Business Journals article by Kent Hoover

Bank executives met with Small Business Administration and Treasury Department officials at the White House March 5 to discuss small businesses' credit needs.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said the White House meeting was "long overdue."

"It should have happened months ago when the Bush administration's own data predicted a credit crunch for small businesses," Kerry said.

Kerry, who chairs the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, said the Bush administration should support legislation that would appropriate $200 million to the SBA so it could reduce fees on 7(a) loans and expand the Microloan program, which provides small loans and technical assistance to low-income entrepreneurs.

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