Our Visit with Geithner

I went on a last-minute trip to DC last week, so speak truth to power. Officials from the Treasury Dept. had visited San Francisco the prior week, and we took them to meet our client, William Ortiz of Gentle Parking. William told them about how he has been able to create 12 jobs, many of them for at-risk youth, after receiving a $10,000 loan from Opportunity Fund. After hearing what William had to say about the challenges facing small businesses, and the help he had received from Opportunity Fund, the folks at Treasury invited William and me to a forum on small business financing, organized by the Treasury Department and the SBA. 24 hours later, I was sitting in the Cash Room at the old Treasury Building watching William on a panel with Timothy Geithner and Karen Mills, the SBA Administrator. He was absolutely the star of the show, and spoke in a way the policymakers in DC (the meeting was also attended my members of the House and Senate) could not fail to hear. We are hoping to see more federal funds and loan guarantees flowing towards the microfinance sector in this country, to stimulate job growth and economic recovery. Well done, William!