Minn. banks among top lenders to small businesses
by Annie Baxter, Minnesota Public RadioSt. Paul, Minn. — Two banks with major operations in Minnesota ranked among the top national lenders of Small Business Administration loans for the fiscal year ending last month.
Wells Fargo had the greatest dollar volume of SBA loan approvals in the nation with about $1.2 billion in loans. U.S. Bancorp ranked third with about $630 million in loans.
In Minnesota, Bremer Bank lent the most money, while U.S Bank had the greatest number of SBA loans in the state.
A portion of the federal agency's loans are guaranteed, which means banks get paid if a loan goes bad. The SBA lending program extends credit to small businesses to expand and hire.
Small business loans backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration in fiscal year 2011 reached the highest mark in the agency's history.
Annie Baxter
• ReporterAnnie Baxter started her radio trajectory answering the phones at a pledge drive at KQED, San Francisco's NPR member station, and managed to wriggle her way into an internship soon thereafter.
