Orange County Register

More local businesses are getting federally guaranteed loans in the new fiscal year that started Oct. 1 after two years of declining loan numbers, reports the Santa Ana District office of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

For the two weeks ended Oct. 14, 32 businesses got 7(a) loan (the largest SBA-guaranteed program) approvals for $14.3 million. That a 60% jump in the number of loans and more than double the dollar amount for the same period a year earlier.

The Santa Ana District encompasses Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Here are the loan numbers from past years:

Source: SBA

To boost the lending program more, President Obama recently called on Congress to increase the maximum amounts for SBA loans:

• SBA 7(a) (the largest program) loan limit $5 million, up from $2 million
• SBA 504 (for real estate and capital spending) loan limit $5 million, up from $2 million
• SBA Microloan limit $50,000, up from $35,000

The rationale for the increase, the SBA says, is that the percentage of SBA 7(a) and 504 loans exceeding $1.5 million has grown significantly since 2005: 7(a) loans larger than that amount to 21%, compared with 13% in 2005; and 504 loans, 28% vs. 15%. The latter is especially true in Orange County, where real estate prices are higher than the national average.

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