Peters Helped Write & Pass Law to Expand Access to Credit for Michigan Small Businesses

U.S. Representative Gary Peters today announced that Michigan small business lending continued to grow through the program he first designed in 2009. According to a new report released by the U.S. Department of Treasury, Michigan Main Street banks receiving capital from the Small Business Lending Fund (SBLF) have increased their small business lending by more than $277.1 million, an increase of more than 65 percent over baseline levels.

Peters first proposed the idea of partnering Main Street Banks with Michigan small businesses to expand access to credit and promote local economic growth in 2009. His idea was incorporated into the Small Business Jobs Act as the Small Business Lending Fund (SBLF). In addition, Peters authored the Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) that was included in the Small Business Jobs Act, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives and was signed into law in 2010. Since Peters championed the idea in his first term of Congress, the SBLF has helped Michigan small businesses secure thousands of loans through Main Street banks, helping them weather the recession and create jobs in our economic recovery.

“It’s encouraging to see this program support Michigan Main Streets because our small businesses, community banks, and credit unions are the engines of our economic growth,” Peters said. “In order for our middle class to be strong, it’s key for Main Street banks to work with small businesses to provide access to capital and help create jobs. I will continue to fight for Michigan small businesses and develop thoughtful solutions to support job creation and a vibrant middle class in Michigan.”

Before entering public service, Peters worked as a successful businessman. In Washington, he has focused on hearing the concerns and ideas of Michigan small business owners and entrepreneurs. Peters helped write the Small Business Jobs Act to expand credit to Michigan small businesses and help them grow and create jobs.

Background:

In September 2009, U.S. Rep. Peters was the first Member of Congress to call for the creation of a lending fund for smaller lenders, publishing an op-ed in The Hill on the need to spur more small business lending through community banks (Click here to read that op-ed).

In November 2009, U.S. Rep. Peters convened a field hearing of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations in Michigan to hear directly from small businesses and community banks about the need to spur small business lending and strategies for doing so.  (Click here for more information on that hearing).

Following that field hearing, U.S. Rep. Peters authored a letter signed onto by other Members of Congress calling for the Treasury Department to undertake solutions advocated by witnesses at the hearing, including partnering with community banks to spur small business lending.  (Click here to view that letter).

In January 2010 President Obama announced in his State of the Union address that he was calling on Congress to pass legislation redirecting funding away from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and using it to help spur small business lending (Click here for Peters’ statement).

In September 2010, just one year from the time U.S. Rep. Peters called for the creation of a small business lending fund, the Small Business Jobs Act was signed into law.  The bill was authored in the Financial Services Committee, of which Peters is a member.

President Obama wrote Peters, thanking him for his “leadership” on the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, hailing it as “the most significant step on behalf of our small businesses in more than a decade.” This new Treasury report further underscores how successful this program has been.

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