Small Business Lending Increasing

May 27th, 2009 @ 3:08 PM by Ben Meyer

The New York Times has a interesting article today about how to get a business loan in the current environment. With national lenders facing a liquidity crisis and business credit card issuers not accepting new users, it’s easy to see why some think it is impossible to get a loan these days.  The SBA however reports that there has been a 25% increase in lending to small businesses since March.

The key to getting a loan seems to be focusing on smaller regional banks.  They avoided a lot of the complex financial tools that got the big boys in trouble and so it is mostly business as usual.  Just as important, the article points out, is having a personal relationship with your bank before you need a loan.  Of course having a sound plan for business growth is always important.  Many of the banks say that those unable to get loans are mostly not worthy of the credit, especially in a tough business climate where expansion is difficult.