U.S. Treasury: Utah banks increased small business lending | The ...

U.S. Treasury: Utah banks increased small business lending

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has released a new report showing that five Utah financial institutions participating in its Small Business Lending Fund increased their loans to small business owners by over $127.7 million since the program was launched in mid-2010.

Community banks participating in the SBLF increased their lending by 32 percent since mid-2010 compared to an increase of 5.7 percent among those that are not involved in the program.

"Community banks participating in the Obama Administration?s Small Business Lending Fund have consistently increased small business lending over the past two years, resulting in increased access to capital for thousands of small and family-owned businesses across the country," Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin said in a statement.

The Utah financial institutions participating in the program, according to the Treasury Department, are: Cache Valley Bank, Logan; Continental Bancorp, Salt Lake; Medallion Bank, Salt Lake; LCA Bank Corp., Park City; and W.T.B. Financial, American Fork.

The SBLF was established as part of the Small Business Jobs Act that President Obama signed into law in 2010. It was set up to encourage lending to small businesses by providing capital to community banks and community development loan funds with less than $10 billion in assets. As a result, the Treasury Department provided more than $4 billion in capital to 332 participating institutions.

The dividend or interest rate a community bank pays on SBLF funding is reduced as the bank increases its lending to small businesses, a provision that was designed to provide a financial incentive to the participating financial institutions to increase their lending activity.

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Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/money/55605449-79/lending-business-participating-treasury.html.csp

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