By U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud
(D-Maine)
On September 8th, I kicked off a three day tour of Maine small businesses. I started with visits to businesses in Lewiston and Auburn and then went on to Passadumkeag, Old Town, Millinocket, Bridgewater and Presque Isle. As a member of the Small Business Committee in the House, I’ve made it a priority to make sure the voices of our small businesses are heard at the federal level. And I’ve worked hard to support local resources to help them grow and succeed, especially during these challenging economic times.
Our state has some of the most innovative and hard working small business owners and workers in the world. And that was made clear during my visits.
A number of the businesses I visited have worked with Maine’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC), which is a cooperative effort of the private sector, the educational community and federal, state and local governments that offer one-stop assistance to individuals and small businesses. I encourage any small business in Maine that might need help to contact my office for information on how to be connected to Maine’s SBDCs, the Small Business Administration (SBA) and our state’s regional economic development offices. Help with business plan development, financing, marketing and sales, e-commerce and small business strategic planning are among the many services they provide to existing businesses and budding entrepreneurs.
Some of the other businesses I visited have received guidance from the Knowledge Transfer Alliance (KTA), an initiative that I helped support funding for that connects Maine businesses and communities with the tools they need to recover from economic and natural disasters. KTA also helps develop solutions to prevent future hardships and create sustainable frameworks so that businesses may thrive in the future.
I have long been a supporter of programs like the SBDC. But I have been frustrated with the U.S. Senate’s inaction on a number of initiatives that would further help small businesses, especially during this economic downturn.
For example, in June the House passed a bill that would leverage up to $300 billion in loans for small businesses through a $30 billion lending fund for small and medium-sized community banks, which focus on lending to small firms. The House also passed a bill that would increase the capital gains tax cut for those who invest in small businesses and increase to $20,000 (from $5,000 in current law) the deduction for start-up expenditures in connection with investigating the creation of a business. The Senate has yet to pass either of these important bills.
In addition, I worked with my colleagues on the Small Business Committee to pass a number of policies into law, including the elimination of certain SBA loan fees and an increase in federal loan guarantees to make access to capital more affordable and available. Unfortunately, these provisions expired in May because the Senate has not acted to renew them.
I am hopeful that as Congress reconvenes that it can come together to pass smart policies that do right by our nation’s entrepreneurs. They are the job creators and they are the ones that we must focus on if we truly want our economy to recover. The House has passed some important things that will help, and I am hopeful that the Senate does the same. The businesses I visited and the thousands of others in Maine deserve nothing less.
