Senator Blanche Lincoln: Economic Recovery Bill Aiding Arkansas’s Small Businesses, Creating New Jobs

May 29, 2009 -- Little Rock – U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln today said the economic recovery bill has provided much-need tools to help Arkansas small business owners sustain their businesses and create new jobs.

“We are living through a once-in-a-generation economic crisis,” Lincoln said. “There’s no quick fix and recovery won’t happen overnight, but I believe we’re headed on the right track. Because of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, several small business owners in Arkansas have been able to sustain their businesses and provide job security to their employees and the families they support. Moreover, many of these entrepreneurs are now able to create new jobs as result of the economic recovery bill’s tools. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is providing critical investments for our state’s small businesses and working families.”

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Lincoln joined several small business owners at Arkansas Capital Corporation today to highlight the economic recovery bill’s positive impact in Arkansas. As a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the Small Business Administration (SBA) has provided enhancements to their loan programs in order to spur small business growth. Specifically, the recovery bill contains two tools small business owners in Arkansas have been able to maximize: the “no SBA fee,” which directs the SBA to collect no fee or reduced fees to the maximum extent possible, and the “increased guarantee,” which increases the guarantee on most SBA loans to 90 percent.

Also today, Lincoln highlighted the recently announced $55 million tax credit provided by the ARRA for economic development projects in lower-income and rural communities in Arkansas. Earlier this week, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that Heartland Renaissance Fund, an affiliate of Arkansas Capital Corporation, had been awarded the allocation under the New Markets Tax Credit program.

“The New Markets Tax Credit program is a critical tool that can provide gap financing for businesses and for entrepreneurial development,” Lincoln said. “While a number of our neighboring states have been able to take advantage of the program, until this week, Arkansas had only one successful application. When Congress was at work writing the economic recovery bill, I fought to ensure that additional funding was included in the New Markets Tax Credit program so that rural states like Arkansas would receive their fair share. The $55 million tax credit for Arkansas’s Heartland Renaissance Fund is just one more example of how the recovery bill is making a difference in our state.”

Of the 32 organizations nationwide to receive an allocation, the Heartland Renaissance Fund received the second largest amount to be dedicated to efforts in a single state. Heartland’s application included projects throughout Arkansas, centered on meeting educational and health care needs, as well as economic development. Additionally, rural communities will be a particular focus.

C. Sam Walls, CEO of Arkansas Capital Corporation Group said, “At a time when capital availability has never been more important to the health of our economy, the elements contained in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which support both SBA lending and enhanced availability of New Markets Tax Credits, have never been more critical.”

“The economic recovery bill is providing tax cuts for Arkansas’s families, tools for small businesses, and investments aimed at creating new jobs, improving our communities, and strengthening our economic security,” Lincoln said. “To date, more than $1 billion has been allocated for our state’s recovery efforts, and as demonstrated today, much of these dollars are already being put to work and having a positive impact on our state.”

Source: Senator Blanche Lincoln