Over the past few months, MetroAction staff has been presenting Small Business Resource Clinics at various locations in our 8 county service area (click here for a current list of upcoming events).  In the clinics, we’ve referenced a great guide to entrepreneurship.  To make it easier for business owners to access this helpful resource, we’re posting a link on our blog.  The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting a Business in Pennsylvania is great resource for anyone in business or considering starting a business in Pennsylvania.

MetroAction has just received notification that strict lending limits have been imposed on the SBA’s CommunityExpress loan program. Unlike its other loan programs, MetroAction partners with a bank out of California to offer the CommunityExpress loan program to northeastern Pennsylvania businesses. All applications for the CommunityExpress program must be submitted through a Technical Assistance Provider, such as MetroAction. Over the past 5 years, MetroAction has helped more than 85 businesses obtain nearly $1 million in financing through this unique small business financing program.

Typically, most applicants with good credit had a fairly good chance of being funded through this SBA pilot loan program. However, now with the new lending limits, our partnering bank can only approve 5 new loans each month. This cap is huge obstacle for our clients, since our partnering bank, accepts CommunityExpress applications from Technical Assistance Providers across the county.

Congress passed a law in 1996 that limits any SBA pilot program to 10% of the loan volume of all 7(a) lending. The SBA’s 7(a) program is the largest and most popular of the SBA guaranteed loans. In order to avoid reaching the 10% threshold by the end of the fiscal year, CommunityExpress lenders must adhere to strict lending caps over the next six months.

We are very aware of how these caps are going to affect our small business community. In response, we will carefully review every loan pre-qualification application that is submitted to us to see if the applicant will qualify for any of our other small business loan programs. For more information on our pre-qualification process visit our website, www.metroaction.org/finance.html or call our staff at (570) 342-7711.

I attended the “Building Better Credit” seminar here at the Chamber this morning. It’s a bit unnerving to think about how much your credit can affect future plans and goals you may have for yourself- whether it be making a large purchase such as a home or a vehicle to interviewing for your dream job. This seminar really made you think about that, which for many, I would assume, would be a little scary.

At the same time, Terri from CCCS of NEPA presented strategies on how to improve your credit score along with resources for doing so. The resounding feeling the seminar gave me was that our personal credit is something that we should protect and monitor so that we can use it to our advantage to achieve our goals rather than allow it to be a deterrent.

Perhaps I was reading between the lines, but I also felt that there was an underlying message that even people who have had indiscretions in their credit history can make changes to their habits that will have a positive impact on their credit score. Credit is not something that is irreparable, but it certainly takes more work to fix it than it does to damage it.

Some interesting points that stood our in my mind were:

• You can add a 100 word comment to your credit report to explain extenuating circumstance relevant to things that appear on the report.
• Call 1-888-5-opt-out to stop receiving pre-approved credit card offers by mail. It’s like a “do not call” registry for credit card companies- reduce temptation and paper waste- BRILLIANT!
• 30% of your credit score is based on the amount you owe, a good rule of thumb is to keep your credit card balances at 15-20% of your credit card limit at maximum.

Elizabeth Rightor

Communications Director, The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce