Bangor Savings Bank named top SBA lender

     Bangor Savings Bank was the overall top Small Business Administration (SBA) lender in Maine in 2011, lending $14,889,050 in loans to 68 new or existing businesses. Jeanne Hulit, New England administrator of the Small Business Administration, made the announcement recently at a gathering of small business owners held at Akari, a beauty and wellness salon in Portland’s business center that has benefited by SBA loans from the bank.
    “Maine’s small businesses are the key to the state’s economic well-being, and the SBA works hard to provide many types of support,” said Hulit. “Having access to affordable loans is essential to get businesses off the ground or help them expand. I’m here to congratulate Bangor Savings Bank for their outstanding role in keeping Maine’s small business community thriving and to salute the many small businesses throughout the state that hire people and produce quality products. This is the backbone of our economy.”
     In the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2011, Maine banks granted 393 SBA loans totaling $79 million to small businesses statewide. The SBA’s definition of a small business is one employing less than 500 workers. According to 2008 data, there are 147,484 small businesses in Maine, accounting for 59.7 percent of private-sector jobs in the state.
     Bangor Savings Bank has provided nearly $200 million in new small business loans since April of 2008. The Bank also has about $21 million in SBA loan balances that are helping start or grow Maine’s small businesses.
     Bangor Savings Bank Bangor Savings Bank, founded in 1852, is in its 159th year of service to the people of Maine, with 56 branches and on the Web at www.bangor.com.