Members of the Northeast Florida Builders Association last month met with Congressman Ander Crenshaw and Congresswoman Corrine Brown in Jacksonville to discuss the challenges their members are facing and to relay ideas on what needs to be done to help.
NEFBA members explained that while Congress passed a $700 billion bailout for banks and financial institutions, that money hasn’t yet made its way to Main Street.
Several members shared examples of how banks are reducing and tightening down on lines of credit to their businesses even in cases where payments are current. This credit crunch is causing severe impacts in terms of not having the cash flow for meeting payroll and is forcing additional job cuts in the building industry. The spiraling effect is of enormous concern because these newly unemployed individuals are often next at risk to enter a foreclosure process on their own homes.
NEFBA members called on Crenshaw and Brown to encourage a forbearance period so credit and payment issues can be worked out, rather than banks forcing them into bankruptcy causing more job losses.