Giving Thanks to Small Business Trailblazers
Our mission of providing affordable small business loans to entrepreneurs would not be possible without the contributions of the advocates, heroes and innovators who came before us.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we’re expressing our gratitude to the trailblazers who made the small business landscape what it is today.
Without them, CDC Small Business Finance — a leading small business lender and non-profit organization — would not have been able to provide more than $18.4 billion in funding to entrepreneurs, leading to the creation or preservation of 200,000-plus jobs.
Let’s all recognize the hard work, perseverance and forethought of …
President Dwight D. Eisenhower
For proposing the creation of the U.S. Small Business Administration
Responding to an unmet need, President Dwight D. Eisenhower advocated for the founding of a U.S. agency whose sole aim is to help small businesses thrive and protect their interests.
In 1953, Congress made this official with the passage of the Small Business Act. This act led to the creation of what’s known today as the U.S. Small Business Administration and the commitment to set aside a fair portion of government contracts to small business owners.
Similar entities predated the SBA. But none were official Cabinet-level federal agencies and they were motivated largely by wartime needs and interests.
Thanks to Eisenhower’s advocacy, the SBA has helped tens of millions of entrepreneurs realize their dreams of starting and nurturing their own successful ventures. Through partnerships with organizations like ours, the SBA provides affordable loans to all business owners, with a focus on groups that have historically been underserved, including women, minorities and military veterans.
The federal agency also steps up by providing the funding to fuel free to low-cost counseling and education.
Arthur H. Goodman, founder of CDC Small Business Finance
For empowering underserved business owners
Arthur H. Goodman was a pioneer in every sense of the word. Goodman believed in helping business owners who often went overlooked by traditional lenders and he championed providing smaller-dollar loans even before the term “microloan” became popularized.
His path-paving contributions is what fueled CDC Small Business Finance to grow from a spunky organization that did a few deals a year to now a leader in the SBA lending world. The company has remained a longtime advocate for underserved entrepreneurs but that work is now done on a much larger scale, thanks to Goodman’s work.
His many achievements include:
- Founding the National Association of Development Companies, or NADCO. The organization represents certified development companies, or CDCs, and others who issue financing to entrepreneurs through the SBA’s 504 real estate loan program.
- Puting CDC Small Business Finance on the map as a leading lender of SBA loan products.
- Setting the stage for the company to become a champion of microloans. In 2018, CDC won SBA’s Jody C. Raskind Lender of the Year Award. The recognition is presented every year to a mission-focused lender that has gone above and beyond in helping small businesses get off the ground and expand.
Related: Read more about Goodman’s contributions, the company’s history
George Washington, first U.S. president
For being America’s ‘first entrepreneur’
We know George Washington mainly for leading the U.S. to victory during the Revolutionary War and becoming the country’s first president.
At least one university scholar has anointed him the title of “First Entrepreneur” of our nation.
The recently released book, “First Entrepreneur: How George Washington Built His – and the Nation’s – Prosperity” explores Washington’s business aptitude and entrepreneurial exploits, as revealed by previously unpublished official documents.
Washington treated running a nation like a business, the book explains. His accomplishments include: establishing a U.S. currency, building up the nation’s credit, creating a federal bank, and building national infrastructure, among other feats.
Are you ready to blaze your own trails? CDC Small Business Finance offers several loan options for business owners who want to start or grow their operations. Whether you need to buy inventory or commercial property, we’ve got a product designed for your needs.
Tell our loan experts about your business, and they’ll work to match you with a financing plan that best suits you. Let’s talk! Reach us at loaninfo@cdcloans.com or (619) 243-8667.
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