For immediate release Contact: Alisa Harrison, 202-628-8000 Matthew Haller, 202-662-0770 aharrison@franchise.org mhaller@franchise.org twitter.com/franchising411
WASHINGTON, June 13-The International Franchise Association released a digital ” Small Business Lending Toolkit” Monday to aid lenders and franchise small businesses in their joint pursuit to make credit more available, thereby helping to accelerate the job creation and economic output our country so urgently needs.
“As the nation pursues economic recovery, existing franchise small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs have continued to struggle to access the capital necessary to open new establishments and create new jobs,” said IFA President & CEO Steve Caldeira. “This Small Business Lending Toolkit will help small businesses and lenders to better understand the lower-risk, structured model that franchising offers as demonstrated by the industry’s 40% growth rate over the past decade.”
The effort is part of the organization’s Credit Access Campaign, which began in April with an unprecedented Small Business Lending Summit in Washington, D.C. that brought together leaders of the financial, franchise and policy communities. IFA’s Credit Access Campaign will include education, technical assistance and advocacy to accelerate lending – and capitalize upon the direct correlation between small business access to credit and job creation. According to IFA research, for every $1 million in lending, 40.4 jobs are created and $4.2 million in economic output is realized.
On Monday, Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO), Chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, reiterated IFA’s position on the paramount importance of increasing credit flow to small business to accelerate job creation and the U.S. economy. “When it comes to turning our economy around and supporting our small businesses, Washington’s focus needs to change. Instead of throwing billions of dollars in stimulus funding at the market, the government needs to bring stability and predictability to the lending community and our economy as a whole and then stand aside and let the business community prosper,” Graves told CNBC in a guest blog.
The Lending Toolkit includes a video, a credit access report, and an in-depth presentation to enable local and regional franchising and lending groups to better understand the potential of small business franchise lending. Coming soon, the IFA will also offer technical assistance in the form of a Web-based lending resource hub that will train and connect lenders and borrowers.
The Toolkit will be featured at regional educational and networking events in conjunction with IFA’s Anchor Partners in the Credit Access Campaign, including the National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders (NAGGL), the Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) and the National Restaurant Association (NRA). The toolkit will be offered at the U.S. Conference of Mayors Annual June conference in Baltimore, and at upcoming local franchising events in Minneapolis, Denver, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, Orange County, CA and Atlanta, as well as NAGGL’s semi-annual lenders’ meeting in Huntington Beach, CA in October.
“Franchising could help close the job gap in the nation’s recovery,” said Caldeira. “With an additional $2 billion in lending, franchising could add more than 332,000 jobs in 2011 and nearly 2 million jobs by 2017.” For more information about IFA’s efforts to boost credit access and create jobs in the franchise industry, visit IFA’s credit access center.
### About the International Franchise Association The International Franchise Association is the world’s oldest and largest organization representing franchising worldwide. Celebrating 50 years of excellence, education and advocacy, IFA protects, enhances and promotes franchising through government relations, public relations and educational programs. Through its awareness campaign highlighting the theme, Franchising: Building Local Businesses, One Opportunity at a Time,IFA promotes the nearly 18 million jobs and $2.1 trillion of economic activity generated by franchising. IFA members include franchise companies in over 90 different business format categories, individual franchisees and companies that support the industry in marketing, law and business development.