Worcester Business Journal

14 Worcester Business Journal • September 12, 2016 www.wbjournal.com Today, her dream is closer than ever to being fully realized. Her holistic wellness center, the 11,000-square-foot Release Well-Being, is scheduled to open in the historic Nathan Fisher House in Westborough this December. To finance this project, Townsend, like many other small business owners, turned to the U.S. Small Business Administration. Through Avidia Bank, she took out a $3.2-million, 20-year SBA loan after putting $700,000 of her own money down to finance construction, building acquisition costs, permits, legal fees and training for the 15-20 full-time employees she plans to hire. Townsend is one of several Central Massachusetts business owners to finance her project through the SBA, which lent $657 million to Massachusetts businesses in 2015 through its three main loan programs. In terms of loan volume, Massachusetts surpassed pre- recession levels for the first time since the economic downturn last year. Several banks with locations in Worcester County have boosted their SBA lending, partly aided by a push from the agency to increase lending to small businesses and traditionally underserved populations by waiving certain fees on loans under $150,000, according to the SBA. A handful of local banks, including Rhode Island-based Citizens Bank and Berkshire Bank, which is headquartered in Pittsfield and has a location in Westborough, have taken strides over the past few years to cement themselves in small business lending. The recovery economy has helped lead to this increase in Massachusetts lending, said Bruce Spitzer, director of communications for the Massachusetts Bankers Association. "Since the financial crisis, since the midst of it, loan demand has been off. Even companies that had money were conserving and not wanting to borrow," Spitzer said. "We definitely see signs of improving loan demand." $56M & Counting According to the SBA's Massachusetts office, total 2016 lending in dollars for Worcester County through September has surpassed 2015 figures by 33 percent. In all of 2015, the SBA issued 223 loans for a total of $42.2 million in Worcester County. So far in 2016, it issued 244 loans totaling $56.1 million. The dollar amount of loans under $150,000 grew by 16 percent from 2014 to 2016. Local financial institutions have increased their SBA lending for loans under $150,000, SBA data show. Marlborough-based St. Mary's Credit Union issued 43 loans under $150,000 through July, compared to 22 the same time last year; UniBank, based in Whitinsville, has given out 32 so far this year compared to 13 last year; and Hudson- based Avidia Bank boosted its loans under $150,000 from three in 2015 to 13 so far this year, according to the SBA. Those boosts include increases in loans under $50,000 as well, said Robert Nelson, SBA Massachusetts director. "Worcester area banks have certainly stepped up their game and are doing a lot of activity, helping to propel Massachusetts," Nelson said. Focus on business lending Berkshire Bank increased the amount of its Massachusetts SBA loans by 179 percent between 2014 and 2015, and the number of loans increased by 325 per- cent in the same period, SBA data show. This increase came from a bank-wide initiative about three years ago to become more active in business banking, said Peter Rice, senior vice president of small business lending. Since then, Berkshire boosted the number of busi- ness development officers from two to 20 and has worked to leverage its posi- tion in the community to better serve businesses in gateway cities like Worcester, where 37 percent of business owners are foreign-born. Let's Celebrate our Freedom to Choose. Freedom to express ourselves. Simply Beter. Call us today at 508.765.7389 and start experiencing Simply Better commercial banking from Savers Bank. Uxbridge • Southbridge • Sturbridge • Charlton • Grafton • Auburn We Are Dedicated to the Success of Your Business, and ready to meet your commercial banking needs. • Commercial Lending • Business Checking • Cash Management • Business Savings saversbank.com ∙ 800.649.3036 Member FDIC Member SIF Equal Housing Lender Each depositor is insured by the FDIC to at least $250,000. All deposits above the FDIC insurance amount are insured by the Depositors Insurance Fund (DIF). Cash Management " Your small business is our business." We know what it takes to own a business and we know you have your hands full. Let us take care of all your cash management needs, so you can concentrate on the business at hand. www.southbridgesavingsbank.com facebook/southbridgesavings 800-939-9103 - Bob Mangan AVP, Cash Management CHARLTON | HOLDEN | NORTH OXFORD | SOUTHBRIDGE | SPENCER | STURBRIDGE | WEBSTER | WORCESTER • Business Bank N' Pay SM • Remote Deposit Service • Credit Card Processing • Payroll Services B A N K I N G & F I N A N C E << Banks, SBA increase small business lending >> Continued from Page 1 The total number and dollar amount of SBA loans to select Central Massachusetts communities in 2014 and 2015. SBA lending in Central Massachusetts Worcester Framingham Fitchburg Northborough Natick 2014 2015 2014 2015 2014 2015 2014 2015 2014 2015 40 loans- $9.5M 53 loans- $11.5M 25 loans- $4.3M 28 loans- $7.4M 7 loans- $4.1M 14 loans- $1.2M 10 loans- $1M 13 loans- $1.7M 11 loans- $6M 9 loans- $1.1M Source: SBA

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