Ginger Lew,
Senior Advisor, White House National Economic Council
Rafael Pastor,
Chairman and CEO, Vistage International
Chris Reilly,
President, CIT Small Business Lending Corporation
Brian Reynolds,
Founder and Managing Partner, Chatham Capital
Moderator:
Rick Newman, Chief Business Correspondent, U.S. News & World Report
Ginger Lew of the White House National Economic Council says the administration aims to modify the Small Business Administration loan program so it covers refinancing commercial real estate, an effort to help entrepreneurs who own their buildings.
Small businesses are the lifeblood of the U.S. economy: They've generated 64 percent of net new jobs over the past 15 years, accounting for more than half of nonfarm private GDP. The United States needs to focus on the small-business sector in order to achieve a broad-based and sustainable recovery. While credit markets have thawed, providing a boon for the corporate bond market, and venture capitalists are slowly reentering the market, capital remains scarce for most small enterprises; even home equity loans and credit cards are increasingly harder to tap. As long as capital access remains restricted, these firms are unable to hire — and yet, with fewer employees on board, they still have to deal with increased federal regulation and stiffer competition from overseas. Our panel explored how small businesses are navigating the recession by doing more with less. What's still clogging the credit pipeline? What are the pros and cons of pending small-business legislation? And what practical strategies can help smaller companies thrive in tough times?
Global Conference 2013
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair, philanthropist Bill Gates and Strive Masiyiwa of Econet Wireless discuss advancing prosperity in Africa.
