The U.S. Small Business Administration reminds small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives and most private non-profit organizations of all sizes in 10 New Jersey  counties of the May 2 deadline to apply for economic injury disaster loan assistance. The loans are available due to high winds, frost, freeze, hail and flooding that occurred from May 7 through May 31, 2010. The disaster loans are available in Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean and Salem counties in New Jersey.

As borrowers have remained current on their loan payments, many have seen a decline in their businesses’ revenue and margin. Asset values of the underlying collateral are also an immediate concern in the renewal process. A renewal of the commercial real estate loan could be in doubt. The changes in the SBA’s 504 loan program can alleviate many risks in loan exposure and loan-to-value. Bankers can be very positive when it comes time to discuss a maturing commercial real estate loan when an SBA 504 refinance is offered. Dr. Audrey Todd is just one such owner to benefit from the $1.1 billion Huntington Bancshares lent to the small business community in 2010. Todd opened her bakery, Food for Good Thought, in July 2010, thanks to an SBA-backed loan from Huntington after being denied by another financial institution.

Large Banks

According to the Greenwich Market Pulse results, about half the small businesses and middle market companies that obtained bank credit over the past year borrowed from a lender outside the top 20 banks in the United States. The movement of some small businesses and middle market companies to regional and community banks last year reflects two trends: As the nation’s biggest banks recapitalized and adjusted their business models for the post-crisis era, they reassessed how they were committing their balance sheets. These large banks often did not work to retain dissatisfied small business and middle market banking customers, and in some cases banks actually severed relationships. “At the same time, some creditworthy small businesses and middle market companies probably took the opportunity to shift their business to smaller banks they see as providing better and more reliable service,” says Greenwich Associates consultant Duncan Banfield.

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