Mitch Landrieu: “I rise today to bring the attention of the Senate to legislation vitally important to the success of the Microloan…”

“I rise today to bring the attention of the Senate to legislation vitally important to the success of the Microloan Program of the Small Business Administration. Congress created the Microloan Program to reach small businesses not being served by traditional lenders or other credit programs within the SBA. This program has successfully helped micro entrepreneurs, many of whom are minorities, women and low-income individuals, who otherwise would have been unable to achieve their goal of owning their own business. Due to weak or, merely, non-existent credit histories and limited borrowing experience, they were often labeled as unreliable or risky borrowers by traditional credit markets and, hence, unable to obtain loans to start businesses. To address this need and to fill the gap in micro enterprise lending, the Microloan Program was created to provide loans to non-profit intermediary lenders who, in turn, provide loans under $35,000 to very small businesses. In addition to financial resources, intermediary lenders provide technical assistance to these business owners, teaching them how to manage and run a successful business. Industry experts and micro borrowers have testified that supplementing financing with technical assistance is critical to the success of the micro enterprise and the likelihood of loan repayment.”