Susan Wilson Solovic: Chances of Getting SBA 7(a) Loan for Your Small Business: Slim to None!

Huffington Post

So Why Does the Obama Administration Want to Give SBA TARP Funds?

…I'm fed up with listening to the sound bites … espousing feigned concern and commitment to helping small businesses survive …. I'm also tired with the headlines that mask the real problem. "TARP Funds will Boost Small Business Growth'. Beyond the headline is a plan to give TARP money to the SBA and the 7(a) program, a system that is broken and broken badly. …

The SBTV.com editorial team and I have done extensive reporting on the SBA's failures during this downturn. …SBA lending specialists as well as sources inside the SBA … reveal a common theme: A small business owner's chances of getting an SBA 7(a) loan are slim to none. The restrictions are absurd, and the application process beyond reason. The only business owners who qualify for loans are the businesses that don't need them. According to the SBA's own statistics, loans are down 60 percent so far this year. …

When you approach the small business problem with small business innovation, it becomes clear that giving more money to an institution that doesn't know how to get the money to the people it's intended to help is a huge mistake. … It's time the media start digging for the real stories, and stop offering coverage that masks the real issue.

Here's a recommendation for the Obama Administration and Congress. If you really want to help small businesses quickly and effectively, utilize the powers of the SBA's Disaster Loan program which allows the agency to provide direct loans to small businesses in designated disaster area. Congress has the power to declare certain areas of the country disaster areas for the purpose of this program. While this isn't a panacea for the long-term, it will help place funds in the hands of hundreds of thousands of small businesses so they can truly be the economic engine that helps drive our country's economic recovery.

Our government acted quickly to provide direct assistant to businesses that failed because of poor management, judgment and greed. Why not support the business leaders who are the real victims of this recession -- small business owners who create jobs and find innovative solutions that give our country a competitive edge?

Follow Susan Wilson Solovic on Twitter: www.twitter.com/susanSBTVcom