SBA Hot Topic Tuesday — Three Letters to Help Avoid the Next SBA Lending Holiday

Three Letters to Help Avoid the Next SBA Lending Holiday

July 28, 2015

By Bob Coleman
Editor, Hot Topic Tuesday

Last week, I heard from many of you asking how you could help to get Congress to increase the SBA 7(a) loan authority level.

Emails and telephone calls were placed. The message got through.

The Senate approved the 7(a) authority increase by an unanimous voice vote. That speaks of the broad bipartisan support SBA’s lending programs have in Washington DC. There will always be the outliers, but in 2015 the support of SBA by Congress and the small business community is strong.

This is due to proper program management by SBA staff, and prudent, for the most part, lending practices by Main Street bankers.

Now, to answer the questions I got last week of what to do.

Lay the groundwork today, to make the next SBA lending “crisis” less likely.

Start a three-letter campaign. At each loan closing get three letters from your new borrower and send one each to their representative and their two senators.

The letters should not be canned. The more personal, the more effective:

• Thanking the politician for supporting a program that helps them fulfill the American dream of small business ownership.
• A short paragraph of the what they do on Main Street.
• The number of employees on payroll, and the planned new hiring.

That’s it. Keep it short, no more than one page. Jobs are the best talking point you need. By conducting a year-round three-letter campaign, you reinforce the economic benefit of SBA’s lending program on Main Street, one small business owner at a time.