FED speaker to address small business lending

The School of Business, Computer Science and Information Technology will welcome Brett Barkley, a senior research analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, for this semester’s HSB-FED: State of the Economy discussion.

Barkley’s topic will be Small Business Lending. His presentation will be at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6, in Adams Hall. Seating is limited; please RSVP to hsb@heidelberg.edu by Tuesday, Jan. 30.

 Barkley is part of the Community Development Department at the Federal Reserve Bank, where he conducts policy research on affordable housing, neighborhood stabilization and equitable development. The bank conducts an annual small business credit survey and publishes an annual report on the status of small business credit lending. A recent paper, which Barkley co-authored, is titled “Is ‘Fintech’ Good for Small Business Borrowers? Impacts on Firm Growth and Customer Satisfaction.” His data analysis sheds new light on small business funding sources for entrepreneurial ventures in Seneca County and surrounding areas.

He holds two master’s degrees from the University of Illinois-Champaign in urban planning and applied economics and a bachelor’s degree in economics from George Mason University.