The FINANCIAL — For the fifth straight year, Wells Fargo & Company is America’s top SBA lender in dollar volume, approving a record $1.47 billion in SBA 7(a) loans for small businesses in federal fiscal year 2013, according to Wells Fargo & Company community-based financial services company.
The company increased its dollar volume of SBA 7(a) loans by 18.3 percent from a year ago. An SBA preferred lender in all 50 states, Wells Fargo also is the second largest SBA lender by units, extending 3,481 SBA 7(a) loans in federal fiscal year 2013.
The company also provided more small business financing through SBA 504 real estate and equipment loans, extending 211 SBA 504 loans over the last year totaling more than $248 million.
“Each and every SBA loan we extend not only helps a small business thrive and grow, it also helps drive economic recovery and development in that community,” said David Rader, head of Wells Fargo’s SBA Lending Division. “We’re humbled by the trust America’s small business owners have placed in us, and immensely proud of our role in helping our customers and our communities overcome the challenges they have faced over the last five years,” he added.
During the five-year period Wells Fargo has been the No. 1 SBA lender, the company has increased its SBA 7(a) lending 48 percent in units and nearly 78 percent in loan dollars from federal fiscal year 2009 to 2013.
“Our overall growth in SBA lending during the last few years shows the importance of SBA loan programs for thousands of creditworthy small businesses,” said Rader. “SBA loans provide options for entrepreneurs and business owners who may not be able to obtain a conventional loan or loan terms that meet their business needs,” he added.
Among the customers who Wells Fargo helped become business owners with an SBA loan are military veterans Bradley and Barbara Frey of Tucson, Ariz. The couple secured an SBA 7(a) loan to buy a mobile home parts manufacturing business, M&M Home Supply Warehouse, earlier this year.
“My wife and I have always dreamed of running our own small business together,” said Brad Frey. “As new small business owners, it was a daunting task to get our business up and running, but Wells Fargo helped us from the beginning and is a significant reason why we are thriving. My wife and I had tears of happiness when we were signing our loan documents because we could not believe our dream was now a reality,” he added.
Another Wells Fargo customer who used SBA loans to realize his dream of starting his own business is Art Dovlatian of Sylmar, Calif, according to Wells Fargo. In 2006, Dovlatian – an Armenian immigrant – started AcuFast Aircraft Products, an aerospace manufacturing company, by financing the business with a Wells Fargo SBA 7(a) loan. Since then, the manufacturer has grown into a $10 million enterprise expanding with additional SBA financing from Wells Fargo.
“At the beginning stages of the company, my money ran out within the first two months. That’s when we quickly developed a business plan for an SBA loan,” said Dovlatian. “We worked with Wells Fargo to develop a realistic three-year business plan, before we were approved for a loan that was sufficient to make things happen for our business.”
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