Vermont SBA Sets Lending Record for Fiscal Year 2004

MONTPELIER - The Vermont U.S. Small Business Administration has posted
another record-breaking year.
According to Vermont SBA Acting Director
Darcy Carter, results for the 2004 fiscal year, which ended on 9/30/04,
show that SBA backed 362 Vermont loans worth $64 million, a 25% increase
in the number of loans over 2003 results. Total dollar amount exceeds
2003 results by 56%.
SBA loans range from one hundred-dollar microloans
to $1.3 million real estate acquisition loans.
SBA's 504 loan program in Vermont broke all previous records with 34 loan
approvals totaling $13 million, a 325 % increase over loan approvals for
2003.
The Vermont 504 Corporation, Montpelier, was SBA's leading
Certified Development Corporation (Section 504) lending partner in Vermont
with 16 projects totaling $7 million, while Bay Colony Development
Corporation of Waltham, Mass, was second with 8 projects totaling $4
million. Central Vermont Economic Development Corporation, Montpelier,
finished in third place with 6 projects totaling $2 million.
Section 504
loans are available to expanding businesses for real estate purchases,
renovations or for equipment financing.
Based on statements from our borrowers, SBA's financial backing
helped small businesses create or retain more than 3,132 jobs in Vermont.

The SBA backed 49 loans worth $5 million to women-owned firms. The SBA
guaranteed 8,053 loans in the six New England States totaling $930
million, an 11 percent increase in the number of loans and a 23 percent
increase in the dollar total over 2003 results. Records were also broken
nationally with just under 92,000 SBA-backed loans totaling $17.5 billion.
"The record number of SBA-backed loans recorded in 2004 demonstrates our
commitment to meeting the unique financing needs of small businesses
throughout the state," said Carter. "With SBA technical assistance
programs and loan assistance, business owners have the opportunity to
create jobs, expand our economy and build strong communities. The flow of
capital, enhanced by the SBA guarantee, is an important factor in Vermont,
where we rely upon small business to keep our economy going."
In 2004, 30 lending institutions participated in SBA's flagship 7(a) loan
guaranty program in Vermont. SBA guarantees loans for any business
purpose under this program.
Banknorth, N.A. was the #1 SBA lender in
Vermont with 46 loans totaling $9 million, while Chittenden Bank was
second with 41 loans totaling $10 million. Passumpsic Savings Bank was
third with 34 loans totaling $3 million.
SBA's lending partnerships
cover the entire state, and while the larger banks produce the greatest
SBA loan volume, community banks continue to be very active SBA lenders.
SBA's top ten Vermont banks include Banknorth, N.A., Chittenden Bank,
Passumpsic Savings Bank, Community National Bank, Capital One Federal
Savings Bank, Merchants Bank, Factory Point National Bank, Union Bank,
National Bank of Middlebury and Bank of Bennington. To view the complete
lender ranking list for 2004, including the number of loans and dollar
totals credited to each lending institution, click on the following link:
http://www.sba.gov/vt/vtlenderloanvolume.html.
SBA also trained and counseled more than 5,000 prospective and
existing business owners in Vermont in 2004 as a result of SBA's
entrepreneurial development efforts in partnership with the Vermont Small
Business Development Center, SCORE, and the Vermont Women's Business
Center.
For more information about SBA programs and services, visit the SBA
website at www.sba.gov/vt or call the Vermont
District Office at (802) 828-4422. ###