Chicago entrepreneurs get big small business lending boost

4/27/2011

Entrepreneurs trying to start a company in the Windy City are looking fortunate, as small business lending practices seem to be relaxing. Chase, Chicago's largest bank, recently told the Chicago Tribune that the amount it lent to small companies has risen by 24 percent.

The bank made more than $750 million worth of commercial loans, helping out nearly 22,000 unique businesses in the process. Nationwide, the bank is committed to lending $12 billion to entrepreneurs over the course of the next 12 months, which is up 20 percent from 2010.

"Chase said nationally it made more than 100,000 new loans for working capital, term loans for expansion, commercial mortgages, lines of credit and business credit cards on its books in the first three months of the year," the Chicago Tribune reports.

This bodes well for cash-strapped small business owners, as more than three-quarters of them (81 percent) plan to grow their companies this year even if they have to take financial risks, a recent survey from American Express OPEN suggests.