Sen. Kauffman signs small business relief bills
Published 10:11 am Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Two bills to help local small businesses recover from the economic downturn and expand were signed into law Monday by the Gov. Christine Gregoire.
SB 6679 authorizes the Small Business Export Finance Assistance Center to make loans or provide loan guarantees to finance export activities for Washington businesses with $200 million or less in annual sales.
“Finding adequate financing has been extremely difficult for some businesses even though there is a market for the types of products they sell,” Kauffman said. “This legislation will help improve their access to capital. These small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and they need help.”
The center provides export finance counseling assistance to small- and medium-sized exporters or prospective Washington-based exporters. The group works closely with both federal and state partners.
The second bill Kauffman, SB 6667, creates an entrepreneurial development and small business reference service in the Department of Commerce to establish and maintain an inventory of training and technical assistance services, programs, and resources available in the state. The end goal is to get everyone in the small business community on the same page with a short and long term focus on business stability, innovation and entrepreneurship.
