Jobs Bill for Rural Washington Pt 1

Jobs Bill for Rural Washington Pt 1

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
I'm Bob Larson. A bill to kick-start smart economic growth in Ag-dependent rural areas is being discussed in the state House of Representatives.

Republican Jim Walsh testified recently before the House Technology and Economic Development Committee on behalf of the Washington Rural Jobs Act, House Bill 1422 ...

JIM WALSH ... "It's a bill that uses some targeted tax preferences to encourage private sector lenders, financial institutions, not banks but kind of companies that specialize in business financing, business lending to come into rural markets and rural parts of this state and finance companies basically. Make money available, capital available, for operations and growth for small firms."

Walsh is co-sponsoring the bill with Representative Brian Blake, and says it's not a program for companies that are just getting started ...

JIM WALSH ... "It's not a model that would support startups as much as companies that have been around for a little while and are small. Have under maybe a few million a year in sales, couple of employees. Give them the kind of access to capital they need to grow, to kind of move up to the next level, to staff up to maybe 20 employees and move into bigger facilities, that kind of thing."

The Washington Rural Jobs Act proposes using a mix of federal and state resources, like the USDA's Rural Investment Program.

Listen tomorrow for more on Representative Walsh's bill and how the funding will be spread throughout rural Washington.

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