The Small Business Administration’s Minnesota District recently recognized the 11 lenders across the state who made the most traditional SBA-backed loan programs over the past year.
Recognition came Thursday during the SBA Minnesota Lenders Conference. Vantage Bank was recognized as having the most participation in traditional SBA-backed loan programs for a lender with less than $100 million in assets. BankVista was named as having the highest participation for lenders with between $100 million and $500 million in assets, and 21st Century Bank was named the lender with the highest participation in the category between $500 million and $1 billion in assets. Sunrise Banks was named in the lenders with more than $1 billion in assets. U.S. Bank was the National Lender, and Minnwest Bank was the Export Lender.
Other awards given during the conference include:
- Certified Development Company category (Job creation): Amplio
- Certified Development Company (Loan volume): Minnesota Business Finance Corp.
- Microlender of the Year: Entrepreneur Fund
- District Director Award: Community Reinvestment Fund, USA
“Every year we recognize lenders that are helping Minnesota’s over 530,000 small businesses access the capital they need to drive our economy, and the efforts they made in the last year truly went above and beyond,” said SBA Minnesota District Director Brian McDonald. “During the pandemic, Minnesota’s lending community, totaling nearly 300 banks, credit unions and loan funds, have been working late at night and through weekends and holidays, and their efforts helped save thousands of Minnesota small businesses and the jobs they support.”
Lending institutions helped more than 2,200 Minnesota-based small businesses access nearly $1.01 million in traditional 7(a) and 504 SBA-backed capital from July 1, 2020 to June 30.