By Natalia Olson-Urtecho
For two years in a row the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has helped to put more than $30 billion into the hands of small business owners across the country. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, the SBA’s loan programs posted the second largest dollar volume ever, surpassed only by the 2011 fiscal year, which was heavily boosted by the loan incentives under the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010.
The pace of SBA loan-making is a healthy sign for the national economy and the credit markets and is one of the foundations for ensuring the availability of financing to small businesses trying to establish themselves, grow and create new jobs for Americans. Right here in West Virginia, the SBA provided more than $50 million in loan guarantees through SBA participating lenders, which helped 164 small businesses retain or create 1,924 jobs.
In the past year, the SBA began streamlining and simplifying many of its loan programs to provide more access and opportunity for lenders and small businesses. As part of this effort, the SBA encouraged lenders to use more of their own paperwork and the agency’s updated processing systems so that more than 80 percent of its loan applications can now be processed online.
These efforts, among other loan enhancements, resulted in nearly 1,300 lenders returning to SBA lending and opened up more points of capital access for small businesses—wherever they do business. The results are clear:
- 504 Loans Set All-Time Record. By improving and simplifying the loan-making process and reducing paperwork, the SBA saw a record year for the Certified Development Company (504) loan program, which helped 9,471 entrepreneurs, supporting $15.09 billion in small business lending. Here in West Virginia, seven 504 loans were approved totaling nearly $6.6 million, creating or retaining 250 jobs.
- CAPLines Loan Program Jumped 400 Percent. A revamped CAPLines program, which provides working lines of credit to small businesses such as manufacturers and government contractors, jumped 400 percent from 108 loans and $118 million in 2011 to 532 loans and $410 million in 2012.
- Low-dollar Loans on the Rise. Lenders are making more low-dollar loans using SBA Community Advantage and Small Loan Advantage (SLA) loan programs that encourage lenders to make low-dollar loans, which are an important tool for small businesses. In fiscal year 2012 the number of Community Advantage loans increased to more than 11 times the number of loans in 2011. The Small Loan Advantage program ended the fiscal year with 820 loans for $150.6 million—nearly 80 percent of the year’s SLA loans were after the SBA simplified the processes on June 1.
- SBA’s Growth Capital Program Breaks Record for the Third Consecutive Year. The Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) debenture program provided a record $2.95 billion to small businesses in FY 2012, a 14 percent increase over the previous year and the highest single-year volume in the 54-year history of the program. This good news is due in part to a number of improvements that contributed to an increased number of new SBIC licenses and reduced license processing times.
Here in the SBA’s Mid-Atlantic Region, your local district office in West Virginia is ready to help. For more information about the SBA, visit www.sba.gov. As we look forward to 2013, the SBA stands ready to help you start, grow or expand your business!
About the Author
Natalia Olson-Urtecho is the regional administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration. She was previously founder, president and CEO of EG, a company dedicated to helping public and private entities become more profitable through environmentally friendly and socially responsible planning and strategies. Before founding EG, Olson-Urtecho was a transportation and land use planner at the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission and was director of global initiatives at H2L2. Olson-Urtecho has more than 15 years of experience working with international, regional and local entities. She was previously appointed to the U.S. Innovation Advisory Board and to the Philadelphia City Planning Commission and Zoning Code Commission. Olson-Urtecho received the Business Journal 2010 Minority Business Leader Award and in 2009 received the Women of Distinction Award for her work toward building a green economy. She has lived in seven countries and speaks Spanish, French and Portuguese. She holds a master’s degree in city and regional planning from the University of Pennsylvania, School of Design, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Northeastern University. She has been a guest lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University.
