeguarding Businesses, while protecting consumers. Geithner likely new that the Administration had a plans to unveil a kind of incentive package for banks to make loans to small company to spur business.

This week the U.S. Senate passed the bill valued at $30 billion to be utilized to encourage lending, and approximately $12 billion earmarked to provide much needed tax breaks for small businesses. Still to be approved by the Senate, the law is expected to create 500,000 jobs according to estimates by the Democrats. Amid a firestorm of criticism, with midterm elections threatening to curtail the democratic reign on Capital Hill, the administration is refocusing its efforts to try and make a dent in the unwavering unemployment rate, and spur economic development.

K. Reilly
Cohn-Reilly Report