Omaha bankers and business leaders met Friday to show support for the bailout plan approved by the House of Representatives. They know it was a tough decision, but believe it was the right one.
They do warn though that the approval is not the answer to all of the country’s economic problems.
"This is not going to be an immediate cure, but it will go a long way to get us back on the road to recovery and that’s what we need at this point in time,” said United Republic Bank CEO Mike Pate.
Many business owners agree with Pate that the bailout was the right way to go. There was talk about how Omaha was insulated from all the economic trouble caused by the turbulent economy, but trouble was on its way until the bailout bill was passed.
Every day is Christmas at Brite Ideas decorating at 38th and Farnam. Travis Freeman has been in the Christmas decorating business for almost 20 years. He and his company make decorations overseas and bring them to the U.S. In order to make it work, Travis needs a line of credit. In order for that to happen, Congress needed to pass the bailout bill.
"If the bill doesn't pass, right now the credit market is shut down. If we can’t get this bill passed people will be out of jobs. We're not gonna be able to get our product to sell to our end users. People have already placed orders expecting things so we really need for that to happen."
All Travis wanted for Christmas was for Congress to pass the bailout bill so his workers could keep working and Christmas could continue to be bright and happy. His wish came true and it’s a good thing.
His company has been through a lot and to have his line of credit cut off could have spelled the end. "We've been through a fire, we've been through a strike in California where our product didn’t get here. This would be the worst of all of them."
Local business leaders say in Omaha, the community banks kept the lines of credit open. The passage of the bailout plan should help keep business like Brite Ideas open and going strong.