News Release
« BackPMA Member Joins Leading Michigan Manufacturers to Discuss Access to Credit Issues with Fed Chairman
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
PMA member Wes Smith, President and CEO of E&E Manufacturing, joined a select group of Michigan manufacturing CEOs, bankers and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to discuss credit challenges facing manufacturers in a meeting held in Detroit on June 4. The meeting also included Ron Bloom, Senior Counselor to the President for Manufacturing Policy; Michael Barr, Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions at the U.S. Department of Treasury; and more than 15 senior officials from the Federal Reserve.
Smith explained the challenges facing small and medium-sized manufacturers who need to access capital in order to help finance their day-to-day operations, invest in expansion of domestic operations and avoid a disruption in the critical supply chain. More information on the meeting, including a quote from Smith, can be found in this BusinessWeek/Bloomberg story: http://tiny.cc/z2e86.
PMA and NTMA, through One Voice, are supporting the Small Business Lending Fund Act (H.R. 5297), which authorizes the Department of Treasury to use $30 billion in existing funds to provide additional capital to community banks to lend to small businesses. The program, completely separate from TARP, also includes a section inserted by Rep. Gary Peters (D-MI) to increase private funding to assist borrowers and lenders to meet collateral and loan loss reserve requirements. The House of Representatives is expected to vote today on this legislation. One Voice urges you to contact your Representative to urge support for this important bill. Visit http://http://tiny.cc/yj06q for additional information.
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