The two Iowa offices of the U-S Small Business Administration saw a rise of about nine-percent in the number of loans they made to small businesses in the past fiscal year which ended September 30th. Cheryl Eftink, director of the Des Moines S-B-A office, says the dollar amount of the loans rose 19-percent from the previous year. The S-B-A made 527 loans in Iowa for more than 101-million dollars which will create or retain more than 57-hundred jobs — increases across the board from a year ago. Eftink says she’s encouraged by the rising numbers of new Iowa entrepreneurs, particularly in spite of so many foul reports from Wall Street and Washington D-C. She says the bad economy sometimes has a positive effect as people start small businesses as the large businesses close down.Loans were made to start-up or existing small businesses in 83 of Iowa’s 99 counties. Eftink says about 98-percent of all businesses in Iowa are small businesses — or about 110-thousand businesses. She says those that received loans during the past year were wide-ranging. They include high-tech companies, beauty salons and car washes. The S-B-A has offices in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. For more information, surf to “www.sba.gov”.