News Release
« BackSmall Manufacturers Applaud House Passage of Bill to Restore Access to Credit
Thursday, June 17, 2010
The National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) and the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) applaud the House of Representatives for passing H.R. 5297, the Small Business Lending Fund Act of 2010. The bill will now head to the Senate for consideration, where manufacturers hope for quick action by July 4.
The Small Business Lending Fund Act aims to help support small businesses that are still struggling to access timely and sufficient credit from banks. The bill provides for government and private-supported investments in smaller banks and financial institutions, which would in turn increase their extension of credit to small businesses that are seeking loans.
PMA President Bill Gaskin issued the following statement on behalf of the "One Voice" partnership formed jointly by NTMA and PMA to advocate for the interests of small and medium manufacturers throughout the U.S.:
"We applaud the House of Representatives, and Congressman Gary Peters in particular, for seeking a solution to a problem that has proven very difficult to overcome: the ability of small businesses, especially in the manufacturing sector, to access credit from banks. Despite signs of recovery in the manufacturing sector and other areas of the economy, small businesses in our sector continue to find it challenging to obtain the credit they need to maintain and expand their operations.
Without government action to address credit issues in the manufacturing sector, many of our member companies will continue to be stymied in accessing needed funds to hire new employees and purchase raw materials required to satisfy growth in customer orders. If small manufacturers cannot meet the demands of their customers as the economy begins to gather steam, our overseas competitors will step in to fulfill orders that we cannot handle and American manufacturers will be denied the opportunity to partake in a broad-based economic recovery."
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