SBA Indiana’s Loan Volume Reaches Over $601M

The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Indiana District Office Fiscal Year 2018 lending numbers demonstrate that entrepreneurs accessed capital needed to succeed and thrive via the SBA’s 7(a) and 504 loan programs, contributing to job creation and economic development.

The SBA’s Indiana District Office approved 1,518 loans in the 7(a) and 504 loan programs in FY18. Combined, these programs provided $601,491,400 to small businesses, showing a strong lending performance.

“One of SBA’s top goals is to get more capital into the hands of Indiana entrepreneurs who would otherwise not be able to access loans at reasonable rates,” said Stacey Poynter, the SBA’s Indiana District Director. “Our lending numbers show that we are accomplishing that objective, helping small businesses in the area start and grow.”

Nationally, the SBA announced FY18 lending numbers showing that it guaranteed over $30 billion through more than 72,000 approved loans to small businesses that otherwise would not have had access to capital.

“We are providing resources and access to capital for small businesses through SBA’s 7(a) and 504 loan programs,” said Rob Scott, the SBA’s Region V Administrator. “We’ve reduced the time it takes to process loans and changed over to electronic processing. We believe that these efficiencies and the President’s tax cuts and deregulatory actions will help more small businesses grow and prosper in the coming year.”

In FY18 there were approximately 60,353 7(a) loans made nationwide, with a total dollar amount of $25.37 billion. The 7(a) program is SBA’s flagship program, which offers guarantees on loans to small businesses of up to $5 million on reasonable terms and conditions. 7(a) loans are commonly used for acquiring land, purchasing equipment, or working capital.

The SBA’s 504 loan program had another year of high performance for lending, with 5,874 loans made for a total dollar amount of over $4.75 billion. In FY18 SBA launched the 25-year Debenture, which offers an extra 60 months of financing at a fixed rate for small businesses. Since its introduction in April, over 1,000 debentures had been sold by the end of September.

In FY18 there was significant growth in the SBA’s smaller loans, including a record volume of dollars lent in the Microloan and Community Advantage Programs. Specifically, over 5,000 loans were approved for over $72 million in the Microloan program and over 1,000 loans for over $150 million in SBA’s Community Advantage program.

The SBA continued to innovate and improve processes by leveraging enhanced technologies. Lender Match is an SBA technology platform that gives entrepreneurs the ability to complete a quick online form, without registration or cost, and be connected with an approved SBA lender within 48 hours. To date, Lender Match has generated 3.6 million leads on behalf of small businesses to our lenders and over 160,000 unique borrowers have been contacted by lenders with financing options.

Another technological innovation was the development of the SBA’s Franchise Directory, which was launched this year and has resulted in an over 50 percent increase in eligible franchise brands. There are currently 3,192 brands on the Franchise Directory. When the directory was first published in October 2017 there were only 2,034 brands. In FY18, SBA has seen a year over year increase of over 21 percent in 7(a) and 504 dollars going to franchises.