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The Maine district office of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) presented its annual SBA lender awards on December 3 in an online ceremony. Infinity FCU was one of several institutions honored for being a leading lender. Infinity FCU approved thirteen 7(a) loans totaling over $1 million in Maine, making them the leading SBA credit union lender.
“Small businesses in Maine faced many challenges this year and the need for assistance from the SBA was greater than ever,” said Amy Bassett, District Director of the SBA in Maine. “While the Agency and our lending partners were able to provide critical assistance through targeted programs like the Paycheck Protection Program, Maine lenders continued to step up and provide access to essential capital through our traditional SBA backed lending programs. These loans, year after year, help small businesses start, grow, and thrive in Maine. The historic level of all SBA lending this year is a testament to the commitment of our lenders and we could not achieve our mission without their collaboration and dedication.”
The SBA also honored the following institutions as leading lenders:
- Bangor Savings Bank, which approved thirty-seven 7(a) loans totaling over $3.4 million, making them the leading SBA 7(a) lender based on total number of loans.
- Gorham Savings Bank, which approved ten 504 3rd Party loans totaling over $2.2 million, making them the leading SBA 504 3rd Party lender based on total number of loans.
- Granite State Development Corporation was Maine’s leading Certified Development Company (CDC) in both numbers and total dollars, approving fifty-eight 504 loans for over $24 million in fiscal year 2020.
- Coastal Enterprises, Inc. was Maine’s leading SBA microlender with thirty-four loan approvals totaling $684,000 in fiscal year 2020.
Special recognition also was given to Franklin Savings Bank, which received the SBA District Director Award in recognition of the bank’s efforts to increase the use of SBA programs in the bank’s lending portfolio.
In fiscal year 2020, the Maine District Office guaranteed a total of 271 loans totaling nearly $70 million through its two main loan programs, the 7(a) Loan Guaranty Program and the 504 Loan Program. The 7(a) loan program is the SBA’s most used program because of its flexibility in loan structure and variety of uses. In addition, the SBA Microloan program saw 92 loans made, for nearly $2 million. These numbers do not include the Paycheck Protection Program, through which over 28,000 loans were made in Maine for nearly $2.3 billion, or the Economic Injury Disaster Loan, through which over 10,000 loans were made, totaling nearly $600 million in Maine.