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How good is the jobs news?

Last week, I listened closely to President Obama's speech for new ideas about jobs for Americans that would give us all hope. I heard about clean energy jobs, something President Obama discussed during the election, but it was not clear where the jobs would be coming from, or even what jobs might be. I also heard about ideas for small businesses getting help in the form of tax breaks and Small Business Administration loans so they could hire more people.

I listened closely to this topic because of my recent difficult experience with it. I am the president of a small business, and three weeks ago I got an SBA loan to grow the business and hire more staff. But, it took me one year to get the SBA loan, and collateral I had to put down was disproportionately huge --- four times the amount of the loan. Basically, the SBA and the small community bank could take over everything I own if anything ever happens to me or to my business.

Very few small business owners have this amount of collateral to support a business loan. So, I was understandably skeptical about Obama's ideas regarding the SBA loans as a way to create more jobs. Needless to say, I did not come away from the speech with much positive news to share with you.

The morning after the speech, I took a new approach. I decided to look past the political rhetoric and examine the actions actually being taken right now to generate more jobs for Americans. Reading the transcript of the State of the Union, I compared Obama's new job ideas with the new and proposed bills that will support those ideas. Here's what I found:

PASSED LEGISLATION:

The Recovery Act, to create Construction Jobs. This bill was passed last year and is in action.

The GI Bill and Military Family Bill, for more Military Family and Veterans Services Jobs. This bill has passed, and these jobs will begin to appear very soon.

PENDING LEGISLATION:

The new Education Bill, to create more education jobs. This bill will probably pass and will create more education / teaching jobs.

The Jobs Bill, $154B Bill for Transportation and Instructor Training Jobs. This bill has not passed yet.

SBA Loans for Small Businesses ($30B to community banks), to create new small business jobs.

The Main Street Lending Restoration Act, just proposed in December 2009.

Doha Bill for more global exporting and business jobs. This problematic bill has been in the works for a long time and may not pass.

Climate and Energy Bill, to create new clean energy jobs. This bill has not passed yet the Senate yet.

A note on the Spending Freeze: For those of you who have been worried about a federal spending freeze, the one piece of solid good news I can give you is that the spending freeze will not start until 2011. Let's move forward with hope that the programs will begin to have a positive impact on our jobs situation soon.

My feeling last Wednesday night was right: the speech did not say much about REAL JOB CREATION TODAY. So, moving forward, I will continue with my federal job search counseling, training, book publishing and other activities as I have been doing. I will continue to encourage jobseekers to write the best possible resume and federal resume. And I'll keep encouraging people to stay strong and focused toward the future.

Don't think or worry about what the government is doing. It's all up to each person to figure out their way to a new job and to solve their financial issues. If the government does come up with programs that will help us, that's great! But I am not going to sit around and wait. I will continue to be the entrepreneur that I am!

Kathryn Troutman is the author of Ten Steps to a Federal Job and the Federal Resume Guidebook, a guide to federal resume and KSA writing for current feds and government contractors. She is the producer of www.resume-place.com, a one-stop service and website to help you write a federal resume, understand what job is right for you in government, and consult with you on federal job search strategies.