RALEIGH, N.C. — Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton will host a press conference at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday to announce new state assistance for small businesses, which are struggling to access capital during the economic and credit crisis. 

The Small Business Assistance Fund will provide low-interest loans to help small businesses keep their doors open and preserve local jobs.  The new revolving loan fund received $3 million in funding in the budget passed by the Senate last week. 

Dalton will be joined at the press conference by legislative leaders from the House and the Senate as well as partner organizations, including Golden LEAF, the Small Business Technology Development Center, the N.C. Institute of Minority Economic Development, the National Federation of Independent Business and the N.C. Rural Center.

Dalton has been traveling the state to hear directly from small business owners and to learn how the State can help them.  Small business is an integral part of North Carolina’s communities and its economy.  In the last ten years, small businesses have accounted for 70 percent of the country’s new jobs, and 86 percent of businesses in North Carolina have fewer than 100 employees.  With unemployment statewide at 10.7

The press conference will take place in the Legislative Building, 16 W. Jones Street in Raleigh, NC.