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The state's unemployment rate has consistently stayed below the national rate during the recession and job gains were reported statewide for November recently, but Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) unveiled new initiatives to boost job creation Monday at the Greater Baltimore Committee's Small Business Summit in Baltimore.

After pointing out "three out of five jobs in the state are created by small and family-owned businesses," O'Malley outlined plans to help businesses gain more access to credit by creating the Maryland Small Business Credit Recover Program which offers loan guarantees; proposed a Job Creation and Recovery Tax Credit to give businesses a $3,000 tax credit for every unemployed worker it hires; and pledged to introduce emergency legislation to resolve the increased rate impact small businesses face next year for the Unemployment Trust Fund.

"Most economic growth in our state will be generated from within, so this commitment to small business by Governor O'Malley is very welcomed," said GBC President and CEO Donald C. Fry in a statement. "Small business is big business in Maryland, and we must continue to support our small businesses and develop innovative solutions to help them grow."

O'Malley presented his small business initiatives during his keynote address at the GBC event, which attracted more than 120 small business owners, according to GBC information. The event featured industry experts on panels that addressed finance, networking, energy, health care and technology issues that affect small businesses.

Tomorrow the governor is to join a panel of small business owners to host a live, online small business town hall from Blue Sky Factory in Baltimore. Questions for the town hall discussion can be submitted by going to www.choosemaryland.org. In addition, O'Malley said the state's small business task force is to present recommendations later this week on job creation and initiatives to help the economy.

"Although we are starting to see some encouraging economic news ... we've seen in the last six months we've created more jobs than we've lost and we've seen our housing market start to bottom out ... we know that there is still some pain out there," said O'Malley, before providing details of his initiatives.

The initiative to help expand access to credit includes loan guaranty deals through the state Department of Business and Economic Development's existing Maryland Industrial Development Financing Authority Program. Under the program, banks can apply for up to a $50,000 MIDFA guaranty and a 48-hour approval turnaround is to be made available on loans up to a $250,000 guaranty. The initiative could leverage "up to $64 million" in new private sector lending for small businesses, according to information from the governor's office.

"Access to credit is the lifeblood of small businesses," said O'Malley.

The tax credit plan, which is proposed for one year with a $20 million cap, would help create jobs and help ease the pressure on the state's Unemployment Trust Fund. "We believe this can put thousands of Marylanders back to work," said O'Malley of the tax credit plan.

He said the emergency legislation to address the rate increase small businesses face for contributions to the Unemployment Trust Fund is a high priority.

"We need to figure out how to fix it and get it to a new normal," said O'Malley, to provide "immediate relief for small businesses."

The fund, which had almost $900 million in September 2008, dropped to about $300 million a year later as more people filed jobless claims. As a result, businesses face a large unemployment tax increase Jan. 1.