North Carolina banks are putting out sizable amounts of loans to small businesses, and one of the state’s most recognized industry organizations is leading the way.
Data from the North Carolina district of the US Small Business Administration showed that BB&T made 90 loans through the SBA’s guaranteed loan program between October 2008 and May of this year. These loans, classified as 7a loans, have been used for everything from working capital to equipment purchases and beyond.
The total amount BB&T lent during that time span totaled almost $17 million.
“We look at SBA lending at BB&T as an extension of our lending to all small businesses across our footprint,” said Mark Edwards, president of BB&T Small Business Partners.
“Generally, we evaluate these loans in the same fashion as we would evaluate any other small to midsize business that we deal with,” Edwards continued. “Typically an SBA guarantee is going to be added to a loan if we see a client has a bit tighter cash flow coverage or would benefit from extended terms that would allow them to have better cash flow coverage over the life of the loan.
“Or sometimes we have an instance where the small business doesn’t have quite enough collateral or typically adequate collateral coverage for a typically standard commercial loan,” he added.
|
Lender
|
7(a)
|
7(a) $
|
| BB&T | 90 | $16,967,200 |
| Superior Financial Group | 75 | $665,000 |
| Surrey Bank & Trust | 34 | $4,436,400 |
| Wachovia | 16 | $11,902,100 |
| Innovative Bank | 15 | $410,000 |
| Bank of America | 14 | $480,000 |
| Borrego Springs Bank | 14 | $625,000 |
| Capital Bank | 12 | $2,189,100 |
| Self-Help CU | 12 | $612,000 |
| Bank of Granite | 11 | $1,171,200 |
| Banco Popular | 10 | $2,685,800 |
| Mountain 1st Bank | 10 | $1,396,500 |
| Live Oak Banking Co. | 9 | $8,985,000 |
| SunTrust Bank | 9 | $575,000 |
| PNC Bank | 8 | $1,097,300 |
| Bank of Stanly | 7 | $512,400 |
| RBC Bank | 7 | $1,799,900 |
| Select B&T | 7 | $360,000 |
| Community Bank of Rowan | 6 | $1,315,000 |
| First Citizens Bank | 6 | $1,950,000 |
| Business Carolina, Inc. | 5 | $3,484,000 |
| Coastal FCU | 5 | $235,000 |
| Small Business Loan Source | 5 | $3,397,000 |
| CIT | 4 | $2,863,000 |
| Community West Bank | 4 | $1,570,600 |
| Home Loan Investment Bank | 4 | $2,872,500 |
| The Fidelity Bank | 4 | $370,000 |
| Wells Fargo | 4 | $1,675,400 |
| Wilshire State Bank | 4 | $890,000 |
| Fifth Third Bank | 3 | $740,000 |
All told, banks in North Carolina made a total of 465 SBA-guaranteed 7a loans during the reported time span for a total amount of more than $113.7 million.
Some of the state’s other large banks made a significant amount of these kinds of loans, too. Wachovia issued 16 of these loans for nearly $11.9 million. Bank of America gave out 14. RBC Bank authorized almost $1.8 million in this category of loans while First Citizens issued more than $1.9 million.
Lee Cornelison, director at SBA’s North Carolina district office in Charlotte, is looking for banks in this state to hand out even more 7a loans in the future thanks to alterations in federal regulations.
In March, federal guarantees on SBA loans increased to 90 percent from either 75 or 85 percent depending on the transaction. Also, borrower fees have been waived, an amount that previously was 2.5 to 3 percent of the guaranteed amount of the loan. Cornelison said that fee could have been $50,000 or more.
To explain these changes to state bankers, officials from the North Carolina district office conducted seminars in Asheville, Charlotte, Greensboro, Cary and Wilmington. Cornelison noted that attendance was high since as many as 90 different banking organizations attended at each stop.
“We probably had more bankers attend than we had at any of our annual conference in the last several years,” Cornelison said. “They’re interested in learning what the enhancements are. They’re interested in learning how to put these packages together.”
Meanwhile at BB&T, putting loan packages together for small businesses remains a critical component to its service strategy no matter the economic circumstances.
“Hopefully as the economy continues to recover, we’ll see a larger number of small businesses that we can help through the SBA guarantee programs,” Edwards said.
“One of the hallmarks of our organization is that we are there to serve the communities where we have operations,” Edwards added. “Across our Southeastern footprint, a big component is serving small businesses in those communities. As those small businesses thrive and succeed, they create additional opportunities for more small businesses. Our philosophy is that we work hand in hand with small businesses in the area that we serve. The best way to do that is to look for as many of those opportunities as possible.”
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http://www.ncmagazine.com/stories/bbt-tops-lenders-amount-sba-loans?=wt.mc_id=Email-NCM
