Restaurateurs seek SBA loans in Tennessee

1/30/2012

Approximately 10 percent of the total number of U.S. Small Business Administration loans handed out to Tennessee companies were for those in the restaurant, the Tennessean reports.

Specifically, SBA loans were granted to 17 restaurants in 2011 - the majority of which were for "frying pan and pizza parlor entrepreneurs," the news source notes.

Walter N. Perry III, Tennessee's SBA district director, explains to the media outlet that many restaurant borrowers were ex-military personnel or corporate downsizing victims looking to restart their careers as entrepreneurs.

"Military borrowers are something we'd like to do much more with," Perry said, as quoted by the media outlet. "Typically, it's the sort of person with the passion, enthusiasm and energy to get things done. And that's what it takes to run a business that doesn't stop at 5 p.m. every day."

Patriot Express loans can assist veterans that have at least 51 percent ownership of a company, with amounts reaching as high as $500,000.

Clarksville Online reports the state's Small Business Development Center recently hosted a workshop at Austin Peay State University for small business owners to apply for Community Express and Patriot Express loans.