SBA Achieves Historic Small Business Lending for Fiscal Year 2020 with More Than $1.4 Billion in SBA Alaska District

Loan Program Highlights

• The SBA’s flagship 7(a) Loan Program—which can be used for working capital, lines of credit and many other business purposes—had similar loan volume in FY20 compared to the previous fiscal year.
• The 504 Loan Program—which helps small businesses acquire fixed assets to promote economic development in the form of long-term fixed rate financing for fixed assets on reasonable terms up to $5.5 million—had another year of increased performance growing 17.5 percent from the previous fiscal year.
• The Microloan Program—which specifically helps businesses in underserved communities with loans ranging from $500 to $50,000—achieved a second straight record year performance and increased 4.3 percent from the previous fiscal year. Additionally, 34 percent of microloans made in FY20 went to Black-owned small businesses.
• The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is a forgivable loan program created by the CARES Act and implemented by the SBA and Treasury to primarily finance payroll for small businesses impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic. Highlights from the PPP include:
  • 27 percent of PPP loan volume was in low-and moderate-income communities, which is in proportion to the percentage of population in these areas.
  • More than $133 billion, or 25 percent, of PPP loans were approved for small businesses in Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZones).
  • More than $80 billion, or 15 percent, of total PPP dollars were approved to small businesses in rural communities.
• The Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) – which provides low-interest loans to businesses impacted by a disaster—and EIDL Advance—an up to $10,000 loan advance established through the CARES Act—had a historic year approving and disbursing more than three times as many funds for the COVID-19 EIDL program ($211 billion total) as the agency has for all disasters combined in the SBA’s 67-year history ($67 billion). This was also the first time in SBA history that the agency had the statutory authority to declare a pandemic and make disaster loans.

Serving the Underserved

Lending to underserved populations posted another strong year. Lenders reported that minority business owners received $7.5 billion in combined 7(a) and 504 lending, or 27 percent of the SBA loan portfolio.

Further reported data shows SBA 7(a) lending to women-owned businesses was nearly $2.7 billion in FY20 while lending from the 504 loan program to women-owned businesses was more than $522 million. Additionally, loans to veterans totaled nearly $835 million for the 7(a) and 504 programs.

“In response to the unprecedented challenges faced by small businesses this year, the Trump Administration provided more than three-quarters of a trillion dollars in financial assistance to support impacted small businesses. SBA lending data further reflects the extraordinary commitment this Administration has made to supporting entrepreneurs in underserved communities,” SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza says.

Also of note was the SBA Office of Investment and Innovation, which licensed 26 Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs) with $2.1 billion in private capital during FY20.  This was a 44 percent increase in the number of new licensees and a 72 percent increase in private capital from new licensees compared to FY19. 

The improvement was due in large degree to eliminating procedural delays and unnecessary (duplicative) clearances. The combined private capital and SBA-backed funds now totals $32 billion, the highest in the history of the SBIC Debenture Program. One additional highlight of the SBIC program’s success was the awarding of the first license in nearly two decades to a majority-minority owned and minority operated SBIC in Puerto Rico.

For more information about SBA loan programs and financial assistance, visit www.sba.gov/loans.