SBA New Lending Initiatives Focus of Jan 31 Economic Perspectives

With small business owners and entrepreneurs in traditionally underserved communities continuing to face challenges accessing capital, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced two new initiatives aimed at increasing SBA-backed loans to small businesses in these markets.

Yolanda Olivarez

Yolanda Olivarez, Regional Administrator for SBA Region VI, which is headquartered in Dallas and includes Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma, will discuss these initiatives on the January 31 edition of Economic Perspectives. Listen live at 5:30 p.m. on KAZI 88.7 FM or at kazifm.org.

SBA and U.S. Department of Commerce studies have shown the importance of lower-dollar loans to small business formation and growth in underserved communities. With that in mind, the two new loan initiatives – Small Loan Advantage and Community Advantage – are aimed at increasing the number of lower-dollar SBA 7(a) loans going to small businesses and entrepreneurs in underserved communities. The agency’s most popular loan product, 7(a) government-guaranteed loans can be used for variety of general business purposes, including working capital and purchases of equipment and real estate

Built on what the agency refers to as its “Advantage” platform, both Small Loan Advantage and Community Advantage will offer a streamlined application process for SBA-guaranteed 7(a) loans up to $250,000. These loans will come with the regular 7(a) government guarantee, 85 percent for loans up to $150,000 and 75 percent for those greater than $150,000.

Small Loan Advantage will be available to the 630 financial institutions across the country in the agency’s Preferred Lender Program (PLP). Under PLP, which includes most of the agency’s highest volume lenders, SBA delegates the final credit decisions to lenders.

SBA Administrator Karen Mills also today named Catherine L. Hughes, chairperson and founder of Radio One, Inc., and a former SBA borrower, to chair the agency’s new Advisory Council on Underserved Communities.

The Council will provide input, advice and recommendations on how SBA through its programs can help strengthen competiveness and sustainability for small businesses in underserved communities.

Master the Art of Business on January 24 Edition of Economic Perspectives

Are MBA programs a waste of time and money? This is the claim made by Josh Kaufman, author of The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business.  Kaufman is the guest on the January 24 edition of Economic Perspectives, 5:30 p.m. on KAZI 88.7 FM.  Listen live online at kazifm.org. 

Josh Kaufman has made a business out of distilling the core principles of business and delivering them quickly and concisely to people at all stages of their careers. His blog has introduced hundreds of thousands of readers to the best business books and most powerful business concepts of all time. In The Personal MBA, he shares the essentials of sales, marketing, negotiation, strategy, and much more.

True leaders aren’t made by business schools-they make themselves, seeking out the knowledge, skills, and experiences they need to succeed. Read this book and in one week you will learn the principles it takes most people a lifetime to master.

Kaufman is an independent business educator who helps people develop their business skills, start new ventures, and get ahead in their fields. Before creating PersonalMBA.com, he worked for Procter & Gamble, where he launched new products and developed P&G’s global online analytics strategy.

LISTEN TO – Young Money Today: Getting Wheels with Elzie Felton

For most young adults the first biggest purchase is not a new home, but a new or used car. We have been driving around in our parents old cars, or even worse grandparents old cars and now it is time to get moving on our own wheels.

When I was in college I had a 1996 green Mitshubushi Eclipse with almost 300k miles on it!! Thats Three-Hundred Thousand MILES!

So, I know that getting rid of your old car and finally purchasing a new one is more than just exciting. It is huge step up in the world, and the tells people that you are invested in your future.

I also know that getting the best deal as a young adult without much credit history is a very daunting task.

Young Money Today featured an interview with Elzie Felton of My Car Consulting. He gave us tips on how to purchase a new or used vehicle and how he can help.  To listen to the interview click here: YMT Jan 24,2011-Elzie Felton

Value Investing Focus of January 17 Economic Perspectives

Janet Lowe, author of The Triumph of Value Investing: Smart Money Tactics for the Postrecession Era, is the guest on the January 17 edition of Economic Perspectives on KAZI 88.7 FM, 5:30 p.m. – 6 p.m.  In addition, EP will also have the latest segment of Young Money Today which will feature tips for financial success in 2011 from Nikki Green’s interview of Gail Cunningham with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.  Listen live online at kazifm.org.  To listen to an exclusive preview of the interview with Janet Lowe click here: Janet Lowe Defines Value Investing.

