(Wall Street Journal) — Some big U.S. banks are starting to increase their lending to businesses as demand for loans rises and healthier banks seek to grab customers from weaker rivals. After declining steadily for most of the past two years, the amount of commercial and industrial loans held by commercial banks inched upward during […]
(Businessweek) — The Small Business Administration recently announced two new programs that will increase lending to businesses in disadvantaged areas and to those headed by minorities and women. Beginning in mid-March, Small Business Advantage and Community Advantage will allow mission-based financial institutions to issue SBA-guaranteed loans of up to $250,000. “These new ‘Advantage’ initiatives are aimed […]
(Sarasota Herald-Tribune) — THE U.S. SMALL BUSINESS Administration announced on Dec. 15 that it was ending its Community Express pilot loan program on April 30. The program has been widely used by small business owners in need of small amounts of working capital — up to $25,000 in most sites and $50,000 in Historically Underutilized […]
(Bizjournals.com) — The Small Business Administration rolled out two new programs aimed at increasing the flow of credit to businesses in low-income areas, as well as minorities and women. The SBA also announced that Radio One founder and chairperson Catherine Hughes will chair the agency’s new Advisory Council on Underserved Communities. The agency’s two new loan […]
(Businessweek) — 1. Choose an SBA-approved lender. SBA loans are typically easier to get and more flexible than conventional bank loans. They usually offer lower down payment requirements, longer loan terms, and lower monthly payments. If an SBA loan is the best option, choose an SBA-approved lender. The application and approval process is SBA-specific and […]
(Crain’s) — The Economic Development Corp. announced a loan and assistance program Tuesday that it says will help solve a basic supply vs. demand problem plaguing the city’s affirmative-action contracting: government construction projects that prioritize hiring minority- and women-owned businesses sometimes find that qualified companies remain in short supply. A City Council report in September […]
(New York Times) — The House has given final Congressional approval to a bill that would provide more than $4.55 billion to settle tens of thousands of longstanding claims brought by African Americans farmers and American Indians. The bill provides $1.15 billion to African Americans left out of a 1999 settlement of a lawsuit, Pigford […]
(Businessweek) — If you haven’t had luck landing a business loan or credit line from the big banks you’ve approached, don’t expect your odds to improve any time soon. The Basel III guidelines, intended to prevent further financial crisis, will require lenders such as Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), and Wells […]
(New York Times) — VENANTE LINO, a small-business owner who lost nearly everything in the devastating earthquake in January, stood in line here along with dozens of other impeccably dressed women, all waiting to pay the latest monthly installment on the emergency loans they received to rebuild their businesses. Mrs. Lino approached a folding table […]
(Wall Street Journal) — Financing for restaurant operators still shows signs of gridlock, as large lenders are only lending to franchisees that emerged from the downturn relatively unscathed, leaving the bulk of the operators struggling to access capital to expand, remodel stores or upgrade equipment. The environment sets up a dynamic where the rich get […]
(Businessweek) — Last year, Mary Metoyer’s New Orleans flooring company took in just $80,000 in revenue, one-third of her annual revenue before Hurricane Katrina struck. Her customer base of landlords and homeowners had started to return, but many were then hurt financially by the BP (BP) oil spill. When the bank she went to for a […]
(Atlanta Journal-Constitution) — How tough is it to get a loan these days? Ask Dave Gardner, who spent nearly two years trying to secure funding to build an animal clinic in Henry County with his wife, a veterinarian. Eight banks turned down the couple’s request for about $1.8 million, including four lenders that appeared ready to […]