ATLANTA – (January 16, 2009) State Senator Emanuel Jones (D-Decatur) held a press conference today urging President-Elect Barack Obama to issue an executive order granting ethnic minority automobile dealers immediate financial assistance and access to funding through the Small Business Administration (SBA). A successful auto dealer himself, Sen. Jones owns one of the largest African-American owned businesses in Atlanta.
“Ethnic minority auto dealers represent only five percent of the more than 22,000 auto dealers in the nation,” said Sen. Jones. “This is a small but significant sector of the economy that sustained a loss of more than 200 dealerships last year. We are reaching out to the president-elect and his team to highlight the plight of the minority auto dealer, who must provide immediate financial assistance before these hardworking Americans are forced to close their doors.”
Sen. Jones was joined by Greg Baranco, owner of Baranco Automotive Group who has dealerships across the state. This announcement follows a meeting Sen. Jones and Mr. Baranco attended last week in Washington, D.C. with President-Elect Obama’s transition team, where together with the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers (NAMAD), they outlined a request for capital and financial assistance for ethnic minority auto dealerships. Without assistance, over 75 percent of ethnic minority dealers will be forced to close. This means a loss of over 150,000 direct and indirect jobs, in addition to a loss of over $51 billion annual gross revenue for the national economy.
The request proposes creating a revolving loan program for ethnic minority dealers, allocating $1 billion in the next stimulus package. Under this plan, these dealers will also have access to an emergency loan program through the SBA that will provide immediate access to working capital. A similar program was successfully implemented during former President Jimmy Carter’s administration in the 1980s when auto dealers were facing economic hardships. The proposal also outlines other loans that should be made available and encourages the government to require minority auto dealers to achieve greater saturation in the market and within dealer networks.
“My commitment to ensuring that ethnic auto dealers across the country get the financial assistance they need goes beyond my personal interest as a fellow dealership owner. This is one of my platform issues as chairman of the Georgia Black Legislative Caucus,” added Sen. Jones, who was elected chairman of the GBLC for the 2009-2010 legislative term.
Sen. Emanuel Jones represents the 10th Senate District, which includes portions of DeKalb and Henry counties. He may be reached at 404.656.0502 or via e-mail at emanuel.jones@senate.ga.gov.
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release:
January 16, 2009
For Information Contact:
Raegan Weber, Director
Kallarin Richards, Senior Communications Specialist
kallarin.richards@senate.ga.gov
404.656.0028