Record year for SBA loans

Northwestern Financial Review, Nov 29, 1997 by Bengtson, Tom

Record Year For SBA Loans

Closing out its 1997 fiscal year, the Small Business Administration set records in total loan dollars, dollars loaned to minority borrowers and venture capital investments. Total lending and venture capital financing exceeded $13.25 billion.

In fiscal 1997, the SBA approved 45,288 loan guaranties amounting to $9.46 billion in the 7(a) general business loan guaranty program, a 23 percent increase in loan dollars over 1996. SBA also approved 4,131 loans worth $1.44 billion under the certified development company loan program. The combined dollar amount of $10.9 billion is a record, exceeding the previous mark of nearly $10.2 billion set in 1996.

Included in the year's loan totals are $2.6 billion in 7(a) and CDC loans to more than 10,600 minority-owned businesses - almost 24 percent of the total dollar amount - and almost $1.7 billion in roughly 10,800 loans to womenowned businesses. Both dollar totals are records.

What Do You Think? This edition of the Northwestern Financial Review is the sixth in our pilot program for the fax Update. I am in the process of evaluating the success of the pilot program and am making plans for 1998. If you have an opinion about the fax Update, I'd like to hear it. Call me any time at 612-929-8110 or mail your comments to me at 3407 West 44th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55410. Or use e-mail; my address is Tom_Bengtson@tcilink.com.