Joins Other Midwest Governors in Urging Quick Federal Action

MADISON – Governor Jim Doyle today joined Governors Jennifer Granholm (MI), Ted Strickland (OH), Ed Rendell (PA) and Pat Quinn (IL) in sending a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner urging quick federal action to help manufacturers and small businesses get access to much needed credit, stabilizing their businesses and protecting jobs. The Governors asked Secretary Geithner to schedule a conference call or meeting to discuss a specific proposal from the Governors as well as other options.

“Through President Obama’s leadership we have brought our national economy back from the brink,” Governor Doyle said. “But we need to ensure manufacturers and small businesses have access to credit as our economy recovers and they look to expand and create jobs. The inability for small businesses to access credit is a real obstacle to a national economic recovery, and it is something we must work together to overcome.”

Despite economic progress, many businesses – particularly manufacturers and small businesses – are still having difficulty accessing credit from financial institutions. Due to the credit freeze, businesses are experiencing reduced cash flows and undervalued collateral.

The Governors proposed making federal funds available to leverage private loans for businesses from financial institutions. Through a partnership with states, financial institutions would be able to identify manufacturers or small businesses they would like to be in business with, perform the appropriate underwriting and due diligence, and then access needed resources from state-level intermediaries. This would mitigate risk and increase lending, helping preserve and create jobs in manufacturing and small business.

“It is clear that while recovery will not happen overnight, we as a nation are coming back from the brink of disaster,” the letter reads, in part. “But we cannot fully recover if manufacturing does not regain its place in the U.S. economy as the employer of the great American middle class.  The United States cannot fall behind as other countries who invest in manufacturing gain an advantage in critical emerging sectors like energy systems and medical device manufacturing. To ensure the long-term strength of this bedrock, job-providing sector of our economy and to prevent further job loss, we strongly urge that we work together to identify ways to solve the credit access issues our manufacturers currently face.”