I am very pleased and honored to be here today to celebrate Small Business Week 1998 and to recognize the Small Business award winners. The Small Business Administration has been the foundation of support for the small business person. For more than forty years, the SBA has assisted small businesses with money, advice, and help to get into business and be able to stay in business. The award winners today attest to the success of SBA in accomplishing their mission.
Small business is very important to the banking industry.
That is because most of the banks in Texas are small businesses themselves. The condition of the banking system in Texas often dictates just how supportive banks are to their borrowers. In bad times, their lending is curtailed while they work out of their problems. In good times, banks are looking to book good loans and increase their profitability. The banking system in Texas has returned to health in a big way since the 1980's and is at an all time high and has been for several years.