Frontier Bank opens SBA loan center

Frontier executives ring the NASDAQ opening bell in 2008. (NASDAQ courtesy photo.)

Frontier Bank is now home to a Small Business Administration loan department, located at the bank's administrative headquarters in Everett.

The department will make 7(a) loans to eligible business and professional firms throughout Frontier Bank's 50-branch network, according to a statement from the bank.

"7(a) loans are the most basic and most commonly used type of SBA-guaranteed loans," according to the statement. "They are also the most flexible, since financing can be obtained for a variety of general business purposes, including working capital, machinery and equipment, furniture and fixtures, land and building (including purchase, renovation and new construction), leasehold improvements, and debt refinancing (under special conditions)."

The department is the latest step in Frontier's mission to move away from real estate loans, which sent the bank's stock plummeting in the last year. After censure from the federal government, Frontier executives announced that they would take steps to diversify the bank's loan portfolio -- partly through investment in small companies.