The February 10th and 11th edition of the Grand Junction Free Press published an editorial by Kelly Sloan titled, “Democrats’ plan will not create jobs.” Mr. Sloan should do some homework before he trots out the same old talking points that have been used to promote boom and bust cycles for at least the past 30 years in Happy Valley.
There is a way for government support to help create jobs. First let’s look at some facts:
· The majority of new jobs in the nation are created by small businesses, not large oil and gas companies.
· Commercial banks (and yes, Norm Franke, I do know the difference between investment banks and commercial banks) are predisposed toward lending to large and mid-market companies, not the small businesses and entrepreneurs that are our neighbors. Why? Start-up companies and small businesses have a high rate of failure. So, even though they are creating the jobs we need, they have trouble finding financing.
· One government program that helps existing small businesses get financing to buy equipment and/or expand into new office space is the Small Business Administration (SBA), a federal government program that guarantees loans made by commercial banks to small businesses that carry more perceived risk than the commercial bank is willing to take without some form of credit enhancement. Start-ups generally need not apply, because the banks require at least three-years of profitability, or positive financial trends.
· Another government program that supports small business and housing programs that carry slightly more risk than SBA guaranteed loans is the CDFI fund (Certified Development Financial Institution) in the Treasury Department. The CDFI fund also manages New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC), a program about which I happen to be a nationally recognized expert. NMTC’s give tax credits to Certified Development Entities (CDEs) who then sell the tax credits to businesses who want to shelter income from the IRS (oil and gas companies?)CDEs use the money they get from selling NMTCs to finance small businesses and entrepreneurs, who create jobs, but otherwise could not find financing.
Currently there are no Certified Development Entities (CDEs) in western Colorado. Without a local CDE, local small businesses and entrepreneurs are being shut out of the programs that are designed to help them. There are two organizations that are eligible to become CDEs in House District 54: the Incubator Center and the Revolving Loan Fund REGION 10. There is a state chartered entity that is a CDE, the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA.) There is a SBA lender working state wide that has access to NMTC for Colorado: Colorado Lending Source.
Now, do some homework. These programs would all bring your federal tax dollars home to help your neighbors expand or create small businesses, resulting in sustainable jobs for other neighbors. Neighbors helping neighbors: It is the Western way of life.
Homework:
http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/snloansurvey/201002/ ß Federal Reserve Bank survey of bank lenders.
http://www.cdfifund.gov/news_events/CDFI-2010-06-Presidents-2011-Budget-Requests-250Million.aspß Obama’s budget includes $250 million for CDFIs.
http://www.cdfifund.gov/news_events/CDFI-2010-08-Statements-CDFIFund-Director-Gambrell-and-AdvisoryBoard-Chair-Bynum.aspß CDFI announcement of TARP funds availability to fund small businesses.
http://www.cdfifund.gov/docs/2010/cdfi/Obama-Administration-Announces-Enhancements-Tarp-Initiative-for-Community-Dev-Fin-Inst.pdf ß CDFI eligibility and program requirements.
http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1251604645421&ssbinary=trueß Overview of Colorado’s budget woes
http://www.chfainfo.com/news/Update%20on%20CHFA%20and%20Market.icm ß CHFA accesses housing funds.
http://www.rwbpress.com/2010/02/15/sba-loans%E2%80%94are-small-business-loans-the-key-to-reversing-unemployment-creating-jobs/ß article about how Small Business Administration loans help businesses create jobs.
http://www.coloradolendingsource.org/ß SBA lender using NMTC to fund small business loans.
http://www.cdfifund.gov/what_we_do/programs_id.asp?programID=5ß All about NMTC.
There is a way for government support to help create jobs. First let’s look at some facts:
· The majority of new jobs in the nation are created by small businesses, not large oil and gas companies.
· Commercial banks (and yes, Norm Franke, I do know the difference between investment banks and commercial banks) are predisposed toward lending to large and mid-market companies, not the small businesses and entrepreneurs that are our neighbors. Why? Start-up companies and small businesses have a high rate of failure. So, even though they are creating the jobs we need, they have trouble finding financing.
· One government program that helps existing small businesses get financing to buy equipment and/or expand into new office space is the Small Business Administration (SBA), a federal government program that guarantees loans made by commercial banks to small businesses that carry more perceived risk than the commercial bank is willing to take without some form of credit enhancement. Start-ups generally need not apply, because the banks require at least three-years of profitability, or positive financial trends.
· Another government program that supports small business and housing programs that carry slightly more risk than SBA guaranteed loans is the CDFI fund (Certified Development Financial Institution) in the Treasury Department. The CDFI fund also manages New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC), a program about which I happen to be a nationally recognized expert. NMTC’s give tax credits to Certified Development Entities (CDEs) who then sell the tax credits to businesses who want to shelter income from the IRS (oil and gas companies?)CDEs use the money they get from selling NMTCs to finance small businesses and entrepreneurs, who create jobs, but otherwise could not find financing.
Currently there are no Certified Development Entities (CDEs) in western Colorado. Without a local CDE, local small businesses and entrepreneurs are being shut out of the programs that are designed to help them. There are two organizations that are eligible to become CDEs in House District 54: the Incubator Center and the Revolving Loan Fund REGION 10. There is a state chartered entity that is a CDE, the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA.) There is a SBA lender working state wide that has access to NMTC for Colorado: Colorado Lending Source.
Now, do some homework. These programs would all bring your federal tax dollars home to help your neighbors expand or create small businesses, resulting in sustainable jobs for other neighbors. Neighbors helping neighbors: It is the Western way of life.
Homework:
http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/snloansurvey/201002/ ß Federal Reserve Bank survey of bank lenders.
http://www.cdfifund.gov/news_events/CDFI-2010-06-Presidents-2011-Budget-Requests-250Million.aspß Obama’s budget includes $250 million for CDFIs.
http://www.cdfifund.gov/news_events/CDFI-2010-08-Statements-CDFIFund-Director-Gambrell-and-AdvisoryBoard-Chair-Bynum.aspß CDFI announcement of TARP funds availability to fund small businesses.
http://www.cdfifund.gov/docs/2010/cdfi/Obama-Administration-Announces-Enhancements-Tarp-Initiative-for-Community-Dev-Fin-Inst.pdf ß CDFI eligibility and program requirements.
http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1251604645421&ssbinary=trueß Overview of Colorado’s budget woes
http://www.chfainfo.com/news/Update%20on%20CHFA%20and%20Market.icm ß CHFA accesses housing funds.
http://www.rwbpress.com/2010/02/15/sba-loans%E2%80%94are-small-business-loans-the-key-to-reversing-unemployment-creating-jobs/ß article about how Small Business Administration loans help businesses create jobs.
http://www.coloradolendingsource.org/ß SBA lender using NMTC to fund small business loans.
http://www.cdfifund.gov/what_we_do/programs_id.asp?programID=5ß All about NMTC.
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