White House Nudges Large Firms to Speed Up Payments to Small Vendors

Small to mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) are getting some help on an critical issue from a pivotal source: the White House. President Obama is coming to the aid of the legions of small business owners who have become frustrated over the last several years by the increasing tendency of large and even blue-chip corporations to slow down payments to their suppliers.

In fact, some observers of the marketing business believe that the very existence of small ad agencies could be endangered if major clients persist in their slow-pay policies while interest rates begin to rise with economic growth. “New agency start-ups are certain to virtually cease and the total number of ad agencies could shrink dramatically, as will their dependent suppliers,” wrote Forbes.com contributor and veteran branding executive Avi Dan. “It may also lead to a squeeze on talent, as agencies will shed staff to survive.”

SupplierPay is a rare example of the Obama administration using its increasing penchant for unilateral executive action to act on an acute concern of business owners. The president and his senior advisors launched a program they called QuickPay in 2011 that aimed at helping small-business contractors get paid more quickly by the federal government’s large contractors. On the heels of the SupplierPay announcement, the White House said it plans to renew QuickPay in the future.


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