Small Firm Lending Pace Accelerated in 2007

The number of small business loans outstanding under $1 million increased by 15 percent between June 2006 and June 2007, according to a report released today by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration. A subset of loans—those between $100,000 and $1 million—increased more than twice as much, by almost 32 percent. The total dollar value of small business loans increased by about 8 percent. Smaller loans under $100,000, which include many business credit card loans, increased in total dollar value by 9.4 percent. All of these were higher rates of growth than over the 2005-2006 period.

“Small business survival depends on access to adequate capital for startup and expansion,” said Dr. Chad Moutray, Chief Economist for the Office of Advocacy. “This annual lending report gives small businesses and financial institutions the hard data they need about the availability and use of credit in their markets.”

The report, Small Business and Micro Business Lending in the United States for Data Years 2006-2007, uses both Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income from June 2007 and Community Reinvestment Act reports for 2006 to review small business lending activities by financial institutions. The report also covers savings banks and savings and loan institutions.

The report ranks lenders in each state and territory by their small business lending activities, as well as ranking large national financial institutions. A complete ranking of lenders, including prior annual reports, is available at www.sba.gov/advo/research/lending.html. Lenders are ranked on their overall small business lending, not by lending under SBA programs.

The Office of Advocacy, the “small business watchdog” of the federal government, examines the role and status of small business in the economy and independently represents the views of small business to federal agencies, Congress, and the President. It is the source for small business statistics presented in user-friendly formats, and it funds research into small business issues.