The Small Business Administration posted record loan volume in Delaware during fiscal 2012.
The figures were released by SBA Delaware District Director Tony Leta. The loans helped the state create or retain 1,700 jobs, according to a release from the SBA.
The SBA backed $57.7 million in Delaware loans, guaranteeing 133 loans, up 13 percent from the agency’s 2011 Delaware loan volume of 118 loans and a 73 percent increase in dollars volume from the previous fiscal year.
This also exceeds the all-time record for SBA-backed dollars lent in Delaware, set in 2006 at $42.3 million.
“We are extremely fortunate to have a strong small business community in Delaware that is responding to more favorable economic conditions by expanding their businesses and hiring new employees,” Leta said. “We are equally fortunate to have a great cadre of SBA certified banks and credit unions that step up and meet the capital needs of the Delaware small business community.”
Kent County with a 37 percent increase in the number of loans made, New Castle County with a 114 percent increase in the loan dollars. Sussex County had a 30 percent increase in dollars lent over the previous year.
The certification of three banks as new SBA lenders this year boosted lending in the state: Applied Bank, MidCoast Bank, and First National Bank of Wyoming, combined, issued 18 loans for $13 million in their first few months of SBA lending.
M&T Bank had 34 7(a) loans – which businesses can use for many purposes to start or expand – followed by Citizen’s Bank with 19 loans. Applied Bank led the way in dollar volume approving $9.9M in loans.
Forty one loans going to women-owned businesses, 30 to minority-owned businesses, and nine loans to veteran-owned businesses. Additionally, four of the loans were to businesses to increase their exports to foreign countries.
The loan volume was driven in part, by the Certified Development Company (504) loan program which provides approved small businesses with long-term, fixed-rate financing to acquire durable assets, typically land and buildings, for expansion or modernization.
The performance of 504 loans was driven by WSFS and MidCoast Community Bank with three loans each totaling $3.4 million. Delaware Community Development Corporation was the top Certified development Corporation (CDC) with ten 504 loans for $9.1 million.
