SmallBusinessNewz

Banks Pledge Increase in Small Business Lending

On Tuesday in Cleveland Ohio, Vice President Joe Biden announced a partnership between 13 banks to increase small business lending over the next three years.The 13 banks have committed to a combined $20 billion increase to small business lending.  The largest player in the pledge is Citigroup, who said that they plan to loan small businesses $8 billion next year - up from $6 billion in loans they made last year and $4.5 billion they made in 2009. 

Small Business Lending Stabilizing

Lending to small firms by U.S. financial institutions continued to decline, but began to stabilize in some loan size categories over the 2009-2010 period, according to a report from the Small Business Administration Office of the Advocacy. The study finds that small business lending dropped by 6.2 percent, less than the 8.9 percent drop experienced in large firm lending over the 2009-2010 period. GDP has turned upward, and business lending may follow the pattern of other recessions, in which commercial and industrial lending grew only after recovery was well under way.

SBA To Launch Redesigned Site This Fall

The U.S. Small Business Administration said today that a complete redesign of its website, SBA.gov, will launch this fall.The new SBA.gov will make it easier for small businesses, lenders, small business counselors and other members of the small business community to find the information they need through a simplified navigation structure. In addition, new features will allow users to customize settings to provide information specific to their needs.

Small Businesses Paying Debt Quicker to Help Credit Ratings

Business credit bureau Cortera has shared some interesting findings from its November 2009 Small Business Index (SBI) report. The report is a monthly index of accounts receivable (A/R) activities covering businesses with less than 500 employees (the SBA's definition of a small business).

FPB Checks In On Lending Rates, Growth Expectations

New survey results from the Forum of Private Business once again focus on how hard it is for small companies to get money from banks.  Otherwise, small business owners seemed to be fairly split between adopting optimistic and pessimistic outlooks.

FPB Issues Good News/Bad News Lending Report

We'll let you be the judge of whether this qualifies as good news, but a new report indicates that banks aren't saying "no" to the idea of small business loans as often as before.  Instead, they're charging an arm and a leg when they sometimes say "yes."

Lending Problems Tied To Business Closures

Plants don't do well without water, people don't exactly thrive without food, and businesses usually need money in order to keep running.  It shouldn't come as a surprise, then, that lending problems might be leading to business closures.

Bankers Drop Hammer On Small Biz

Loans are tougher to come by for small businesses that don't meet the increasingly lofty expectations of their local banker.

Squeezing You: Banks Tighten Small Biz Loans

Small businesses may have some trouble prying money out of the hands of bankers, as those institutions see their losses mount.

SBA Loans Jeopardized By Fee Spat

Whether or not small businesses turn to Small Business Administration loans for help, there seems to be a fight brewing between SBA and bankers.