Shaheen Joins Young and Colleagues to Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Help Small Businesses Adopt Digital Tools

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH),the former Chair and now a senior member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, joined U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-IN), Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Ted Budd (R-NC) in introducing bipartisan legislation to help small business owners integrate digital tools into their businesses. TheSmall Business Technological Advancement Actwould clarify that small businesses can utilize the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 7(a) loan program to finance technology that supports daily operations, including inventory management, product delivery and accounting systems.
“In an increasingly digital world, more and more companies are using technology to modernize operations and compete globally. To ensure our small businesses can compete too, we must cut red tape to allow them to utilize digital tools to help manage and grow their businesses,”said Senator Shaheen.“Our commonsense, bipartisan bill will empower small businesses to use SBA’s 7(a) loans to access new software, digital tools and online work.”
The last few years have seen an accelerated digital transformation among small businesses, pushing the adoption of software for business continuity and customer engagement. TheSmall Business Technological Advancement Actwould help small businesses continue to bridge this technological gap by amending theSmall Business Actto clarify that 7(a) loan borrowers can finance business software or cloud computing services for the following:
Full legislative text can be foundhere.
As a former small business owner and nowa top member of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, Shaheen fights for New Hampshire’s—and America’s—small businesses. During her time as Chair of the committee, Shaheenfocused on addressing some of the biggest challengessmall business owners face, reporting key legislation out of committee that included critical improvements to the State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) and improved access to federal contracting opportunities for small businesses. Shaheen recently introduced the bipartisanHelping Small Businesses THRIVE Actwith Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) that would direct SBA to create a new program that helps small businesses lock in the cost of commodities, like gasoline or lumber, in order to protect against the future volatile price of energy and other expenses.
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