Microloans up, big loans down for small businesses this year - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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A new report found that the totalp value of small business loanss outstanding increased by 4 percent in the 12 monthsz that ended inJune 2008, down from the previous year’s increase of 8 percent. Thesw numbers are for smalo business loans as a not justSBA loans. The numberf of business loans of lessthan $100,000 jumpe by nearly 16 percent, as largde lenders concentrated on credit according to the study. By contrast, the number of businessa loans inthe $100,000 to $1 million ranges fell by more than 23 percent. The report used call reportsa submitted by banks as well as Communityu ReinvestmentAct data. Business loanw of less than $1 million were considered to be smalllbusiness loans.
Based on call report data, the top five smallp business lenders in June 2008 wereAmericam Express, Capital One, Regionsz Financial Corp., Synovus Financial Corp. and First Citizen Bancsharew Inc. “In the current financial it’s especially critical for small firmzs to know which banks and financial institutionw have been the most likely to make smalpl andmicrobusiness loans,” said economist Victoria a co-author of the study. For more see www.sba.gov/advo.