According to researchers at Columbia University, they have discovered a new class of security flaws:

It’s not only possible, but likely, say researchers at Columbia University, who claim they’ve discovered a new class of computer security flaws that could impact millions of businesses, consumers, and even government agencies. Printers can be remotely controlled by computer criminals over the Internet, with the potential to steal personal information, attack otherwise secure networks and even cause physical damage, the researchers argue in a vulnerability warning first reported by msnbc.com.  They say there’s no easy fix for the flaw they’ve identified in some Hewlett-Packard LaserJet printer lines – and perhaps on other firms’ printers, too – and there’s no way to tell if hackers have already exploited it.

Millions of printers open to devastating hack attack, researchers say
So now there is more to consider out there to steal your identity and your data. Download this whitepaper about copier security and your business

Copier Data Security

Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, of the Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio .

45. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.”

These are major, common sense improvements that will open the program to use by many more businesses and lenders. Credit needs to be given to the tireless efforts of the industry members who have campaigned to make this a meaningful, permanent program.

When I read the first posting on 504 Re-Fi, my reaction was one of skepticism. After thirty years of reading federal announcements and regulations, it is relatively easy to spot programs and changes that the agency doesn’t want or believe will be useful. These changes will make the Re-Fi more consistent with the 504 Loan Program.

I wasn’t surprised when the modifications started, or when the approval ratio was somewhere in the three percent range. (Yes, I said 3 %.) After more tweaking and a few meaningful “discussions” about the intent of the program with members of our industry, SBA is starting to get real about using the program with an eye to making it viable for the long term.
SBA is the only federal agency that has a mandate to assist small businesses. Other agencies have lending programs, but their prime directive is something other than money to Main Street. It is incumbent upon the SBA to be sensitive to their market and the needs of their constituents. We are encouraged to see these changes to the 504 Refinance Loan Program and the quick responsiveness of SBA once the need was recognized.
SBA 504 Loans were designed to help a business do two things:

• Create jobs
• Enhance the tax base

ACCESS to CAPITAL is the unfilled need in the small business sector right now, but lenders are restricted by their regulators and internal credit policies. If used wisely, this program could make the difference in the business having the ability to do well and hire additional workers.

There are many opportunities to acquire equipment and facilities at real savings. The 504 Re-fi can be the tool to use when a business is trying to make long range plans and execute them. With improved cash flow due to the re-structuring of existing debt, the business may now be able to take advantage of opportunities in the market.

The Senate approved the SBA lending budget to $211.6 million.

The result of this expanded leverage will give SBA $25 Billion for the core programs:

• 504 Loan Program
• 7(a) Guaranty Loan Program
• SBIR Federal and State Technology Program
• SBA Disaster Loan Program – $167 million to fully fund administrative costs and loans

This is a huge victory for the Small Business Sector of the economy.

What does this mean for YOU?

• Funds will be available for your 504 Loan customers with a 50% LTV
• Unconditional first lien position backed by a long term, fixed rate, second lien
• Ten –Twenty percent equity into the project
• Back-up servicing assistance by a “second to none” CDC Servicing Officer and staff, including an SBA Certified Liquidation Specialist.
• No additional collateral required, leaving Current Assets free for collateral if needed for Working Capital Lines of Credit
• Eligible for the EDGE Program with FHLB
• Can mix and match with other Federal, State, and Local programs, Tax Incentives, and Abatements.  Some can be used as equity in the project.
• We look forward to helping you mitigate your risk and provide your customers with the best terms and conditions in the marketplace.

Please call us for a description of our referral incentives and to discuss special structures for your projects.

Alacom Finance 1-800-239-5909

Valiantly supporting and stabilizing our communities with loans to local businesses. 

The last two posted articles from the WSJ confirm what we have been reporting for the last two years.  There is nothing anywhere near real help for the backbone of our economy, the Main Street Entrepreneur, except for the Small Business Administration programs. Banks can’t lend to small businesses without a way to mitigate risk, and SBA provides that cover.

Other agencies have programs, but none are as reliably available, flexible, or fully funded as SBA.  Alacom Finance works in many small business support programs, but none are as widely utilized as the SBA loan programs.  Community banks are masters at stretching their lending limits with the 504 take outs and the 7a guaranties while protecting the bank and staying inside all the regulations.  Large banks are making SBA loans too, but they tend toward larger projects to bigger companies than community banks.

The real “up and comer” group as SBA lenders is Credit Unions.  Several states have credit unions in their top ten lender group.  What makes that so interesting is the fact that the boards of credit unions are made up of the member depositors.  They are lending to their fellow members and protecting their investment with an SBA program.  That is a smart way to go.

Whether it is the intent of the powers that be, or simply one of those “unintended consequences” that everyone talks about, the result of what isn’t going on in Washington is that there is a dry well for business owners that need working capital and support for growth and sustainability.  Be it the result of FDIC rules, Dodd-Frank, or the condition of the banking community as a whole, the truth is that capital for small business is next to imaginary without SBA.  There are other active and effective programs in many agencies, but none with the range of accessibility as SBA.  Most are under-utilized and/or unknown to potential partners.

The real truth is that wherever we see increases in small business lending, there is an individual effort by a lender that wants to make a loan.  My mantra for thirty years has been, “You don’t need a bank.  You need a banker.” It doesn’t matter how many programs, or agencies are available if there isn’t a lender willing to learn and use them.

SBA isn’t perfect.  As a whole, SBA employees aren’t lenders, and they have never been business owners, but they are very good at “program” oversight.  That is what a lender needs…consistency in rules, reliability of program funding, an active secondary market, and easy access to assistance from local program partners.

