Mills discusses SBA success in Ohio during tour

1/31/2012

The Small Business Administration approved nearly $760 million in loans for 3,228 Ohio small businesses last year, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

SBA director Karen Mills made the announcement during a stop in Cleveland to tour Constantino's Market, a grocer that used SBA loans to open and expand his establishment.

"Ten years ago I could go to a bank and request $200,000 and they'd say sign here," owner Costas Mavromichalis told Mills, as quoted by the news source. "It's been a lot less predictable for small business owners in this economy."

Mills attributes much of the success of SBA loans (it provided more than $30 billion to 60,000 small businesses nationwide last year) to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which reduced fees and allowed 90 percent guarantees on loans.

"It's the most important piece of legislation to pass through Congress in the last 10 years," Mills added, as quoted by the media outlet.

MenaFM reports that Constantino's obtained its first SBA loan in 2003 for a showplace store in downtown Cleveland. Owner Mavromichalis would later receive a second loan in February 2010 to expand the store, which now employs 31 workers and has seen a 19 percent increase in sales since the expansion.