When the history of the worst recession since the Great Depression is written, August 2008 will stand out as a pivotal month. That appears to be when the credit crunch became a vicious cycle, consuming small businesses in a vortex of vanishing credit lines and increasingly restrictive loan terms.
For Mark Lane, president of Coed Sportswear and Printed Matter, that's when his bank of seven years called in all of their notes, despite the fact that he'd made a host of difficult decisions -- laying off employees, cutting benefits, and slashing other costs -- to maintain what he thought was a "strong, healthy" banking relationship.
