When banks shut down during the 2008 crisis, it was virtually impossible for small business owners to get loans to grow or even operate their businesses. The United States Small Business Administration played a major role in easing this problem because it has $100 billion in loan guarantees, and this money was available to small businesses when none was available anywhere else.

Karen Mills (@KarenGMills), former administrator of the U.S. SBA (@SBAgov), spoke with John Walls (@JohnWalls21) and Jeff Frick (@JeffFrick), co-hosts of theCUBE*, from the SiliconANGLE media team, as part of the Quickbooks Connect event in San Jose, CA. She talked about the SBA’s advocacy of how Intuit Inc. and QuickBooks have made it easier for companies to get what they need, be it accessing a small loan or giving owners more time to grow their companies.

Why small businesses are key to economic recovery

Fortune 500 companies employ enormous numbers of people, but that is only one part of the big picture. While large- and medium-sized corporations are obviously very important, it is small businesses that are the backbone of the American economy, according to Mills.

During the fallout from the 2008 financial crisis, it became clear to many people, including Mills, that promoting entrepreneurship and small businesses was the key to recovery, because two-thirds of all new jobs come from small businesses.

“I went to Washington, and it was during the economic crisis. I took a look, and it turns out half the people who work in this country own or work for a small business,” recalled Mills. “So I would say I went to sleep at night worrying about half the jobs. And two out of every three net new jobs come from small business.”

Providing essential tools and services

One of the reasons the SBA became interested in Intuit and its QuickBooks platform is because it is widely used by small businesses. And many of the apps found on the platform make smaller, short-term cash loans available to companies that will keep them operating, for instance, until payment for a large order comes in or until the funding for a growth opportunity becomes available. In addition, the platform encourages and allows business owners to be more hands-on with the accounting side of their business, something they may not have had the time to do before.

“One of the things going on here … is we’ve got small business owners here figuring out how to grow their business,” said Mills. “That’s what’s going to make America prosper again. That’s what’s going to create this growth that we’ve been worrying about that we’ve been lacking.”

Stay tuned for the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of Quickbooks Connect.

*Disclosure: Intuit and other companies sponsor some Quickbooks Connect segments on SiliconANGLE Media’s theCUBE. Neither Intuit nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.

Photo by SiliconANGLE