I participated in a "roundtable" yesterday with Speaker Pelosi to discuss the impact of the Recovery Act in San Francisco.  The small group discussion included department heads from City government and other recipients of stimulus funding.  It was followed by a press conference, at which our client William Ortiz spoke, along with Speaker Pelosi, Mayor Newsom, the Police Chief and the Chancellor of UCSF.  William did a great job as usual, explaining how he used a $10,000 loan from Opportunity Fund to double his workforce during the recession.

It makes me crazy to hear people in politics and the media say that the Recovery Act has had no impact whatsoever.   A year ago, we were facing an economic catastrophe after the Bush administration’s economic policies largely failed (while they succeeded in dismantling the financial system’s regulatory structure). Along with unbridled and reckless behavior by financial institutions and investors, this ginned up a massive housing bubble.  The nation's GDP was declining at a 6.5% rate, and we were shedding 740,000 jobs per month.  Today, the GDP is growing at better than 5%, and job losses last month were 24,000.

No one knows better than Opportunity Fund that people are still hurting and hurting badly.  I’m proud of the work we’ve done in our community for years; our efforts this past year, in conjunction with the Recovery Act funding we received to do the work, was particularly critical.  While yesterday's press conference felt a little too triumphant in tone for my taste, the Recovery Act clearly played a major role in pulling us back from the brink.  To suggest otherwise is foolish and blind.  I applaud the Obama Adminstration for acting quickly and forcefully to clean up a mess they didn't make and I commend Speaker Pelosi for her leadership to see the Recovery Act passed and efficiently put to good use.

Opportunity Fund helps small business owners access capital to grow their enterprises and improve their well-being every day. But it isn’t every day that we are recognized by the Speaker of the House for the work we do right here in the Bay Area.