NMMA’s Dammrich speaks at Senate Small Business Committee Roundtable
WASHINGTON — National Marine Manufacturers Association President Thom Dammrich participated earlier this week in a roundtable forum hosted by the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, according to the NMMA. The title of the forum was “State of Small Business Lending: Identifying Solutions and Exploring Obstacles.”
NMMA was invited to appear before the committee on behalf of the recreational marine industry as a result of the ongoing negative impacts the credit crisis is having on small companies throughout the U.S. The Senate Small Business Committee, chaired by Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Ranking Member Olympia Snowe (R-Me.), called the roundtable to explore why small business lending has not improved and to identify solutions to the ongoing credit crisis.
Congress is soon expected to take up a “Jobs 3” bill focused on small business lending and other initiatives to improve the small business environment. NMMA has been encouraging Congress to act quickly on new legislation that focuses specifically on restoring credit availability for small companies, particularly regarding floorplan financing.
Dammrich’s formal statement focused on the need to enhance and extend the Small Business Administration’s Dealer Floorplan Pilot Program. He also discussed the need to responsibly modify the procedures bank examiners are imposing on banks, including what he considers overly restrictive lending practices by bank regulators.
Dammrich expressed support for the Obama Administration’s proposed Small Business Lending Fund (SBLF), which make low-cost capital available to community banks to lend to small businesses, but encouraged this proposed new Fund specifically incentivize floorplan financing.
Dammrich’s written remarks are available here.
The roundtable was attended by representatives from the Federal Reserve Board, Small Business Administration, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, FDIC, regional and community banks and a small business.
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