IFA Urges Senate To Act On Small Business Lending Bill
July 13, 2010 // Franchising.com // WASHINGTON — The International Franchise Association has urged the Senate to include a substitute amendment to the Small Business Lending Fund Act (H.R. 5297) that extends important provisions first enacted by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and modernizes the Small Business Administration (SBA) loan programs to make them accessible to more franchise businesses.
"Nearly half of IFA members, who operate across more than 90 industries that create 21 million jobs and generate $2.3 trillion in economic activity, indicated that access to capital is the most pressing issue they face in 2010.," said IFA Vice President of Government Relations David French in a letter to all members of the Senate. "Updating and improving the SBA loan programs so that more franchise business owners can obtain the necessary start-up capital will create jobs and help lead our economy on a road to recovery."
French said the amendment, offered by Sens. Baucus (D-Mont.) and Landrieu (D-La.) will increase the maximum loan amounts for the SBA 7(a) program to $5 million and for the 504 program to $5.5 million. An increase in lending has a direct impact on the number of jobs created. According to IFA's recently updated Small Business Lending Matrix and Analysis, for every incremental $1 billion in lending, franchised businesses can create 40,400 jobs and $4.2 billion in economic output.
"Given the extreme difficulty many current and aspiring entrepreneurs are facing in this economy, this increase will allow more individuals to access the capital they need to maintain existing jobs, while also creating new job opportunities, " French said. "We urge the Senate to support the Baucus-Landrieu amendment before time runs out for this congressional session." </p><h2>About the International Franchise Association</h2><p> The International Franchise Association is the world's oldest and largest organization representing franchising worldwide. Celebrating 50 years of excellence, education and advocacy, IFA protects, enhances and promotes franchising through government relations, public relations and educational programs. Through its awareness campaign highlighting the theme, Franchising: Building Local Businesses, One Opportunity at a Time, IFA promotes the 21 million jobs and $2.3 trillion of economic activity generated by franchising. IFA members include franchise companies in over 90 different business format categories, individual franchisees and companies that support the industry in marketing, law and business development
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