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Witnesses praise SBA 7(a), 504, Community Advantage and microloan programs as on-ramps to bank lending, urge faster SBA response
Summary
Community banks, credit unions, a CDFI and small-business owners told the House Small Business Committee that SBA lending programs — from 7(a) and 504 to Community Advantage and microloans — remain vital on-ramps to bank financing but are hampered by slow SBA procedures and uneven regional engagement.
WASHINGTON — Witnesses at a House Small Business Committee hearing described how Small Business Administration programs — including 7(a), 504, Community Advantage and microloans — have helped entrepreneurs start, scale and become bankable, while urging the agency to speed responses and strengthen regional outreach.
“The Community Advantage program is just as important to us,” Heidi DeArmond, president of MoFi, a rural certified community development financial institution, told the committee. DeArmond described a Missoula, Montana, clothing shop she helped finance: its owner was denied by a bank, qualified for a MoFi SBA microloan, successfully grew, and later refinanced with a bank. “She was able to buy the building and today she’s still there,” DeArmond said.
Witnesses offere…
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