If you use credit cards to help cover the everyday expenses of running your small business, you’re not alone. The National Small Business Association says that nearly 60% of America's small firms rely on plastic as a quick and convenient source of operating capital. And if using your cards for business purposes is tougher than it used to be, you have company there as well. A story in today’s New York Times reports that moves by banks and credit card companies to limit card use is depriving many entrepreneurs of the one source of cash they could depend on when all others failed. In one case, a Florida business owner saw her interest rate rise above 30% while her credit limit was slashed from $30,000 to $5,000. According to the story, three-quarters of small business say that they have seen large cuts in card limits over the last six months. This coincides with a general drying-up of business loans from banks and other sources of commercial credit. The credit card delinquency rate among small business owners isn’t drastically higher than defaults by consumers (12% vs. 10%). Unfortunately for the small business community, however, these firms were not included in the credit card reform legislation signed by the Obama administration last month. On a brighter note, despite the credit crunch and all other recession-related setbacks, 70% of small businesses anticipate moderate to significant growth in 2009. This is according to a survey conducted by Constant Contact Inc. for the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, SCORE, and the Association of Small Business Development Centers. Significant growth was foreseen by 23% of respondents, while 47% predicted that growth would be moderate. Of those anticipating growth in 2009, nearly half (47%) said they expected to hire additional employees.