4/9/2010 - Friends of Robin Kelly Press Release

Kelly Proposal to Spur Small Business Job Growth

Asked by General Assembly lawmakers on what the Treasurer's Office could do if given money to spur hiring statewide, Illinois State Treasurer candidate Robin Kelly today discussed creating a new small business loan guarantee program.
 
Under the Employ Illinois loan guarantee program, Kelly said the Treasurer’s Office could provide a 10 percent guarantee on loans to small businesses that pledge to save or create jobs in the next year. The guarantee could go up to 20 percent for small businesses that are minority, woman or veteran-owned or are located in zones targeted for development.
 
The Treasurer’s Office estimates that the Employ Illinois loan guarantee program could create more than 1,000 jobs that would not be created otherwise. Modeled on existing programs, the one-year pilot program could be administered by the Treasurer's Office at no extra cost.
 
“This is a cost-effective way to spur job creation in communities facing double-digit unemployment rates across the state,” said Treasurer’s Chief of Staff Robin Kelly, during testimony at a bi-partisan jobs task force meeting in Chicago. “Research shows that small businesses are responsible for the creation of approximately 70 percent of all new jobs. Small business hiring will be the key to our state’s economic turnaround.”
 
The Treasurer’s Office currently administers the Employ Illinois interest rate reduction program, in which the state deposits money at local lenders if they make below market rate loans to small business owners and job creators. But due to already low interest rates, lenders have told the Treasurer’s Office that they are looking for other incentives to mitigate the risk associated with start-ups and mom-n-pop shops.
 
The bipartisan jobs task force invited the Treasurer’s Office to present a proposal on how it could spur small business hiring statewide. The Employ Illinois loan guarantee program would require legislative approval.