March 24, 2009 – Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson and a bipartisan group of 11 of his colleagues have sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urging him to quickly implement the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP), which Nelson authored and had included in the 2008 Farm Bill.
 
"Small businesses are the backbone of our rural economy and create much-needed jobs in our rural areas. The continued success of these entrepreneurs is essential to ensuring that rural communities survive," said Senator Nelson. "This program will help existing businesses and encourage the creation of new ones."
 
The senators explain that they were disappointed by the lack of progress toward implementing this valuable rural development program by the previous Administration.
 
“Microenterprise was crucial in creating employment during our last recession,” the Senators wrote. “From 2000-2003, microenterprise employment grew by 9.13 percent. During the same period, other private, nonfarm employment fell by 1.47 percent.”
 
During the current economic crisis, traditional private-sector lenders have pulled back from providing credit to small businesses. The situation is even more acute in rural America, where small businesses make up 90 percent of all rural businesses. Over a million rural businesses in the United States have 20 or fewer employees.
 
RMAP is designed to provide technical and financial assistance, as well as capacity building, to very small businesses and sole proprietorships. The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 authorized RMAP and provided $4 million in mandatory funding for FY09 and FY10, as well as $3 million for FY11. In addition, the Act authorized $40 million annually for FY09- FY11.
 
The Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program builds off a successful program Nelson instituted as governor. The Nebraska Microenterprise Partnership Fund, created in 1997, has provided nearly 1,046 loans - totaling $9.5 million - to Nebraska small businesses. The Center for Rural Affairs estimated that in 2006 alone the program helped create or save 7500 jobs at a cost of just $330 per job.
 
The Senators thanked Secretary Vilsack for the program’s inclusion in President Obama’s FY10 Budget Summary and they urged full and swift implementation. The Senators also encouraged the Secretary to include full funding for the program in the detailed budget request to be submitted this spring. 

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