Amy Cortese | March 16, 2016
Ordinary investors across the country can now lend money to small businesses, thanks to a regulatory greenlight given to online lender StreetShares. The move comes as the industry gears up for Title III, the long awaited JOBS Act provision that will open up investment crowdfunding to the mainstream when it goes into effect on May […]
Locavesting Staff | March 7, 2016
Small businesses improved their performance last year, enhancing their ability to get credit. Banks, especially smaller ones, continue to be the go-to source for small business financing. But online lenders are making inroads, particularly with microbusinesses. These are some of the top-level findings of the 2015 Small Business Credit Survey, conducted by seven regional Federal […]
John Arensmeyer | September 10, 2015
John Arensmeyer is the founder & CEO of Small Business Majority, a national small business advocacy organization. In this op-ed, he unveils SBM’s economic agenda, a series of policy recommendations aimed at creating an environment where entrepreneurs—and the economy—can thrive. Washington spends a lot of time talking about the importance of small businesses – but […]
Amy Cortese | August 25, 2015
When Jae Kim started his food truck, Chi’Lantro, five years ago in Austin, he wasn’t sure how people would take to his Korean-inspired BBQ. But Austinites gobbled up the bulgogi burgers, tacos and kimchi fries. So much so that the Korean-born entrepreneur (pictured above) decided it was time to open up a non-roving restaurant. Rather […]
Amy Cortese | August 6, 2015
Online lending has offered a lifeline to many small business owners that can’t get a bank loan. For others, it’s been a murky gateway into an escalating cycle of debt. The problem is, it can be hard to tell good online lenders from the bad. To a busy entrepreneur, the web sites look similar and […]
Amy Cortese | July 23, 2015
Technology has been reshaping finance over the past few years, and Dara Albright has been in the thick of it, producing insightful webinars, events and conferences, such as LendIt, the massive online lending expo she helped to launch. Her latest production, FinFair, takes place July 29 in New York. With a focus on new investment […]
Brayden McCarthy and Patrick Kelley | July 21, 2015
Brayden McCarthy is head of policy and advocacy at Fundera and was formerly senior economic policy advisor in the Obama White House and SBA. Patrick Kelley is a vice president at Live Oak Bank and was previously deputy chief of staff at SBA. In this opinion piece, they lay out the argument for raising the lending limit for SBA […]
Anne Field | June 24, 2015
When Rose Ann Haft wanted to create an online diabetes prevention program a year ago, she didn’t need much. Still, without access to a line of credit or a bank loan, she struggled to come up with even the modest amount of cash it required. Then she heard about Puddle, a social lending site that […]
Amy Cortese | May 26, 2015
Three years ago, Catarah Coleman and Shoneji Robison—the “Dessert Divas” behind Southern Girl Desserts—were riding high. After several years of running the operation out of their homes and shared commercial kitchen and retail space, they were invited to open their own 1500-square foot shop in a Los Angeles mall, where they could sell their southern-inspired […]
