Find the 'Ambulance Man' for SMEs in Management Crisis

Jungjingong Active Since 2011... Rapid Loan System Within 7 Days
37.15 Billion Won Supported in Last 29 Months... Focus on Ukraine-Affected Companies This Year

#Last April, a call was received at the Small and Medium Business Corporation (SBC). It was an appeal from a small business located in a factory in Pocheon, Gyeonggi-do, reporting severe damage caused by a fire. Immediately, the ‘Ambulance Man’ from SBC’s Seoul Northern Branch was dispatched. It was judged that swift support was necessary due to the crisis caused by the major accident. The situation on site, where Ambulance Man Kim Min-ae, the SBC team leader, rushed to, was more serious than expected. The factory of this company, which supplies fabric to Dongdaemun Market, was completely burned down by a fire that spread from a neighboring factory. The fire was so large that four nearby factories were also burned down. Although the fire on site was extinguished, the crisis that could potentially collapse the company due to this fire had not yet been resolved. The company reported damages exceeding 2 billion KRW. Although insured, compensation would take more than a year. The company was in a situation where it had to restart the business from scratch just to avoid closing down, let alone recover the damages. After assessing the damage and recovery plans, Team Leader Kim immediately decided to provide policy fund support on site.

Introduced in 2011, the Ambulance Man system provides rapid loans within seven days to companies facing management difficulties. If SBC is a general hospital, the Ambulance Man plays the role of an emergency doctor. Just as an ambulance is needed when one cannot go to the hospital by themselves, the Ambulance Man is dispatched when more urgent support than the usual policy fund process is required. The activities of the Ambulance Man, who goes to the site and helps normalize the management of companies facing existential crises, are vivid examples that allow us to look into the crisis situations our economy and companies are facing.

◆Focus on Supporting Companies Affected by the Ukraine Crisis This Year= The Ambulance Man visits the site to assess the damage and conducts company evaluations using a fast-track rapid assessment model to decide on funding support. This year, the Ambulance Man’s activities mainly focus on supporting companies facing crises due to the Ukraine situation. Team Leader Kim recently decided to support an export company struggling because of the Ukraine crisis. He explained, "It was a small business exporting cars to Africa by disassembling and assembling them locally," adding, "This company tried to expand its business by shifting its target market to Ukraine but was hit hard by the war, causing sales to plummet." Although there was a judgment that recovery might be difficult based on the numbers alone, the Ambulance Man believed this company could be saved. Kim also introduced that he conducted a video meeting with the CEO who was in the field to decide on support for a company exporting construction materials to Russia.

The Ambulance Man belongs to a public institution that provides policy funds and carries a sense of mission to save struggling companies. As the management environment crisis for small and medium enterprises continues due to recent raw material price increases and the Ukraine damage situation, the role of the Ambulance Man, who quickly identifies and supports these issues, has become even more important. An SBC official emphasized, "In the event of domestic and international economic crises, we will actively cooperate with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to continuously expand the scope of Ambulance Man support and serve as a social safety net that promptly supplies liquidity to small and medium enterprises facing management crises."

◆114 ‘Ambulance Men’ Active Nationwide= According to SBC, from 2020 to May this year, 371.5 billion KRW has been supported through the Ambulance Man system over 29 months. In 2020, when corporate damage spread due to COVID-19, there were 1,431 cases with 307.3 billion KRW supported, and last year, 219 cases with 56.7 billion KRW were supported by the Ambulance Man. This year, mainly targeting companies affected by trade relations with Russia and Ukraine, 7.5 billion KRW was provided to 28 companies.

The Ambulance Men are composed of grade 3 or higher managerial staff from SBC’s 33 regional headquarters nationwide. To ensure rapid support, they are granted full authority over policy funds, and employees with extensive on-site inspection experience and excellent evaluation capabilities serve as Ambulance Men. Each regional headquarters has 3 to 4 employees who concurrently serve as Ambulance Men, ready to be dispatched whenever a crisis occurs alongside their regular duties. As of the first half of this year, 114 Ambulance Men are actively working on the ground.