Businesses don’t make business news. People do. Executives profiled in the Tampa Bay Business Journal provide readers with valuable personal insights into how they do business and strategic challenges they have overcome, as well as a peek at how careers evolved. The Executive Files, produced in collaboration with Shooting Stars Post, brings these profiles to life in video vignettes.
Executive Files Eileen Rodriguez This week features Eileen Rodriguez, Regional director, Small Business Development Center at the University of South Florida.

“The main thing that they need is financial help” said Eileen. The economic downturn has hurt many small businesses that have turned to the SBDC for help. The goal is to help clients “not just stay in business, but expand their business at the same time.”

Eileen also discussed the desire to “bring in some new partners” including “the Greater Hernando Chamber of Commerce. The SBDC covers a 10 county region including Hernando County, which would not be possible without strong local partners.

As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the SBA received $730 million to help small businesses obtain the capital necessary to survive the recession.  As of June 25, the SBA has supported more than $29.2 billion in small business lending with the approval of $21.9 billion in Recovery loans.

?From Feb. 17, 2009 to June 25, 2010, weekly SBA loan dollar volumes rose more than 90 percent in the 7(a) and 504 programs, compared to the weekly average before passage.?

The number of lenders making loans increased with by more than 1,363 lenders who had not made a SBA loan since at least 2007. In addition, as of June 25, SBA has approved 7,871 ARC loans totaling over $254.8.5 million by 1,265 lenders to help small businesses survive the recession.

For more information, go to SBA’s Economic Recovery Efforts and Impact June 28, 2010.

Private Employment Up, Government Employment Down, & Unemployment Rate Down

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released today its report on employment for June 2010 (BLS Employment Report June 2010). The good news was that temporary help employment (considered a leading indicator that the economy has moved into recovery) increased by 379,000 in June, private sector employment was up by 83,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate declined to 9.5%. However, government employment fell due to a 225,000 decrease in temporary workers working on the census.

?Total nonfarm payroll employment declined by 125,000 in June, and the unemployment rate edged down to 9.5 percent, The decline in payroll employment reflected a decrease (-225,000) in the number of temporary employees working on Census 2010. Private-sector payroll employment edged up by 83,000 due to modest increases in several industries. So far this year, private-sector employment has increased by 593,000 but in June was 7.9 million below its December 2007 level.?

For more information, go to BLS Employment Report June 2010.

As part of the Recovery Act enacted on Feb. 17, 2009, SBA received $375 million to increase the SBA guarantee on 7(a) loans to 90 percent and to reduce borrower fees on most 7(a) and 504 loans. Due to demand from small businesses for available credit, the original $375 million provided under the ARRA for these loans was exhausted in November. Since then, additional funds have been provided for short-term extensions, and those funds also have been exhausted.

For more Information, go to:

SBA Press Release May 26, 2010

For more information, go to:

Employment Situation May 2010