http://iim-edu.org/managementtrainingcoursesusa/index.htm

Anyone wanting more info can go to the site. we have tons of sample business plans, a directory to get you to your local, E-newsletters, blog,

Also we are about to launch two social networks the first is going to be a ning site, even though it isnt officially launched yet, I will go ahead and extend an invite to your readers they can sign up at sbdcnet.ning.com

Hmmm … what is there to say about those AIG bonuses?

It’s been a good twenty years or so since I have had even a glancing acquaintance with corporate America. So, a story like this makes it that much more alien to me than it already is. I’m kind of old fashioned, too, and it’s tough for me to imagine a world in which bonus-worthy performances by management and the company almost imploding and going under are not mutually exclusive.

On the other hand, if those managers operated things in such a way that the shareholders made a bucket of money and weren’t hit with any of the losses, I suppose I can see why *they* would have had no problem with the bonuses. The only problem is, of course, that the shareholders are not the ones paying for those bonuses. We are.

And, from our perspective, the folks getting those bonuses haven’t earned them. Au contraire, in fact.

This is not the first time that executive compensation has come up in relation to TARP money. If I’m remembering this right, the last time Hank Paulson hinted that financial institutions receiving TARP funds should pull back on the executive bonuses and such, said institutions indicated that if Henry were going to play that way, they might not play at all.

Henry backed off.

I disagree with that move. The banks are saying the same sorts of things right now. There’s a story in this morning’s Washington Post in which banks are said to be indicating that attaching strings to executive compensation might drive banks away from the program.

(Also of course, Congress’s knee-jerk reaction may backfire if it catches innocent bystanders because the earnings bar is set too low. In justice to them, I think it is possible that their own outrage is genuine and not as cynical as it may appear.)

I’d say, let them. In fact, I’m wondering if maybe we need to consider building a new system from the ground up and letting this one topple if the bankers won’t cooperate. When somebody is drowning and they ask you to wait while they think about whether to accept the lifeline you toss them, how long do you stand there and how hard do you argue with them about it?

Sorry, a lot of this is coming across to me as very kindergarten/schoolyard. Must be all the kids I’ve got.

In my experience, the people staffing the SBDCs are not only knowledgeable but are truly interested in helping small businesses thrive. Any business person who fails to look into the programs available through their local SBDC is missing a great opportunity.

Well, actually, the SBA hasn’t been “putting money out via their guarantee loan programs”. Those programs have been as frozen as all other forms of commercial credit; SBA loan volume was down 57% for the first four months of the current fiscal year. (Not sure what the number is now but I doubt it’s much improved.)

That’s a big plank of President Obama’s recently announced small business plan, using TARP funds to buy securitized SBA loans and inject some liquidity into that market. It is hoped that, between that and the elimination of lender and borrower fees, the 7(a) lenders will actually start lending again.

Parenthetically, I’ve been trying to get Tony Wilkinson, president of the National Association of Guaranteed Government Lenders, on the phone to talk about this, with no luck. He seems to be doing his best to be in three places at once these days and I guess I can see why.

Having said all that, one of the main reasons why so few small business owners know about programs like the SBDCs is because SBA District Office personnel are evaluated on things like loan volume and loan dollar volume. In fact, back in 2002 I believe, several members of Congress were dismayed by a finding in a GAO report that SBA personnel were under the impression that their “customers” were banks, not small business owners.

So, loans are what the agency jumps up and down about and yells about the loudest. And that, in turn, is what the media picks up on.

From what I’ve heard from some of my sources, that hasn’t improved noticeably. SBA personnel sometimes push loans onto small business owners who didn’t want them and don’t really need them. SBDC counselors, on the other hand, will tell you straight up front that a loan is the last thing you need, if that’s the situation. I know. I’ve seen it.

Only know, since conventional (bank) loans have all but dried up are folks turning to the SBA in numbers because they are the only folks putting the money out via their guarantee programs with lenders.

With some luck they will ‘streamline’ their business loans applications and we will see more small businesses take advantage of the much needed liquidity.