GREENFIELD — A statewide financial institution has named Greenfield Banking Co. its Small Business Lender of the Year.
The Indiana Statewide Certified Development Corporation bestowed the honor. The organization works with local banks like Greenfield Banking Co. to provide loans to small business owners from the U.S. Small Business Administration 504 loan program.
The small-business lender of the year is the Indiana bank devoting the largest percentage of its deposits to 504 small-business loans with the development corporation, a news release said. SBA 504 loans offer loan rates and extended repayment periods to small businesses that are generally available only to large companies in conventional business loans.
Renee Rupley, vice president and director of marketing for Greenfield Banking Co., told the Daily Reporter it’s important to the bank to devote deposits to the small-business loan program.
“It’s good to support the small businesses that we have around us because they basically drive our economy and employ so many people in our area,” she said.
More than 20 Indiana banks were in the running for the merit, which involved banking activity with the development corporation for the fiscal year 2019 that ended Sept. 30, according to the release.
In that time, Greenfield Banking Co. generated four SBA 504 loans totaling nearly $10 million in aggregate, Rupley said.
She added the distinction feels awesome.
“I know we’ve had a good team of people that have been working hard to develop the lending opportunities, so it’s really great that it’s succeeded and will continue to grow,” Rupley said.
It’s the first time the bank has received the accolade, she continued.
“It shows that the work that we’ve been doing has been paying off,” she said.
During the fiscal year that recently came to a close, the Indiana Statewide Certified Development Corporation approved $34.1 million in loans to small-business owners, according to the release. That’s the largest of any of the state’s certified lenders of SBA 504 funds. The loans helped create or save about 680 jobs, the release continues.
The $34.1 million of approvals were to 40 borrowers. Total investment in the development corporation’s 40 loan projects topped $85 million; a combination of SBA 504, bank funds and down payments by the business owners.
Since 1983, The Indiana Statewide Certified Development Corporation has approved more than $690 million of financing for more than 1,500 Indiana companies, creating or saving more than 27,000 jobs, the organization said. The projects represent more than $1.8 billion in expansion financing for Indiana small businesses.
