Small Businesses

Filling the Gap for Small Business

At the heart of any community are the small businesses and entrepreneurs that sustain the local economy. The coronavirus pandemic closed the doors of many small businesses, but many more were able to survive because credit unions understood true small businesses needed immediate support more than massive corporations.

Small businesses will help this country recover, just as they did following the Great Recession. About half of all private-sector employees and two-thirds of net new job creation between 2000 and 2017 are a result of small businesses and they support received from their communities.

Credit unions have extended business loans to their members for over a century. Since the very beginning, they provided capital to businesses without any restrictions –until banking lobbyists pressured Congress into saddling credit unions with an artificial cap on business lending of 12.25% of assets in 1998, severely limiting their ability to help provide capital to small businesses that desperately need assistance.

Nearly 1,900 credit unions provide small business loans to their members, but regulatory burdens are holding credit unions back from doing more to help local economies.