Nikki Green

After the financial chaos and panic of the last few years, investors are looking to rebuild confidence and learn from the mistakes that led to the crash. In The Triumph of Value Investing, Janet Lowe urges readers to return to the basic principles of value investing as taught by the legendary Benjamin Graham, which remain just as relevant today. These lessons can help readers maneuver sanely through any type of economic turmoil and even benefit from further disruptions.

Lowe also includes interviews with leading value investors such as Warren Buffett, William O’Neil, and Charles Brandes, and analyzes dozens of U.S. and foreign stocks. She walks investors through the steps necessary to apply the principles that define value investing, with special emphasis on investing in biotech, high-technology, and foreign companies.

Whether readers are familiar with value investing or are just discovering it, they will find plenty of fresh information in The Triumph of Value Investing, which covers the latest concepts and players in the market.

As Lowe writes, “It is always healthy to check up on the validity of your own thinking. Considering the market breakdowns of the past decade and the confusion and discouragement many individual investors have suffered, this is an excellent time to restudy Benjamin Graham’s concepts of value investing and learn how to apply them to a whole range of new challenges.”

Grants for SBA Small Business Teaming Pilot Program

The U.S. Small Business Administration is accepting grant funding  proposals from eligible and well-established national organizations interested  in providing training, guidance, counseling, mentoring and procurement  assistance to small businesses in teaming arrangements, which may be in the form  of a joint venture or prime and subcontractor relationship, under its new Small Business Teaming Pilot program.

The Small Business Teaming Pilot program was established by Congress under the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010.  Under this new program, the SBA expects to make 10-to-20 grant awards in the range of $250,000-$500,000 totaling up to $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2011.

“The Small Business Jobs Act provides critical resources to help small businesses continue to drive economic recovery and create jobs,” said SBA Administrator Karen Mills.  “The teaming pilot program will help put contract dollars into the hands of small businesses, create job opportunities through the teaming arrangements, help drive innovation and promote economic growth for our nation’s economy.”

Karen Mills

To be eligible for these grant awards, an applicant must:

• be a private, non-profit or for-profit entity;

• have been in existence continually for the past three years;

• have experience dealing with issues relating to small business on a national  level; and

• demonstrate that it has the capacity to provide assistance to small businesses.

Applicant organizations selected for these awards must leverage the funding  received by the SBA by working in conjunction with SBA’s district offices and other federal, state, local and tribal government small business development programs, including: Procurement Technical Assistance Centers, SBA resource partners such as SCORE, Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Business  Centers, Veterans Business Outreach Centers, 7(j) technical assistance providers, universities, other institutions of higher education and private organizations such as chambers of commerce and trade and industry groups and associations.

All proposals must be submitted electronically via the government-wide financial assistance portal www.grants.gov no later than 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 25, 2011.  For more information about the Small Business Teaming Pilot Program, visit: www.sba.gov/teaming.



Financing Small Business, Real Cost of Living Focus of January 10 Economic Perspectives

Jimmy Henry and Lloyd Herbert will discuss Prairie View A & M’s Cooperative Extension Program’s Financing for Your Small Business workshop on the January 10 edition of Economic Perspectives on KAZI 88.7 FM, 5:30 p.m. – 6 p.m.  Listen live online on kazifm.org.  Other guests include Carmen Wong Ulrich, author of The Real Cost of Living, and Nikki Green will have the latest segment of Young Money Today focusing on student loans.

The Financing Your Small Business workshop will be held January 20, 12 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. at the Carver Library, 1165 Angelina Street, Austin, Texas.  The workshop will cover  how to borrow $500 – $100,000 from AccionTexas, the largest microlender in the nation.  The workshop will also provide information on how to start a small business and how to make money selling to the government.

In The Real Cost of Living, well-known personal finance expert Carmen Wong Ulrich makes personal finance personal and takes into account that we all have motivations that go way beyond number crunching. From marriage and family to career, investing, and more, Carmen examines the “real cost” of the choices we all make every day.

Carmen Wong Ulrich is an expert contributor to The Dr. Oz Show and Glamour‘s personal finance columnist. She is the former host of CNBC’s daily personal finance show On the Money and can be seen regularly on Today, MSNBC, and Extra.

The Price of Everything

Eduardo Porter, author of The Price of Everything: Solving the Mystery of Why We Pay What We Do, is the January 9 guest on KAZI Book Review on KAZI 88.7 FM, 12:30 p.m. – 1 p.m. Listen live online at kazifm.org. Read more at http://kazibookreview.wordpress.com/2011/01/08/author-of-the-price-of-everything-guest-on-jan-9-kazi-book-review/.