The U.S. Small Business Administration is rolling out a streamlined loan program to Iowa banks. Joe Folsom, district director of the S-B-A in Iowa, says the Small/Rural Lender Advantage Initiative should make it easier for new businesses to start up in Iowa and for existing small businesses to expand.
He says the initiative is focused on small, community-based, mostly rural lenders that will provide a means by which they, and their small business customers, can access the SBA’s loan program faster and with less paperwork. More than 95% of the businesses operating in Iowa are classified as small businesses and Folsom says this should help more of them to open and to thrive.
He says a training session for lenders was held last Thursday in Iowa and the first application was received within 24 hours and two other lenders were working on applications on Friday. Folsom says the program features a shorter, simplified application for loans of $350,000 or less and an expedited loan-processing time of three-to-five days.
Folsom says, "It provides a means by which lenders can work with their small business customers and provide the tools and program services that they need in a more responsive manner." He says small businesses account for two-thirds of all rural jobs in the U.S. and comprise more than 90% of all rural establishments. For more information, visit the U.S. Small Business Administration website .