Wayne Bank is 2011 Small Business Lender of the Year for SBA 504 loans

Wayne Bank & Trust of Richmond is the 2011 Small Business Lender of the Year named by the Indiana Statewide Certified Development Corporation. Wayne Bank won for making loans to Indiana companies from the U.S. Small Business Administration 504 loan program for small, expanding businesses. Indiana Statewide CDC works with local banks, such as Wayne Bank, to provide SBA 504 loans to Indiana small companies. The Statewide CDC's Small Business Lender of the Year is the bank with the most SBA 504 loans made with the Statewide CDC as a percentage of total bank deposits. Dennis King of Wayne Bank & Trust accepted the Lender of the Year Award at the Indiana Statewide CDC's annual meeting in Indianapolis Wednesday night. King also was the Indiana banker who generated the most SBA 504 projects with Indiana Statewide CDC in 2011. The loans helped fund Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken in Muncie and fuel and convenience stores in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and Cambridge City. Evansville Commerce Bank was runner-up for the Lender of the Year Award. German American Bank, based in Jasper, had the most SBA 504 loans approved, with eight and generated over $4 million from bond sales to finance the SBA 504 loans. Indiana Statewide CDC works with local lenders to provide SBA 504 loans to small businesses in Indiana. Congress created the SBA 504 program to help small businesses receive favorable financing terms and retain operating capital while expanding. The SBA 504 loan program provides long-term, fixed rate financing for small business owners nationwide. Since the program started in 1986, SBA 504 loans have funded over $62 billion in loans to over 130,000 small businesses. In turn, those small businesses have created or retained over 2.1 million jobs for the U.S. economy. Wojtowicz says that the Indiana Statewide CDC has provided more than $415 million to 955 Indiana companies, creating 26,500 jobs, since 1986. Indiana Statewide CDC is the leading SBA 504 lender in Indiana. Small business owners use the loans to purchase, build and expand their facilities and purchase capital intensive machinery and equipment. Details of the SBA 504 loan program are available from many commercial loan officers.