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NAFCU lauds National Small Business Week
WASHINGTON, DC (May 4, 2015) — National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) President and CEO Dan Berger today lauded National Small Business Week and the relationship between credit unions and small business. National Small Business Week kicked off today and is sponsored by the Small Business Administration (SBA).
“Credit unions and small business have a naturally symbiotic relationship,” said Berger. Small business is a catalyst that helps fuel our economy and credit unions are a great source of capital that help Main Street businesses continue to thrive and contribute to America’s economy and job growth.”
Credit unions proved to be a particularly valuable resource for small businesses during the financial crisis. A 2011 study commissioned by SBA’s Office of Advocacy found that during the 2007-2010 financial crisis, while banks’ small business lending decreased, credit union business lending increased as a percentage of assets.
Today, credit unions continue to help small business. In 2014, credit union small business loans rose 12.4 percent to $51.7 billion. By comparison, banks’ small business loans increased 1.9 percent to $664 billion.
Unfortunately, credit unions have been hampered from doing more business lending by an arbitrary business lending cap that limits their business loans to 12.25 percent of assets.
Berger renewed NAFCU’s call for action on legislation that would help credit unions do more to meet the credit needs of small businesses providing access to much-needed capital, a key element of the association’s five-point plan for regulatory relief. He urged passage of the recently introduced bills:
Reps. Ed Royce, R-Calif., and Greg Meeks, D-N.Y., both on the House Financial Services Committee, reintroduced H.R. 1188, the “Credit Union Small Business Jobs Creation Act of 2015,” legislation to raise the credit union member business loan cap from 12.25 percent to 27.5 percent of assets for eligible institutions.
Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, reintroduced H.R. 1133, which would exclude business loans made to veterans from the statutory credit union member business lending (MBL) cap.
Credit unions’ commitment to small business was cemented this year when Maria Contreras-Sweet, administrator for the SBA, and Berger signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to invest in America’s future entrepreneurs and economy. This partnership affords credit unions much-needed flexibility and more access to SBA to help serve their small-business members.
Member business lending is one of the key tenets of NAFCU’s five-point plan for regulatory relief and NAFCU’s new “Top Ten” list of regulatory requirements that should be eliminated or amended to ensure regulatory relief.
The National Association of Federal Credit Unions is the only national organization that focuses exclusively on federal issues affecting credit unions, representing its members before the federal government and the public.