SBA event will match lenders with entrepreneurs

The U.S. Small Business Administration and SCORE – Counselors to America’s Small Business – are organizations that continually work to help small business owners get their ideas off the ground. Now, the two are teaming up to help match aspiring New Jersey entrepreneurs with SBA lenders and help them get the funding they need to create a corporation.

The first annual Lender and Small Business Matchmaker conference, run by the SBA’s New Jersey district office, will put small business owners in the same room with more than 20 lenders – giving them access to multiple banks looking to distribute loans.

“This concept allows small business owners to have confirmed appointments to meet with SBA lenders and is a proven way to increase small businesses access to loans,” the SBA’s New Jersey District Director, James A. Kocsi, told NJtoday.net.

Entrepreneurs across the country have been increasingly turning to the SBA because the federal stimulus bill allows the administration to guarantee up to 90 percent of small business loan amounts, making those loans much more attractive to banks. The demand for SBA loans has been so strong that the agency has asked Congress to appropriate more funds to continue its lending.