SBA Offers Loans And Assistance to America's Finest
Wednesday, 12 November, 2008
Effort alerts veterans about entrepreneurship
Veterans Day, and National Veterans Awareness Week November 9-15, is the perfect time to share important information with veterans who are considering starting or expanding a small business, or Reservists and National Guard members who have been suddenly called up to serve. No group of Americans is more deserving of our help and respect.
The U.S. Small Business Administration's Patriot Express Loan Initiative is a loan product designed to help America's military heroes achieve their small business goals. In less than a year and a half, this unique initiative has produced nearly 2,400 loans for a total of almost $220 million.
Patriot Express expands on SBA's already considerable assistance to vets. Each year SBA guarantees approximately 8,000 veterans' business loans totaling more than $1 billion annually. The men and women of SBA are proud of the work they do on behalf of these selfless Americans.
The loans are available to veterans, active duty personnel who are in the military's Transition Assistance Program, and all Reservists and National Guard members are eligible.
In addition, their spouses, and the spouses of active duty members, and the widowed spouse of a service member who died while in the service or of a service-connected disability, are also eligible. Nearly 15 percent of Patriot Express loans have gone to military spouses.
The loans carry a 75-85 percent guaranty - an 85 percent SBA guaranty for loan amounts up to $150,000, and then a 75 percent guaranty from $150,000 to $500,000. That provides lenders with the support they need to reach further in extending capital to vets.
A special Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan is available for self-employed Reservists whose small businesses may have been damaged through extended absences of the owner or essential employee as a result of activation of the owner or essential employee to military active duty.
Source : http://www.mainstreetbusinessjournal.com/
