Press Release
January 10, 2023
Contact:
Frank Knapp, 803-600-6874, sbchamber@scsbc.org
Michigan businesses need better access to capital says SMSBF
Joins national coalition seeking reforms
Washington, DC—The Southeast Michigan Sustainable Business Forum (SMSBF) has joined a national business coalition advocating for reforms to address the need to dramatically ramp up the formation of new businesses across the country.
“Reform the SBA: BIGGER Mission, Authority and Resources” was formed in March 2021 in response to a four-decade low in new business startups—a serious problem in that all net-new jobs in the nations are created by businesses less than five years old with four or fewer employees.
The Reform campaign recommendation for better access to capital calls for the US Small Business Administration to start making direct small-dollar start-up and micro loans particularly in underserved and rural communities especially to entrepreneurs of color and women. Traditional lenders do not want to make these loans because they are too risky and also too small to be profitable. The coalition is also recommending that the SBA be given the mission to lead the nation out of the small business startup slump that is now at a 4-decade low. Other recommendations address other common small business needs, federal procurement policy, and regulatory compliance assistance.
“Detroit is a severely underserved community,” said Mike Shesterkin, Executive Director of SMSBF. “We led the nation in de-industrialization and have suffered the nation’s largest municipal bankruptcy. While some progress is being made, we still hear about lending practices that are not having the sort of impact necessary. We need to do much more to put capital to work on Main Street, not Wall Street.”
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About SMSBF
SMSBF envisions a local, diverse, resilient, just, and democratically led triple bottom line business community and economy in Detroit and SE Michigan. Is committed to seeing social, environmental, and economic justice in the way business is done in the region.