A member of the Association for Manufacturing Technology testified in Boston before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services about how the economy and lack of credit is hurting machine tool makers.

Although recent actions by the Obama administration to make loans easier for small-business owners, much more is needed.

That was the message delivered March 23 when a member of the Association for Manufacturing Technology testified in Boston before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services about how the economy and lack of credit is hurting machine tool makers.

Iris Mitropoulis, chairwoman and chief executive officer of Kingsbury Corp., said that although the Small Business Administration’s new loan programs help, they require that “repayment ability from the cash flow of the business is a primary consideration in the SBA loan decision process.” However, in this economy, most small businesses will not be able to meet such requirements due to the credit crisis.

Mitropoulis asked members of Congress to change the loan approval criteria to include assets, employment and past performance.