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Creating Jobs Through New Small Business Initiatives (February 5 2010)
Poziom:
Temat: Biznes
President Obama:
Good afternoon. And I appreciate the warm
welcome from Rick Cummings and Dennis Bean
and all the folks at Oasis. Thank you so much.
These guys are experts in heating and cooling
systems -- though, having spent some time
in Washington, I actually am already very
familiar with hot air I have to say.
(laughter)
That, by the way, does not apply to the head
of the Small Business Administration, Karen
Mills, who's here today. And Karen has focused
like a laser on helping small businesses not
only survive but to thrive amidst the economic
storm of the past two years. We're also joined
here by Ruth Gresser, who's the owner and
chef at Pizzeria Paradiso. And I'm a little
upset with Ruth because she did not bring
samples, but Reggie Love has testified that
the pizza is outstanding -- she's got restaurants
in Washington. And also, Will Polak, who's
the owner and operator of the Potomac Riverboat
Company in Alexandria, Virginia. There's Will.
These folks know, as every living soul in
America does, that these have been a rough
couple of years for our economy and for out
country -- the deepest downturn since the
Great Depression ripped through our economy,
costing more than 8 million jobs and rocking
businesses, large and small. And that's why
we took some very tough steps, in some cases
some unpopular steps, when I took office to
break the back of this recession. And today
we received additional news suggesting that
we are climbing out of the huge hole that
we found ourselves in. Last January, the month
I took office, almost 800,000 Americans lost
their jobs. Today we learned the job losses
for this January were 20,000. The unemployment
rate dropped below 10 percent for the first
time since the summer. Manufacturing employment
grew last month for the first time in three
years, led by increased activity in the production
of cars and trucks and auto parts. These numbers,
while positive, are a cause for hope but not
celebration, because far too many of our neighbors
and friends and family are still out of work.
We can't be satisfied when another 20,000
have joined their ranks and millions more
Americans are under-employed, picking up what
work they can. It is encouraging the job loss
in January was a small fraction of what it
was a year ago and that the unemployment rate
last month went down and not up. Understanding
that these numbers will continue to fluctuate
for months to come, these are welcome, if
modest, signs of progress along the road to
recovery. Now, even as we take additional
steps to hasten that recovery, we know that
there are limits to what government can do
to create jobs. The true engine of job creation
will always be businesses. What government
can do is fuel that engine by giving entrepreneurs
and companies the support to open their doors
and to expand and to hire more workers. That's
exactly what this administration intends to
do and what we've been doing working with
the SBA and Karen Mills. We're starting with
small businesses because that's where most
of the new jobs do. Over the past 15 years,
small businesses have created roughly 65 percent
of new jobs in America. These are companies
formed around kitchen tables and family meetings;
formed when an entrepreneur takes a chance
on a dream; formed when a worker decides it's
time she became her own boss. And it's worth
remembering every once in a while, a small
business becomes a big business, and then
changes the world. And that's why, last week,
I proposed a new small business tax credit
-- $5,000 for every new employee you hire
this year. And a couple of these folks here,
small business owners who I talked to, said
they'd be interested in using that tax credit.
This week I proposed a new small business
lending fund that would take $30 billion of
the fund originally used to rescue big banks
on Wall Street, and use it to provide lending
capital to community banks on Main Street.
And I know that we've got Capital One Bank
here that's been a lender to Oasis and --
Audience Member:
Capital Bank --
President Obama:
Capital Bank -- excuse me -- and we appreciate
the good work that you've done supporting
this company. Under Karen Mills, SBA has increased
loan guarantees and reduced fees, steps that
have increased SBA lending by 86 percent.
And we've called for legislation to increase
SBA loan limits to allow us to guarantee loans
of up to $5 million compared with $2 million
now. And today I'm taking yet another step
to assist small business owners get the capital
that they need to grow and to hire. I'm proposing
legislation that allows firms to refinance
their commercial real estate loans, their
mortgages under the SBA. Right now even companies
with great credit histories are facing challenges
refinancing at what are historically low rates.
Property values have fallen and lending has
dropped. As a result, many businesses that
would otherwise survive this downturn are
at risk of defaulting, which in turn will
lead to even lower property values and less
lending, not to mention lost jobs. In addition,
I'm also proposing that we increase the limits
for SBA loans used for lines of credit and
working capital, something that I know could
benefit Ruth's business and countless others.
The truth is the economy can be growing like
gangbusters for years on end and it's still
not easy to run a small business. It's not
easy to stay ahead of your competitors; it's
not easy to keep your costs down, to do right
by your employees, to constantly innovate
and adapt in a changing world. Talking to
Ruth, she reminds me it's not easy keeping
up with health care costs, and so Ruth is
very anxious to see health reform passed so
that small businesses can pick up the cost
for their employees. And in this deep and
lasting recession, a hard job has been that
much harder because for much of last year
people weren't buying and customers weren't
calling and banks were not lending. But even
in the face of these obstacles, even in these
tough times, all across the country there
are people like Rick and Dennis and Ruth and
Will who haven't given up. You guys wake up
every day and seek a way to safely navigate
these troubled waters to fulfill your obligations
to your families and to your employees and
your customers. And in that determination,
that resolve, you embody what's best in America
and you keep making America stronger. Next
week, Congress will start debating many of
the jobs proposals I've outlined today and
in recent days, many of the proposals to benefit
small business, many of the proposals to spur
hiring. If there are additional ideas from
either party, I'm happy to consider them,
as well. But what I hope -- what I strongly
urge -- is that we work quickly and we work
together to get this done. America's small
businesses are counting on us. So thank you
very much, everybody. And thank you, guys.