Alacom Finance has been training lenders and economic developers in loan programs for more than thirty years.  It only takes about three hours. The training is free, and we will do it one on one, or for a class of a hundred to get you started.  After that, all you need is our toll free number when you have a question, or just want to talk through a deal with an objective third party.

SBA is the only agency that can provide what Main Street needs to keep local businesses funded.  It is, after all, the only agency dedicated wholly to supporting the American small business entrepreneur and the lenders that fund them.

Not all lenders are out of the game. SBA Lenders are booking loans for Alacom’s 504 Loan and 7a Loan referrals.

Some of the nation’s biggest banks on Tuesday pledged to boost lending to small firms by an extra $20 billion over the next three years.

The move, announced by Vice President Joe Biden at a small business in Solon, Ohio, comes as loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration hit record highs.

As of last week, the agency has approved more than $18 billion in lending under its 7(a) and Arc loan programs this fiscal year, up from $12.4 billion in 2010 and $8.6 billion in 2009, agency lending data show.

Read More at WSJ

Yet the upturn has largely bypassed small firms.

Instead, the bulk of the gains were made by loans to midsize companies, which were borrowing cash to upgrade or repair aging equipment, according to bankers cited by the Wall Street Journal. The Fed’s gauge of commercial and industrial lending excludes business real-estate loans.

While any new investing by small or midsize employers is welcome news – most businesses have put off upgrades since the onset of the recession, lenders say – few businesses appear to be committing cash to the type of expansion that would lead to more jobs.

Read More at WSJ

Before you think that I am blindly attached to SBA because I am the president of an SBA Certified Development Company (CDC), you need to know that Alacom Finance has sued SBA twice over their reluctance to utilize and follow the rules.  I, too, have been on the wrong side of the rules once or twice myself, and they have brought it to my attention.  We live in a close/wary relationship, not because I love the agency, but because I love the programs.  I am absolutely convinced that the delivery system of the SBA programs is the best one in the federal system because it is a credit based approval and not some social engineering waste of money.

They also fund on an open annual account and not through that moronic ‘Notice of Funds Available” that so many agencies must use.  Even better, SBA is exempt from the Davis-Bacon Act, another idiotic, job-killer law that should be repealed.  CDCs, SBDCs, and SCORE are all not for profit organizations.  They are staffed by people that are trained and experienced in business and management.  Most of all, they are passionate about the Business of Small Business.

Small business is the primary generator of jobs and tax base in our economic system, but no one thinks about SBA until some politician is looking for an easy target to use as an example of how to reduce government programs.  Because it is small and does not blow its own horn very effectively, there are few defenders against these attacks.

Myths and misconceptions abound around the agency.  The truth is that it is top-heavy, but SBA has been moving the operations of the agency out of Washington for years.  All the lending, servicing and liquidation decisions are done in centers outside the Beltway.  The paperwork for an SBA loan is the same documentation required by any prudent lender.  In fact, we frequently just make copies for our participating lenders.  It doesn’t take any longer to get the loan approved at SBA than it does within any bank that follows standard procedures for a loan committee.

There are some incredibly dedicated people that have spent their entire careers helping keep the train on the track.  They understand that they may be the make or break of, not just the business, but the employees and the community, also.

SBA is the only agency in the entire federal government that is 100% dedicated to placing dollars in the hands of the people that really create jobs and build the economy.  All government needs to do beyond that point is get out of the way.  To be sure, thousands of businesses owe their very existence and/or survival to an SBA loan or a free visit to a counselor at a Small Business Development Center (SBDC), or Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) volunteer.   Ever heard of Mrs. Field’s Cookies, Nike, FedEx, Vera Bradley, the list is amazing?  They were all small once and needed a loan they couldn’t get without the help of SBA.

Instead of dismantling the agency, the SBA should become the centerpiece of any economic growth program.  SBA should be the agency of record and repository of the funds that are never used in the myriad of obscure, redundant programs inside the budgets of other agencies.  SBA has a proven delivery system through CDCs and lenders, mentors in place at SBDCs and SCORE Chapters with both hands-on and cyber-counseling, programs that work.  Why not use what we have for the purpose intended?

Obviously, those polled haven’t needed to apply for business credit in this economy.  The only way most small businesses can get a loan is with a third party guaranty, lots of collateral, and cash in the deal.

There are no federal funds in an SBA loan. The actual capital for SBA loans comes from the private sector, i.e. private investors, banks, credit unions, licensed lenders regulated by state commissions, and other federal agencies.  The business has to put up 10% to 20%, sometimes more, as equity into the loan.  They sign unconditional guarantees on full recourse liens for everything they own.  If they default, any balance left owing after liquidation is added to their income tax.   How is that “welfare”?

Is the government efficient at lending?  Absolutely not!  They don’t have a clue how to do anything efficiently.  More time is spent deciding on the mandatory color of a file folder and the number of tabs they will need than the lender spends on the credit.  That’s because most of them have never been, nor will be, lenders and/or business owners.  They are specialists in one aspect of a process.  Most government employees never see the whole picture, just pieces of the whole.  They are kind of like the blind men describing an elephant.  They know the one piece they have, but not the whole elephant.

Can we have better communication between the private sector and SBA?  Of course!  Can all parties be more efficient and diligent?  You bet.  Do we need to consolidate programs and eliminate overlap and redundancy? YES!

There is always a better way to do most anything, if we just examine the process and adjust to include new processes and technologies.  The process has to start with the intention to improve and simplify the system for everyone.  There should also be mutual respect all around and openness to new ideas.

It wouldn’t be easy and probably very messy.  I have participated in the re-write of two federal programs in my forty plus years of organized insanity with small business lending and economic development.  It isn’t fun.  It takes commitment and sometimes the sacrifice of sacred cows, but like childbirth, the pain is forgotten as soon as you have the baby in your arms.