Opinion
Needed: Protecting small businesses from predatory lending
A loan document package ready to be signed. (Photo: nik93737 via Shutterstock)OPINION: “Small businesses are the backbone of the economy.” We hear this all the time from elected officials, but the data show it’s much more than a political platitude. California’s four million small businesses employ 50% of the state’s private sector workforce, and accounted for two-thirds of job creation over the last seven years. They lifted us out of the Great Recession. But small business owners still grapple with acute challenges, particularly access to affordable credit.