Hartford Business Journal

10 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JANUARY 22, 2024 Nickeisha Walker inside her Sallyz Center for Autism office in South Windsor, which she purchased last year with the help of a $1.8 million U.S. Small Business Administration-backed loan. HBJ PHOTO | MICHAEL PUFFER Capital Access Speedier approvals, tight credit market, pandemic aid programs help grow SBA loan activity funds have dried up to some extent," Gagnon said. "Treasuries have really taken a lot of bank deposits out of traditional banks, so they have less money to lend." At the end of the third quarter of 2023, Connecticut-headquartered banks, not including Stamford-based Webster Financial Corp., held just over $28 billion in net loans and leases, up from $22 billion in the year-ago period and $22.3 billion two years earlier, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data. In the past, property sellers enter- taining multiple offers tended to favor buyers who didn't depend on an SBA loan, which was seen as a cumber- some and lengthy avenue for raising cash, Gagnon said. But the gap in the SBA's lending approval time has "pretty much gone away," he said. "They've gotten a lot more efficient in handling their portion of the loan," Gagnon said. "It's almost seamless at this point. That's an influencer on the 2023 numbers. The SBA has been much easier about pushing money out the door." The Community Investment Corp., a Hamden-based, SBA-affiliated nonprofit lender, between fiscals 2020 and 2023 arranged $107.4 million in loans to qualifying busi- nesses in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. CIC President and CEO Louis G. Silva agreed an increasing scarcity of credit availability through traditional banks was a prime factor in the SBA's 2023 upswing. CIC was involved in a loan that allowed Cheshire-based CNC manufacturer New Designz to pay $1.3 million for its new headquarters, at 30 Diana Court. The purchase will allow the manufacturer to consolidate from multiple leased spaces into one, more efficient location. CIC also participated in a nearly $2.6 million loan to allow fast-growing Griffin Welding to buy and outfit a 20,000-square-foot Waterbury indus- trial building as its headquarters. Peter Griffin, owner of Griffin Welding, said he wouldn't have been able to buy a building to capitalize on exploding demand without the Largest SBA 7(a) loan program lenders (FY 2023) Lender no. of Loans ToTaL Loans amounT average Loan size M&T Bank 126 $18,114,000 $143,762 Webster Bank 117 $45,010,800 $384,708 TD Bank 111 $14,117,800 $127,187 KeyBank 41 $3,677,700 $89,700 BayFirst National Bank 27 $5,233,400 $193,830 Liberty Bank 25 $8,464,300 $338,572 Newtek Bank 24 $10,080,500 $420,021 The Huntington National Bank 24 $8,034,100 $334,754 Newtek Small Business Finance, Inc. 19 $9,961,400 $524,284 Live Oak Banking Company 17 $32,047,000 $1,885,118 Source: U.S. Small Business Administration By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com N icheisha Walker last April was able to purchase Rockville Bank's former South Windsor headquarters and transform the property into a bright and spacious home for her Sallyz Center for Autism thanks to a $1.8 million loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Walker had been turned down by her bank, but was able to tap a loan through SBA's 504 loan program, which partnered funds from the federal agency and Springfield-based New Valley Bank & Trust. "The SBA was a little bit kinder with my process," said Walker, who founded Sallyz Center for Autism, a provider of one-on-one services to children with autism. "It was actually smoother than the regular bank I used. They were able to work with me and put my projections together. I don't think I would have gotten it without the SBA." Walker's loan was part of a wave of 894 SBA loan approvals totaling $363.7 million for Connecticut borrowers in fiscal year 2023, which ended Oct. 1. That was a 13% increase year-over-year in the number of approved borrowers, and an 18.5% increase in loan volume. Connecticut SBA lending has been generally trending upward over a five-year period, but with dramatic year-to-year swings. Lenders, borrowers and SBA offi- cials say tightening credit from tradi- tional lenders and higher interest rates are partially responsible for a rise in Small Business Administration lending. They also credit increased awareness of, and trust in, SBA's offerings. Growing reputation Philip Gagnon, principal of real estate broker and consultant Colliers in Hartford and New Haven, said lenders have less ready cash to lend out as depositors shift resources to more lucrative U.S. Treasury bills. Partnering in SBA lending programs offers banks more security for their strained lending capital, he said. For borrowers, SBA programs offer long-term, fixed interest rates and the ability to avoid balloon payments, Gagnon noted. "The traditional lenders, their Louis G. Silva

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