Increasingly policymakers are looking to the small business sector as a potential engine of economic growth. Policies to promote small businesses include tax relief, direct subsidies, and indirect subsidies through government lending programs. Encouraging lending to small business is the primary policy objective of the Small Business Administration (SBA) loan-guarantee program. Using a panel data set of SBA-guaranteed loans we assess whether SBA-guaranteed lending has an observable impact on local and regional economic performance.

Spurred by President Obama, the Small Business Association has stepped up its loan program to companies around the nation. But to receive an SBA-guaranteed loan, firms must navigate a complex course of processes, qualifications, documentation, and approvals. You need this new edition of Charles Green's invaluable book to chart the best way to apply for and get an SBA loan. Green wastes no time in showing: Why an SBA loan guarantee is a good option in tough economic times How to choose the right bank at a time when many banks have failed and credit is tight What the new rules and regulations say about the paperwork and documentation loan applicants must supply In today's turbulent economic climate, solid financial backing is the key to small business survival. And this fully updated guide to SBA loans will help you land it.

The Small Business Administration's (SBA) 7(a) program is intended to provide loan guarantees to small business borrowers who cannot obtain conventional credit at reasonable terms and do not have the personal resources to provide financing themselves. In FY 2008, SBA guaranteed over 69,000 loans valued at about $13 billion. This report: (1) describes SBA's criteria and lenders' practices for determining that borrowers cannot obtain credit elsewhere; and (2) examines SBA's efforts to ensure that lenders are complying with the credit elsewhere provision. To meet these objectives, the auditor visited 18 lenders and reviewed 238 of their loan files, and reviewed 97 lender review reports. Includes recommendations. Charts and tables.

"Increasingly, policymakers look to the small business sector as a potential engine of economic growth. Policies to promote small businesses include tax relief, direct subsidies, and indirect subsidies through government lending programs. Encouraging lending to small business is the primary policy objective of the Small Business Administration's (SBA) loan-guarantee program. Using a panel data set of SBA guaranteed loans, we assess whether SBA guaranteed lending has an observable impact on local economic performance. We find a positive and significant (although economically small) relationship between the relative levels of SBA guaranteed lending in a local market and the future per capita income growth in that market"--Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta web site.