June 2010 Newsletter

June's SBA 504 20-year effective rate is 5.29%. 10-year bonds are funded every other month so the next sale will be in July. The May SBA 504 10-year bond effective rate was 4.61%. (Rates may vary slightly based on approval date.)

On Thursday, June 3, our Executive Director had the opportunity to attend a Federal Reserve event in which the guest speaker was Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke. The article below highlights the event.

The second article is a repeat of the newsflash sent out last week. At this time the SBA loan queue is still in place for projects seeking the reduced fees and additional funds have not been approved yet to extend the Recovery Act program. It is anticipated that this will be approved by Congress in the next few weeks.

Fed Chief Speaks in Detroit

Thursday, June 3, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke to a group at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's branch in Detroit. Mr. Bernanke's speech focused on urging banks to do more for Small Business.

Mr. Bernanke stated that outstanding loans to small businesses declined to $660 billion in the first quarter of 2010, from almost $700 billion two years ago. He wasn't clear if this is a result of reduced demand or tightened credit standards.

Mr. Bernanke stated that in 2009 only 40 percent of small businesses that tried to borrower had all their needs satisfied. As a result, he urged banks to examine loan applicants' businesses thoroughly and to "avoid mechanical, automatic rejections" based solely on the companies' industry, location or other negative factors.

Our Executive Director, Sandy Bloem, had the opportunity to attend the event held in Detroit. "I'm encouraged to see that the Federal Government is recognizing that small businesses are the engine that will create the new jobs in our economy, and that the owners are having challenges in getting access to capital. Now is the time for Congress to continue their support for the SBA programs."

To read the full article:

Fed Chief Urges Banks to Do More for Small Business

Loan Queue

Once again, funds provided by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act have been exhausted and SBA has reactivated the loan queue.

As part of the Recovery Act enacted on Feb. 17, 2009, SBA received $730 million to help small businesses, including $375 million to increase the SBA guarantee on 7(a) loans to 90 percent and to reduce borrower fees on most 7(a) and 504 loans. The funds for these programs were exhausted on Nov. 23, 2009, and an additional $125 million was provided in December. Those funds were exhausted in late February. An additional $60 million was provided to extend the programs through March. SBA was authorized for an additional $40 million in late March, and an additional $80 million was provided in mid-April to support the programs through May 31.

A bill for extending the fee waivers is currently in front of Congress, however, it has not yet been passed by both the House and the Senate.

Please call EDF for any questions regarding the loan queue.

"Financing Growing Businesses in Michigan Since 1981"

May-12