SBA Ranks Huntington as Its No. 1 Lender in US
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Huntington Bank has been ranked the No. 1 lender to small businesses by the U.S. Small Business Administration for the first half of the agency’s fiscal year, Oct. 1 to March 31, Huntington Bank announced Wednesday.
The No. 1 ranking refers to the number of 7(a) loans outstanding Huntington has extended to small businesses, 1,805, all to enterprises in its Midwest footprint of six states. It ranks fourth in dollars lent, $230.1 million.
In its first-quarter earnings release, issued Wednesday, Huntington reported it has $22.5 billion outstanding in commercial loans (READ EARNINGS STORY).
Wells Fargo Bank ranks second in the United States in number of SBA 7(a) loans outstanding, 1,661, and U.S. Bank is third at 1,439, Gil Goldberg, director of the SBA’s Cleveland district, said Wednesday.
Under the 7(a) program, a small-business owner can use the proceeds of his loan to start a business, acquire another business, expand his business or run his enterprise. The SBA guarantees the lender repayment of anywhere from 50% to 85% of the sum borrowed; it depends on the amount borrowed.
A Huntington spokesman noted his bank’s achievement is all the more remarkable because the bank ranks 33d in the United States as measured by assets, $60 billion. In the six states where Huntington has a presence -- Ohio, western Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan, West Virginia and northern Kentucky -- the bank has made more 7(a) loans, 1,804, than its competitors combined, 1,758, in the Huntington footprint.
In Ohio, Huntington has extended $118.9 million to 1,050 small businesses; in Michigan, $66.1 million to 472 businesses; in Indiana, $23.7 million to 116 businesses; in Pennsylvania, $10.6 million to 90 businesses; and in West Virginia, $7.6 million to 37 companies.
The SBA's Cleveland district director, Gil Goldberg, praised Huntington’s willingness to work with smaller enterprises, noting it makes loans as small as $5,000 to the SBA cap of $5 million.
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Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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