Mercantile Capital Corp. CEO Chris Hurn working hard to convince support of Obama administration’s HR 5297 small business bill

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS - Mercantile Capital Corporation Chief Executive Officer Christopher G. Hurn in Altamonte Springs is more at home on the Fox News set or the pages of Forbes magazine than his current soap box. — Stumping to drum up Republican support for HR 5297, the Obama administration’s efforts to provide capital for small businesses neglected by the major banks.

“This is a no-brainer for me,” said Hurn. “HR 5297 will benefit American small businesses. That’s the core of the American economy. That’s the primary job-creating sector of the economy,” he said.

“We’ve spent billions bailing out financial services and major manufacturers, making short term transfer payments and extending unemployment benefits, with little to show in stimulating the U.S. economy,” Hurn said.

“In the end, American small business will shoulder all those bills. We’ve got to fix the economy, and HR 5297 is the first big step in the right direction that I’ve seen so far,” he said.

Mercantile Capital Corporation ranks among the most active providers of U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loans for small business owners who want to acquire or develop their own facilities.
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For more information about this press release contact: Chris Hurn, CEO/Cofounder, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040; Geof Longstaff, Chairman, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040; Larry Vershel, Larry Vershel Communications 407-644-4142

President Obama’s Jobs Initiative a Small Step in the Right Direction, Says Mercantile Capital Corporation President Chris Hurn

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. --- Christopher Hurn, president of Mercantile Capital Corporation, the region’s most active provider of U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loans for small business owners who want to acquire or develop their own facilities, appeared on Fox Business News recently to comment on President Obama’s efforts to stimulate job growth in the U.S.

“Some of the things being discussed -- like tax credits for new hires and a payroll tax holiday for employers -- are a good step in the right direction,” Hurn explained, “but I’m not entirely convinced that the Obama Administration has figured out how to truly stimulate our economy and actually create jobs.”

Economic stimulation starts with taxation, Hurn asserted. “You have to put money in people's pockets and then trust the American consumers and businesses to do what is best with it,” he said.

“You can't stimulate job growth without stimulating spending,” he said. “The tax credits that have been proposed are marginally beneficial, but tax credits for new hires were included as part of the original recovery bill. It’s easy to see that they haven’t had the impact we all hoped,” he said.

Hurn unveiled his own four-point plan to jump-start the national economy:

1. Implement a meaningful payroll tax holiday for both employers AND employees (Jan. 1 to July 1, or better yet, all of 2010);

2. Permanently abolish the capital gains tax on any investments made in eligible small businesses (fewer than $100 million or under 500 employees) during 2010;

3. Repeal or drastically modify Sarbanes-Oxley, as it has hampered business growth and hasn't done nearly as much good as was intended;

4. Get health reform right---the plans in circulation are still missing two very important things: tort reform and the ability to purchase health insurance across state lines.

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For more information, contact:

Chris Hurn, CEO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040

Larry Vershel, Larry Vershel Communications 407-644-4142

President Obama’s Housing Recovery Plan deserves a chance to Succeed---and it might, says leading Realtor Roger Soderstrom

President Obama’s Housing Recovery Plan deserves a chance to Succeed---and it might, says leading Realtor Roger Soderstrom

ORLANDO, Fla. - President Obama’s recently announced housing recovery plan may succeed in stabilizing the U.S. housing market and re-energizing the home building industry, says one of Central Florida’s leading real estate analysts.

Roger Soderstrom, founder and owner of Stirling Sotheby’s International Realty, one of the area’s largest real estate companies, said he thinks Americans may be surprised at how quickly the housing market returns.

“We won’t ever see a return to 2005 levels of activity,” Soderstrom cautioned. “That was a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon and we’re paying for it now,” he said.

But, Soderstrom said, both housing values and new home construction are likely to see upswings as a result of President Obama’s recovery plan. And the whole world is waiting for it.

“Housing is the key to U.S. economic recovery and the U.S. is the lynchpin of the global economy,” Soderstrom said. “We have extensive contacts with international investors and vacation home buyers awaiting the U.S. recovery so they can get back into the market here,” he said.

President Obama announced plans to allocate $75 billion in TARP funds to help lenders modify distressed mortgage loans.

“That’s a good first step,” Soderstrom said. “If it is applied conscientiously it could prove a major shot in the arm for the housing market by encouraging home owners when they need it,” he said.

An additional $200 billion---from funding previously authorized by Congress---will spur Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to move in the same direction.

“By any measure, $275 billion is a substantial effort,” Soderstrom said.

“Past policies---in the context of all the other financial shortfalls---have been disastrous and the sooner we can refocus on sound business policies that include both public and private sectors, the sooner we will encourage Americans to renew their faith in American real estate as a sound investment for the future,” Soderstrom said.

The key, Soderstrom said, will be to reshape the housing industry as a secure long-term investment.

“We shouldn’t look at housing as an investment commodity to earn short-term profits,” Soderstrom said. “That’s an abuse of the system and it’s the reason we’re in this mess.”

“For more than half a century, American real estate has stood as the most reliable long-term security a family could invest in,” Soderstrom said. “That’s what’s made this country such a financial powerhouse, and that’s what will lead the world economic recovery in the years ahead,” he added.

For more information contact

Roger Soderstrom, Founder/Owner Stirling Sotheby’s International Realty 407-588-1260

Larry Vershel or Beth Payan, Larry Vershel Communications 407-644-4142