Carson City firms get $5.65 million in SBA loans

Small businesses in Carson City obtained $5.65 million in loans approved last fiscal year by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Nevada District office.

Those loans were part of $220 million approved throughout Nevada by the SBA units in Las Vegas and Reno for Fiscal Year 2014, which closed on Sept. 30, SBA officials said. That total was split between the 7(a) program, which provides small firms with financial assistance, and the 504 certified development company loan program, which offers long-term fixed rate loans for real estate or major fixed assets.

“Nevada is one of the areas experiencing the fastest growth and stability,’ said Bob Holguin, district SBA director. “This is reflected in our loan volume increases in both number of loans and dollars funded.”

The two-unit state office reported the 7(a) program total for the recent fiscal year was up from FY 2013, when there were 328 loans totaling $112 million. The FY 2014 7(a) record was 350 loans totaling $127 million. For the 504 development program, the total for FY 2014 was $97 million involving 152 loans.

In Carson City, the state’s capital received loans amounting to $5 million in the 7(a) program category and $650,000 in the 504 certified development category. The city’s overall total amounted to about 2.5 percent of the aggregate state SBA loans in a community with about 2 percent of the state’s population, according to calculations.

The number of loans in Carson City totaled a dozen for the 7(a) general assistance category and four involving the development grouping.

Statewide, the SBA office reported that approved lenders provided veteran-owned businesses with $10 million in 7(a) capital.

“Our increase in lending to veterans is attributed to our active outreach to veterans and the ‘Boots to Business’ program,” said Holguin. In addition, the state’s SBA office reported $43 million in loans to small firms owned by minorities and women.

Nationally, the SBA recognizes the impact of helping small firms can translate into jobs.

“We know,” U.S. SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet said in a release, “that America’s small businesses pack the biggest punch, creating two out of every three net new private sector jobs in the U.S.”