Statement from Administrator Mills on Continuing Support for Small Businesses through SBA Recovery Programs

WASHINGTON--(Business Wire)--
SBA issued the following statement today from Administrator Karen Mills
regarding efforts to ensure continued funding for two key provisions in the
American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) of 2009:

"Over the course of the last few months, the Obama Administration has announced
several steps to ensure the continued recovery of small businesses, including
our commitment to working with Congress to increase maximum loan sizes for the
7(a), 504 and microloan programs and plans to make access to capital from
government lending programs easier for small banks in communities across the
country.

"As anticipated, the $375 million ARRA appropriation for raising SBA`s 7(a) loan
guarantee to 90 percent and reducing fees on both its 7(a) and 504 loan programs
will last into December. Given the impact these provisions have had in getting
much-needed capital in the hands of small businesses, the SBA and others in the
Obama Administration are working closely with Congress to obtain funding to
continue both provisions through the authorization period for the 90 percent
guarantee, which ends one year from the date of ARRA being signed.

"At the same time, SBA is finalizing plans for the overall transition for when
these ARRA provisions for the 7(a) and 504 loan programs end. SBA is
communicating with its lending partners on this process and will work to ensure
every remaining dollar possible is made available to help small businesses drive
economic recovery across the country.

"These two key ARRA provisions have helped engineer a significant turnaround in
SBA lending. With the $375 million appropriation for these two provisions, SBA
has supported more than $14 billion in lending to small businesses across the
country and seen its average weekly loan volume increase by more than 75 percent
since February. All told, these steps have saved and benefitted many businesses
and jobs during these tough economic times. However, we know there is still more
work to be done and we will continue our efforts to keep America`s small
businesses on a path to recovery and long term success."

SBA`s ARRA Programs:

SBA received $730 million in ARRA to support economic recovery programs for
small businesses. Included in the appropriation was $375 million to support
raising the government guarantee to 90 percent on SBA`s 7(a) loans and reducing
some lender and borrower fees on its 7(a) and 504 loans, the agency`s two
largest lending programs. Additionally, among other provisions, the
appropriation included $255 million for the creation of the SBA`s America`s
Recovery Capital (ARC) loan program and $30 million to expand its Microloan
program.

SBA`s 7(a) and 504 ARRA Transition Plan:

SBA is finalizing the plan for transitioning its 7(a) and 504 programs back to
their pre-ARRA terms and communicating those plans with its lending partners.
This plan, when implemented, will include a Recovery Loan Queue to go into
effect on the transition date. Sometimes previously approved loans are later
cancelled or never disbursed for a variety of reasons. The queue takes this into
account and beginning on the transition date will allow eligible small
businesses, in consultation with their lender, to choose to be placed in the
queue for possible approval for an ARRA loan if funding becomes available. Small
business owners will have transparent access to the queue via www.sba.gov and
will be able to remove themselves from the queue at any time to be considered
for a non-ARRA SBA loan.

To learn more about SBA`s ARRA programs and other resources for small
businesses, please visit www.sba.gov.

Release Number: 09-78

SBA
Hayley Matz, 202-205-6948
Internet Address: http://www.sba.gov/news

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