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NEWS RELEASE
March 16, 2009
ABA Media Contact: Carol Kaplan
(202) 663-5471
E-mail: ckaplan@aba.com
ABA LAUDS MOVE TO UNLOCK CREDIT FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
By Diane Casey-Landry, ABA chief operating officer
“This morning, ABA leaders, on behalf of the U.S. banking industry, met with President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner at the White House, along with three of ABA’s most experienced small business lenders, Dan Blanton, president and CEO, Georgia Bank & Trust Co. of Augusta, Augusta, Ga.; Dorothy Bridges, president and CEO, City First Bank of D.C., Washington, D.C.; and Tom Schneider, president and CEO, Pathfinder Bank, Oswego, N.Y.; as well as Bob Seiwert, SVP in charge of ABA’s Center for Commercial Lending and Small Business Banking, to announce the next phase of the Financial Stability Plan to promote additional lending to entrepreneurs and small business owners.
“As another part of the Consumer Business Lending Initiative, the Treasury Department will, by the end of this month, begin making direct purchases of securities backed by SBA loans so that community banks feel more confident extending new loans to local businesses.
“Today’s announcement is a great first step in providing new liquidity to open up the secondary market and bankers are optimistic that small business owners will soon see a steady stream of new loans. We are also pleased that Treasury will guarantee 7(a) small business loans up to 90 percent, a development we hope will become permanent.
“ABA’s Center for Commercial Lending and Small Business Banking will work aggressively to ensure that community banks have full access to this new stream of lending immediately.”
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The American Bankers Association brings together banks of all sizes and charters into one association. ABA works to enhance the competitiveness of the nation's banking industry and strengthen America’s economy and communities. Its members – the majority of which are banks with less than $125 million in assets – represent over 95 percent of the industry’s $13.6 trillion in assets and employ over 2 million men and women.
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