Small Business Administration Announces New Effort to Help Veterans Become Entrepreneurs

The U.S. Small Business Administrationis waiving the borrowing fee on loans of up to $350,000 made to veterans, the agency’s chief announced Friday during an appearance in Arkansas.
SBA Acting Administrator Jeanne Hulit said the waiver program will begin Jan. 1 and run through Sept. 30, the end of the federal fiscal year.
Hulit and U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., were among officials and entrepreneurs at a Senate Small Business Subcommittee hearing held at the University of Arkansas at Little  Rock.
Pryor, the only committee member present, said employers benefit from hiring veterans because of their trade skills and organizational and leadership abilities. He also noted that veterans prefer to hire other veterans, so a program targeting people who served in the military will generate more jobs growth among returning soldiers.
Officials said the SBA can’t finance 100 percent of a startup, and prospective entrepreneurs must have money of their own to invest.
Pryor said he’s pushing in Congress for establishment of a tax-free account into which entrepreneurs could put money until they’re ready to start a business.