HOUSE APPROVES MORE SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESSES

Des Moines, Iowa – In another effort to creategood-paying jobs, State Representative Mark Smith, D-Marshalltown approved aseries of initiatives to help small businesses today, including a new Save OurSmall Business Fund designed to help business owners having trouble accessingresources to stay open or expand.

“In thesetough times, one of our top priorities this year was to help small businessesstay open and expand to create good-paying jobs,” said Smith.  “The initiatives approved today will help business owners in communitieslarge and small across Iowa.”

The small businessinitiatives were approved on Senate File 2389.  The Save Our Small BusinessFund will provide loans up to $50,000 to small businesses with under 35employees.  Other pieces of the initiative include expanding eligible for thestate’s loan buy-down program (Linked Investment for Tomorrow Fund), astatewide website of vacant buildings targeted for redevelopment, onecomprehensive website with links to all assistance available to smallbusinesses, and a special committee to find ways to reduce regulatory barriersfacing small businesses.

“While thereis no one-size-fits-all approach, I’m confident the bills we approvedthis year will help our small businesses thrive and succeed.  With moretechnical and financial assistance available, I hope small businesses will findit easier to take advantage of state resources,” concluded Smith.

In addition to theincentives approved today, lawmakers have already provided an additional$100,000 for Small Business Development Centers, expanded the statewide MyEntre.Netprogram to help accelerate the growth of firms most likely to create jobs in Iowa, and kept Iowa’s55 Workforce Development Centersopen to help the unemployed find work or get job training assistance.