3 Things You Should Know About Small Business: April 9

1. Credit unions wants your business. Federal laws currently restrain credit unions from grabbing more small-business lending, but legislation in both the House and the Senate is being considered to alleviate those restrictions, according to The Charlotte Observer.

While the issue isn't new, it's getting a hard look by politicians this year in an effort to ease capital restrictions on the country's smallest companies. Currently, federal law states that credit unions must cap their small-business lending to 12.25% of their assets. The bills in both chambers seek to increase that cap to 27.5%, the Observersays.

According to the Observer, credit unions collectively hold just 6% of all small-business loans.

Banks, of course, oppose lifting the cap, pointing to the advantage credit unions have by not paying taxes and not being subject to strict regulations, they say.

2. Walmart announces 10 finalists for its Get on the Shelf contest. Of more than 4,000 entries, Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) announced 10 finalists to its Get on the Shelf contest, which aims to get products from three lucky winners sold through Walmart.com and one grand prize winner will get the chance to have their product carried in select stores.

More than 1 million votes were cast, Walmart said Thursday in a press release. The 10 finalists had products ranging from acne solutions to T-shirts to eyeglass repair kits to Kosher salt made by disabled veterans. The final round of voting will run Wednesday through April 24.