A new report from the Iowa offices of the U.S. Small Business Administration shows dramatic rises in the loans to Iowans who are starting their own companies. Dave Lentell is spokesman for the S-B-A office in Des Moines. In the first six months of the fiscal year, compared to the first six months in the last year, Lentell says the number of loans to Iowans rose 29-percent while the dollar amount rose 39-point-seven percent. Lentell says small businesses are the backbone of Iowa — there are 210-thousand small businesses in the state, that’s 98-percent of all the businesses. He says there may be many factors contributing to the sharp rise in loans to Iowans who are starting up their own businesses — which includes the very low interest rates. He says the econmy has been conservative and he says more people might want to start their own business to take control of their money. Lentell says S-B-A loans to minorities in Iowa rose 300-percent, loans to women rose 25-percent and loans to veterans rose seven-percent.