Bank spurs Michigan small business growth

11/3/2011

Fueled by a lending program that aims to provide up to $2 billion in small business loans over the next four years, Ohio-based Huntington Bank has been providing Michigan companies with ample funds, BusinessWeek reports.

Since the program began seven months ago, Huntington has doled out more than $800 million in loans to approximately 1,300 small businesses in the state.

"(Michigan) is a very, very positive market for us," said Huntington commercial banking director Jim Dunlap, as quoted by the news source. "We believe the state is on a significant trajectory toward economic recovery and we're going to invest into that."

The volume of business loans provided to southeast Michigan companies has tripled over the past 14 months. One of those recipients - Grand Traverse County-based Cherry Growers - has benefited immensely, WWUP-TV reports.

A $9 million loan from Huntington allowed the business to add three more production lines, 93 additional jobs and produce a new apple-based fruit snack called GoGo Squeez to be carried by major state retailers. The company now employs more than 250 workers.