Sean McDonnell
cleveland.com
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) As Sean McDonnell reports, “The U.S. Small Business Administration loaned $44.8 billion through its traditional lending programs in the 2021 fiscal year, even while it sent out another $1.1 trillion in COVID-related relief since the start of the pandemic.”
Cleveland
The SBA announced the sharp increases in loans, while highlighting that many went to minority-owned, women-owned or veteran-owned businesses. According to the SBA, both 7(a) loans and 504 loans grew.
“While progress has been made, our data also tells a deeper story: historic inequities in accessing capital persist, and we must do more to lower the barriers of entry to opportunity for all our entrepreneurs,” said SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman in a news release Friday. “We will continue to build on our impactful programs to meet small businesses where they are and connect them with the resources needed to thrive.”
According to SBA data, just over $36.7 billion in 7(a) loans were approved in the 2021 fiscal year, up from $22 billion the year before. The most 7(a) loans approved in a year previously was $25.9 billion in 2015, according to available data.
Another $8.2 billion was approved in 504 loans. According to the SBA, its the first time the organization has exhausted its funding authority for 504 loans in its history. The SBA sent out $5.8 billion in 2020.
The SBA also approved $71.8 million of microloan funding.
According to the SBA, $11 billion of 7(a) loans went to minority-owned businesses, nearly $5 billion went to woman-owned and $1.2 billion went to veteran-owned. For 504 loans, about $1.9 billion went to minority-owned businesses, along with $712 million to women-owned businesses.
In the news release, the SBA did highlight some gaps it is trying to fill. It said certain communities are still having issues accessing capital, and loans issued to the smallest borrowers have declined. The SBA said loans for smaller borrowers isn’t unique to the SBA, and other lenders are seeing the same trend.
SBA Associate Administrator Patrick Kelly said the team is already at work on the 2022 fiscal year.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
