This week I had the opportunity to chat with the founder and CEO of Small Business Majority, John Arensmeyer. John has used his long experience as a small business owner to build Small Business Majority into a nationally recognized organization focused on empowering America's entrepreneurs to build a thriving and inclusive economy. John's organization is a leading advocate for critical public policy issues facing America's small businesses—particularly access to capital, healthcare, taxes, retirement, and numerous workforce issues.
John's organization is focused on three main initiatives: small business education and resources - policy & advocacy - and research & insights. In this episode, we uncover what policy work John is currently focused on access to capital. John explains that he is very encouraged by the restarting of the State Small Business Credit Initiative program, SSBCI. This initiative provides $10 billion to states to empower small businesses to access the capital needed to invest in job-creating opportunities as the country emerges from the pandemic.
"We need to make responsible lending easier," John stresses the need to do a better job of targeting communities that need loans the most, streamline the process for responsible loans, and make sure we have restrictions on non-responsible loans. "Small businesses become victims of many fraudulent and deceptive lending practices - and we need to advocate for them."
To hear about the most challenging issues facing the small business community today and how the Small Business Majority is helping, click here: https://bit.ly/3ARw4yQ