Today, Governor Nixon's office announced the names of the first ten low-interest loan recipients as part of Nixon's Small Business Loan Program. The initiative provides capital for small business at affordable rates.
The new loan program was approved 7-1 by the Missouri Development Finance Board in April. Only Lt. Governor Peter Kinder voted against the proposal.
Kinder is a vocal opponent of the loan program, criticizing it as too small and too risky. In his words, the $25,000 loans wouldn't allow an entrepreneur to buy much more than "a desk and a computer and a chair."
"I think we might as well go out on High Street and start handing out thousand-dollar bills to passersby," Kinder said.
