The Silly Season & SBA Funding

June 23, 2015

By Tom Wallace
Editor, SBA Hot Topic Tuesday

When I woke up this morning, I was sure it was 2015, yet, there in front me, looming considerably larger than life, were the visages of two people: a Bush and a Clinton; each announcing their candidacy for the Presidency of the United States.

No, it was not a flashback to 1992, induced by…better left unsaid…at least in my case. We are in the Silly Season and the 2016 campaign is upon us.

As much as we hate to admit it, SBA lending is about more than the intricacies of commercial lending. We are a political program, and as such are dependent upon the goodwill of the political process to survive and prosper. This is not news.

Thus, an occasional “Hot Topic” needs to be a discussion of the realities of life as a political football. Today’s topic: Engagement. The first step to obtaining political goodwill is being engaged. As SBA lenders we accomplish a great deal of good: job creation, wealth creation, and overall economic growth in a critical sector-small business. But if we do not engage, specifically make known the good we do to those who must support it, our national legislators, we may eventually do very little.

SBA Lending has trade associations and active political outreach, but few things are as effective as a simple letter informing the local Members of Congress about a local project: both in jobs and immediate dollars invested.

At the end of the day, our outreach is only as effective as the good we accomplish.

We remain a political program, if that does not suit you, simply do nothing; other than update your resume.