SBA: Borrowing dips in northern and rural region

Small Business Administration lending in northern and rural Nevada fell by 13 percent in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.

The agency said a total of 121 SBA loans totaling $58.1 million were written in areas of Nevada outside of Clark County during the 12-month period.

That compares with 132 loans totaling $67.1 million in the previous fiscal year.

The downturn was the result of sharply lower borrowing in the SBA 504 program, which provides SBA-guaranteed financing for real estate and equipment purchases.

Those loans in northern and rural Nevada totaled $34 million during the last fiscal year compared with $47.4 million a year earlier. The number of 504 loans, 35, was unchanged from year to year.

Statewide, lending in the SBA 504 program totaled 131 loans and $219.4 million during the year.

That's nearly a 65 percent increase in dollar volume from the previous year, when 103 loans totaling $133.8 million were closed statewide in the 504 program.

A spokeswoman for the agency said the sharp increase statewide may indicate a stronger and faster bounce in development projects in Las Vegas.

The SBA 7(a) lending program, which guarantees general-purpose loans to startup and existing businesses, handled 86 loans totaling $24.2 million in northern and rural Nevada in the last fiscal year.

That compares with 97 loans totaling $19.3 million a year earlier. Some of the higher dollar volume may have resulted from an increase in the maximum size of loans in the program to $5 million from $2 million in previous years.

Statewide, the 7(a) program saw 280 loans totaling $86.6 million in the last fiscal year. That compares with 326 loans and lending volume of $107.5 million a year earlier.