Weiner Boasts Small Business Job Gains

On Friday, , D-Forest Hills, visited to the Associated supermarket on Aguilar Avenue in Kew Gardens Hills to promote his own findings on an increase in small business loans in New York City.

The store's owner, Kevin Kim spoke to reporters along with Weiner about his federally backed $1.3 million loan from a community bank. Kim credited Weiner and the recent Small Business Jobs Act as the reason he received his loan.

The law, passed in September, makes a $30 billion nationwide investment behind local community banks, which have been much more active lenders during the financial crisis. According to the bill, the federal Small Business Administration (SBA) backs 90 percent of the loans, up from 75 percent.

Weiner's study did not specify whether the numbers already reflect the influence from the most recent SBA law, but also cited the 2009 stimulus bill for the uptick in

"We see a lot of frustration in people, we'd helped with the bailouts for big banks, but it's the small businesses — pretty much all the businesses in Queens are small businesses," said Weiner. "The best lending is done by banks that know the community."

Kim introduced Weiner to a few employees he had hired with the loan money. Pointing to a young man outside working by the produce section, Kim told Weiner, "He's a student. He works very hard."

Kim said he's been able to hire a lot of extra help thanks to the loan. The store's interior was newly renovated, Kim said, with completely new flooring and computer systems at the registers. "We have a 10 percent increase in business," Kim said.

Weiner released numbers indicating that Queens had seen a 41 percent increase in total small business loan amounts in 2010 over 2009, and an increase in the number of loans by 15 percent.

When asked if he wanted a continuation of payroll tax credits to small businesses in the next Congress, Weiner said, "We're going to be constantly looking for ways to give small businesses a hand."

Weiner also boasted that the current government has "now created more jobs in the last two years than the eight years of the Bush presidency."

In a very slow economy, Kim's report of an increase in business was promising. Weiner said he hoped the good trend would continue.