SBA loans in 2011 set new record of $30.5 billion

Published 9:39 am Wednesday, October 5, 2011

The Small Business Administration supported $30.5 billion in loans in its 2011 fiscal year, the highest mark in the agency’s history.

In a news release Wednesday, the SBA said it had unprecedented loan volume in the first quarter and what it called healthy, prerecession levels in the final three.

“SBA-backed lending continued the upward trend we saw last year,” SBA Administrator Karen Mills said, adding 61,689 small businesses had access to capital in the fiscal year that ended in September.

The previous record was in 2007, when the SBA backed $28.5 billion in loans.

While lending has returned to pre-recession levels, there continue to be gaps in the marketplace and small businesses that need access to capital, the agency said.

It noted it has two new programs — Community Advantage and Small Loan Advantage — intended to help.

The Advantage lending programs provide steamlined applications for loans under $250,000.

Community Advantage allows microlending intermediaries to make loans with the SBA guarantees

For more information, visit the SBA Web site by Clicking here