Business loans: SBA programs are available, but banks hesitant to lend
Despite several federal programs, banks only lending to best customers
South Florida Sun-Sentinel | July 5, 2009
Allen Borza and Clara Mateus, husband-and-wife graphic artists in Greenacres, were laid off one day in March within hours of each other. They decided to expand the side business they had started on weekends, rather than frustrate themselves trying to find new jobs in a tight market.
The couple recently snagged a $50,000 loan backed by the SBA. But they didn’t get it from their bankers in South Florida. They found their seed money through Borrego Springs Bank, a Native American-owned bank in California. The bank has a commercial branch in Panama City.
For the fledgling business, called Green Group Studio, to get a loan is “pretty remarkable,” said Phil Scruton, business analyst with the Small Business Development Center at Palm Beach Community College in Boca Raton. “Lenders are looking real hard at resumes and qualifications to do business.”
