Inside these posts: Small business lending

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Small business borrowing jumps again

Borrowing by small U.S. businesses jumped in November to the highest level in more than two years, PayNet reported on Monday, as entrepreneurs invested in their businesses and did a better job of paying existing debts. Get the full story »

Report: Small business loans rise

Small U.S. businesses stepped up borrowing in September, data released by PayNet Inc on Monday showed, suggesting the recovery is gaining steam even before the Federal Reserve Bank embarks on an expected new round of monetary stimulus.

The Thomson Reuters/PayNet Small Business Lending Index, which measures the overall volume of financing to U.S. small businesses, rose 16 percent in September from a year earlier, PayNet said. The index rose 15 percent in August, and is now at the highest level in almost two years. Get the full story »

Small business loans less risky than junk bonds?

In the world of high-yield securities, small business loans are safer than junk bonds, and are expected to get even less risky over the next two years, according to PayNet, which provides risk-management tools to the commercial lending industry. Get the full story »

Daley’s budget calls for scaling back the head tax

Chicago employers would see modest tax relief under Mayor Richard Daley’s proposed 2011 budget plan, which calls for scaling back of the payroll head tax.

Employers now are required to pay $4 a month for every employee who earns at least $900 per quarter. Under Daley’s proposal, the tax would apply only for employees earning at least $4,300 per quarter, the amount a full-time minimum-wage worker would earn. Get the full story »

Nobel winner Mortensen chides ‘dysfunctional’ lenders

A U.S. labor economist awarded the Nobel Prize in economics on Monday said a “dysfunctional” lending environment has made it hard for small service businesses — the source of most jobs — to finance hiring.

Northwestern University professor Dale Mortensen, whose work focused on labor market inefficiencies that make it difficult for workers to match up to job openings, said employers have fewer jobs to offer and government can do only so much about it.

“To bring unemployment down we need to create service jobs,” Mortensen said, speaking to reporters from Aarhus University in Denmark, where he is a visiting faculty member. Get the full story »

Local bank whose CEO met with Obama must raise capital

A Chicago-area bank whose chief executive met with President Obama last December to discuss small-banking matters has been ordered by the nation’s thrift regulator to maintain certain capital levels, among other things.

Matt Gambs, who in 2008 joined Schaumburg-based Diamond Bank as its new chief executive, said that earlier this week members of its board of directors, including existing investors, pumped $1 million in fresh capital into the closely held lender, which also has a branch near the intersection of Clark and North in Chicago. Get the full story »

Scaled-back small business aid bill sent to Obama

The Democratic-controlled Congress on Thursday sent President Barack Obama a long-delayed bill to help struggling small businesses with easier credit and other incentives to expand and hire new workers.

The $40 billion-plus bill is the last vestige of the heralded jobs agenda that Obama and Democrats promoted this year. They ended up delivering only a fraction of that after emboldened Senate Republicans blocked most of the agenda with filibusters. Get the full story »