Obama to focus efforts on small businesses

2/8/2012

With 2012 being an election year, both Democrats and Republicans are reaching out for votes by detailing positive changes they will make to the economy, Small Business Trends reports.

President Barack Obama is at the forefront of these efforts, and is "positioning himself as an advocate for entrepreneurship and innovation."

Obama has proposed his Startup America Legislative Agenda, which would essentially eliminate taxes on capital gains in small business investments. It would also provide a 10 percent income tax credit for new hires and double the amount startups can deduct to $10,000.

This is important, considering big banks are still making it difficult for small business owners to acquire business loans. The news source notes that many institutions still ask for three years' worth of financial data - a tall order given the sorry state of the economy in 2009 and 2010.

The President also recently showed his support for the U.S. Small Business Administration by elevating SBA head Karen Mills to his cabinet.

The Washington Post reports that through the first three months of the SBA's fiscal year (ending December 31), it doled out 126 SBA loans totaling $43.4 million to small business. According to Bridget Bean, overseer of the SBA's Washington region, numbers are back to a "pre-recession pace."