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THE MIDDLE TENNESSEE FEDERAL EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATION SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER
Contents: Monthly Meeting Notice From the President Agency Highlight Communications Information
MONTHLY MEETING NOTICE
Date: September 18, 2001 Time: Noon Place: Estes Kefauver Federal Building, Cafeteria A Lunch: Go Through the Cafeteria Line Prior to the Meeting Speaker: Alesia Henson the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce Hispanic Woman of the Year Topic: Hispanic Heritage Agency Highlight: Small Business Administration Reservations: Please RSVP to Rebecca Kenner at e-mail: Rebecca_L._Kenner@HUD.GOV
FROM THE PRESIDENT ED PHILLIPS
August is National Hispanic Month and Federal Agencies are involved in the effort to promote and enhance the employment of Hispanics. It is important that we eliminate employment barriers. If your Agency has made significant strides in this area, would you please share with me. Perhaps we can describe some of the "best practices" in a future newsletter and post on our web site.
It is more than appropriate that I express appreciation to our Vice President, Carol Warren, and the Chair of our Communications Committee, Melissa Cothron. I cannot began to tell you how much they have contributed to MTFEA this year. It would have been impossible for me to serve as President without their enthusiastic support and assumption of many leadership functions. I will always be indebted to them for who they are and what they have done on behalf of our Association and me personally. When you see them, please express your appreciation also.
I also want to express appreciation to our Agencies making presentations at our regular meetings. The Directors' presentations re. Agency organization and functions have all been very good. I remain convinced that it's a good thing to take time to learn more about our member Agencies and I look forward to future presentations.
Please remember our September 18 (12:00 noon) meeting at the Federal Building. Our speaker represents the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and our emphasis is on Hispanic Heritage. This is an excellent opportunity to have your key Hispanic staff attend with you. We will also have another Agency presentation.
AGENCY HIGHLIGHT:
U.S. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION –TENNESSEE DISTRICT OFFICE
The U.S. Small Business Administration--the SBA--was established in 1953 to provide financial, technical, and management assistance to help Americans start, run and grow their businesses. With a portfolio of business loans, loan guarantees and disaster loans worth more than $45 billion, in a addition to a venture capital portfolio of $13 billion, the SBA is the largest single financial backer of small businesses.
Last year, the SBA offered management and technical assistance to more than one million small business owners. The SBA also plays a major role in the government’s disaster relief efforts by making low interest recovery loans to both homeowners and businesses.
America’s 25 million small businesses employ more than 50 percent of the private workforce, generate more than half of the nation’s gross domestic product, and are the principal source of new jobs in the U.S. economy. Small businesses also provide 67 percent of workers with their first jobs and initial on the job training in basic skills.
Tennessee’s SBA District Director is Phil Mahoney, who oversees an office in Nashville with twenty-two employees, as well as a recently-opened satellite office in Memphis. Last year, more than $120 million in loans to small businesses were guaranteed by the local SBA office.
SBA’s website, www.sba.gov, is one of the most popular Internet domains related to business in the history of the Internet itself, averaging more than 9 million “hits” per week. The local SBA website, www.sba.gov/tn has a wealth of Tennessee small business information and can be accessed from SBA’s main site as well. Local resources are listed there, such as the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), and the Tennessee Small Business Development Center (TSBDC), and these service providers are available to counsel small business start-ups and established entrepreneurs alike. A full workshop and seminar schedule for interested potential entrepreneurs and veteran small business persons is maintained on the local website as well.
SBA’s main role is to guarantee bank loans to small businesses under a program known as 7(a). This loan program was recently revised to allow the maximum SBA guarantee on a loan to be $1 million, up from $750,000. A maximum loan size of $2 million has been established for 7(a) loans. SBA’s popular Low Doc—or low documentation—loan still consists of a one page loan application for amounts up to $150,000; these loans are often “turned-around” by SBA lenders in five working days or less.
The maximum SBA guarantee on loans of $150,000 and less is now 85%; on loans greater than $150,000, the maximum guarantee is 75%.
SBA has also established a Micro-Loan program nationwide—with several micro-loan intermediaries (non-bank lenders) in Tennessee. The newest, Woodbine Community Organization Small Business Program in Nashville, can now lend up to $35,000, up from a $25,000 limit. A complete list of SBA Resource partners, SBA Preferred Lenders and Certified Lenders can be found at the local website, www.sba.gov/tn or in the Tennessee SBA Small Business Resource Guide, published annually, and available by calling the SBA District Office, 615-736-5881.
COMMUNICATIONS INFORMATION
Remember to visit our website at www.oocities.org/mtfea. We have our new brochure on the website for everyone to view and send in your comments.
Any agency that has a link for our website or information that they would like to have posted on our website should contact the webmaster Melissa Cothron at e-mail: Melissa.Cothron@irs.gov or call 615-250-5323. Any agency that would like to publish information in our newsletter can send the information to Melissa at the e-mail address above or can fax it to Melissa at 615-250-5736.
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Webmaster and Point of Contact for this web site: Melissa Cothron Phone: (615) 250-5323 E-mail: Melissa Cothron |