CLEVELAND -- National City Corp. already has achieved its $1.5 billion loan goal for women business owners and in response has dramatically increased its commercial loan fund for women entrepreneurs to $3.5 billion over the next five years."This 133% increase is a reflection not only of the growing relationship women entrepreneurs have with National City, but of the increasingly significant impact they have on the U.S. economy overall," says Peter Raskind, executive vice president, consumer and small business financial services. Women entrepreneurs are the fastest growing segment of U.S. business owners, injecting $2.3 trillion of sales into the economy, according to the Center for Women's Business Research.Through its Women Business Advocates, National City has identified a team of specially trained banking officers focused on supporting women small business owners. This team has helped National City make a significant amount of small business loans in its six-state market. Last year National City lent over $543 million to women small business owners, according to Linda Stevenson, vice president/director, Women Business Owner Initiatives.National City supports women business owners in other ways, as well -- as a sponsor of the Women's Economic Development Outreach Tour and the ATHENA Foundation, for instance. It also is a corporate partner for the National Association of Women Business Owners and works in unison with the Center for Women's Business Research in Washington, D.C.National City Corp. is the ninth largest banking institution in the United States. The company operates through an extensive banking network primarily in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri and Pennsylvania, and also serves customers in selected markets nationally. "