Small Business Administration’s New York office tops $1 billion in guaranteed loans

Loans to small business owners backed by U.S. Small Business Administration guarantees increased 36 percent in number and 15 percent in dollar amount in the SBA”™s New York district in the 2017 federal fiscal year, putting the district office over $1 billion in annual loan program lending for the first time.

The district office ”“ which covers New York City, Long Island and Westchester, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan and Ulster counties in the Hudson Valley region ”“ approved a total of $1,016,502,422 in SBA loans from area lenders.

Nationwide, the SBA approved more than 68,000 loans in the 7(a) and 504 loan programs that provided more than $30 billion to small businesses in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.

In Westchester County, 213 SBA-guaranteed loans amounting to just under $75 million were given to business owners in the 2017 fiscal year, up 20 percent in number from the previous year, according to SBA officials in Manhattan. The loans supported more than 1,400 jobs throughout the county in industries such as catering, fitness and recreation, restaurants, performing arts, janitorial and nursery and garden centers.

In the seven-county lower Hudson Valley region, the SBA guaranteed 500 loans worth $191 million.

The New York district added 35 lenders in 2017 that did not participate in the federal loan programs in 2016. TD Bank made more SBA loans, 898, than any other lender. NewBank, based in Flushing, Queens, loaned the greatest dollar volume at $119 million.

“Our numbers are through the roof,” New York District Director Beth Goldberg said. “We guaranteed more loans than any other district.”

Goldberg said 36 percent of the region”™s SBA loans were under $50,000; 42 percent went to minority-owned businesses; and 16 percent, or $160 million, went to women-owned businesses.

Goldberg attributed the increase to the district office staff”™s work to address the “pain points” of SBA lenders and make them more comfortable with the SBA loan guarantee as another “tool in their toolboxes” when meeting with small business owners looking for financing. “This significant increase would not have been possible without our lending partners,” she said.

“Going forward, we want to increase SBA 504 lending,” Goldberg said. The program provides small businesses with long-term, fixed rate financing to acquire fixed assets. The loans are available through Certified Development Companies, SBA”™s community-based partners.

The 504 lending program “makes it possible for small business owners to purchase their building for as little as 10 percent down,” Goldberg said. “We really want to spread the word so we can help entrepreneurs move from tenant to owner-occupant.”

In the Hudson Valley, the top five SBA lenders by number of loans were JPMorgan Chase, with 81; TD Bank, 75; Manufacturers and Traders Trust Co., 59; Empire State Certified Development Corp., 40, and KeyBank, 24.

The top five lenders by dollar amount in the Hudson Valley were Empire Certified Development Corp. $40,726,000; Manufacturers and Traders Trust Co., $11,393,800; Noah Bank, a minority-owned bank headquartered in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, $9.12 million; Celtic Bank Corp., based in Salt Lake City, $7,886,400; and Cross River Bank, based in Fort Lee, New Jersey, $7,768,100.

In Westchester County alone, the top five SBA lenders in number of loans were TD Bank, with 42; JPMorgan Chase Bank, 39; Wells Fargo, 14; Citibank and Manufacturers & Traders Trust Co., both with 11; and New Millennium Bank, headquartered in Fort Lee, with nine loans.

The top five lenders in Westchester County by dollar amount were Empire State Certified Development Co., $8,866,000; Newtek Small Business Finance Inc. in New York City, $5,917,400; Live Oak Banking Co., of Wilmington, North Carolina, $5,165,000; TCF National Bank, based in Wayzata, Minnesota, $4,995,500; and NewBank, $4,540,000.

The Small Business Administration also launched an upgraded online lender referral tool, Lender Match, in the recently ended fiscal year. It connects small business borrowers with participating SBA lenders.