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This is a good week for business recovery news. First, we learned that more than a quarter of stimulus contracts were awarded to small firms, and now President Barack Obama said that he'll ask Congress to increase the amount businesses can receive from SBA loans.

In a speech at a small business group in suburban Washington, President Obama said:

I am calling on Congress to increase the cap on what’s called 7(a) loans to $5 million.  These are the loans most frequently handed out by the Small Business Administration to help folks open their doors and buy machinery, equipment, land and buildings.  These larger loans will help more small business owners and franchisees grow.  We also need to increase the maximum size of what’s called 504 loans to $5 million.  (read the full speech)

The one piece of disappointing recovery news is that women-owned businesses have only received 4 percent of federal stimulus contracts so far. The government's goal is 5%. To help increase women's presence in contracting, the SBA has launched a new free online course for women business owners called Winning Federal Contracts: A Guide for Women Entrepreneurs.

Tagged as: 2009 Recovery Act, Barack Obama, business loans, government contracting, loans, SBA, SBA loans, small business, women business owners, women entrepreneurs