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When Ron Baker, president of CCA Electronics Inc. in Atlanta,wanted to expand his export business in 1990, the Small BusinessAdministration (SBA) came to the rescue. It offered Baker'sbank a guarantee on the $400,000 loan it extended to CCA, thanks toa program called the Export Working Capital Program, or EWCP (thencalled the Export Revolving Line of Credit).
"Without the EWCP, we would have been out of business along time ago," says Baker. "The EWCP is essential forsmall business."
But now it is the EWCP that needs to be rescued. Just as Clintonadministration efforts to strengthen the program were beginning toshow results, Congress passed legislation-signed by PresidentClinton-with a provision that lowers SBA guarantees on 7(a) loans(of which the EWCP loans are one type) from 90 percent to 80 oreven 75 percent.
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