Georgia SBA lending blows away competition

9/20/2011

The state of Georgia has far exceeded its previous total amount of SBA loans administered in a fiscal year, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports.

Georgia businesses obtained 1,616 guaranteed loans this year, totaling more than $1 billion dollars. This is an increase from the 1,510 loans administered in 2010, and the most lending volume it's experienced since 2008. In all, the state saw a 72.6 percent increase in loan volume, year-over-year, with hospitality, retail and healthcare benefiting the most from the uptick in lending, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

"The Jobs Act provided SBA and our lending partners with greater capacity to help small businesses obtain the funding they need to grow, create jobs and to bring the economy back to full speed" SBA district director Terri Denison told ABC. "Credit should also go to SBA lenders in Georgia, who despite a challenging economy, are demonstrating their faith in Georgia's small businesses."

Georgia leads the Southeast region in guaranteed loan volume, greatly outpacing the next highest area - the South Florida (Miami) District - which has totaled $677.7 million thus far. North Carolina, North Florida (Jacksonville) and Tennessee round out the top five.