As Nation Focuses on Jobs, Seedco Releases Five Recommendations to Spur Small Business Job Creation

Sept. 7, 2011 - PRLog -- READ THE BRIEF: http://www.seedco.org/download/?id=31

New York City: Small-business hiring can help solve our big unemployment problem. In advance of President Obama’s jobs speech, Seedco – a leading national workforce and economic development nonprofit – today released a policy brief outlining five ways that policy makers can jump start small-business job creation.

Small businesses represent a singular opportunity in this troubled economy.  Policy makers should recognize the crucial role small businesses must play in an economic recovery, as they are responsible for creating two out of every three new jobs in the U.S.  

Seedco works with small businesses to create jobs through its subsidiary Seedco Financial Services and by operating three NYC Business Solutions Centers under contract to the New York City Department of Small Business Services.

Seedco’s five recommendations include actions that can be taken at the federal, state, and local level:

1. Increase utilization of federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) funding to serve small businesses and spur job creation. WIA funding is rarely used in this way, but New York City has made the most of systematically deploying WIA funds to assist small businesses and has had a strong impact in helping them grow and create jobs.  
2. Preserve funding for the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. With traditional lenders less willing to make loans to small businesses, CDFIs are a critical source of capital needed to maintain and create jobs.
3. Support immigrant entrepreneurs. Immigrants are more likely than non-immigrants to start businesses, but often require specialized services such as help formalizing their business structures and gaining access to financing.  
4. Expand the use of wage subsidies for small businesses.  Wage subsidies are employer-side incentives that can be effectively used to encourage small-business hiring.
5. Target assistance to businesses in high-growth sectors.  In today’s resource-constrained environment, focusing services to small businesses in high-growth sectors such as technology, green, and healthcare can have a big impact.

“The spirit of entrepreneurship is alive today more than ever in the United States, and small business owners are working to create jobs every day,” said Barbara Dwyer Gunn, President and CEO of Seedco. “If we as a nation can nurture their growth and provide them with resources and assistance, we can create jobs, reduce unemployment, and transform our economy.”

READ THE BRIEF: http://www.seedco.org/download/?id=31

To interview Barbara Dwyer Gunn, please contact Lauren Miura at 917-338-9229 or lmiura@seedco.org.