More banks rejoining SBA lending program

As the economy begins to pick up, more banks are once again using the U.S. Small Business Administration to help give loans to small business owners looking to create a corporation.

SBA statistics say that more than 1,300 financial institutions have rejoined the agency’s main 7(a) lending program in just the last four months, after at least a three-year absence from the program.

“The market has changed,” Gary Youmans, senior vice president of Pacific Alliance Bank, told the Los Angeles Times. “They’ve made it more attractive for both sides – the lenders and the borrowers.”

The Times says that among the banks rejoining the program is Bank of America – the nation’s largest financial institution – which says it will make around 500 loans in its first year in the program.

The increase in lenders using the program has led to a wider availability of credit for small businesses. The SBA says that since January, the agency has supported roughly 46,000 loans, worth more than $29 billion – a 30 percent increase over last year.