Huntington Bank is the top lender by dollar amount among banks participating in the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Small business owners in select participating states within the bank’s footprint, including Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio, received $72 million* in financing from Huntington through SSBCI since the initiative’s inception in 2011. The ranking appears in the Treasury Department SSBCI Summary of the States’ 2013 Annual Report released last month.
“SSBCI is a smart way for creditworthy small businesses unable to access capital by any other means to obtain financing to expand and create jobs,” said Treasury Department SSBCI Director Clifton G. Kellogg. “Huntington’s collaboration with participating states to introduce this program to business owners is making a powerful difference.”
News of Huntington’s SSBCI ranking comes only weeks after its designation as the nation’s largest lender in the number of 7(a) loans for the Small Business Administration (SBA) fiscal year ending September 30, 2014. Huntington made 4,183 SBA loans in its six-state footprint, an increase of 37 percent over last year when the bank was the third largest lender in the country.
According to the Treasury Department, response from states and the private sector is impressive: Since 2011, the Treasury Department provided more than $1 billion in SSBCI funds to participating states. Of that amount, states expended $590 million, which leveraged more than $4.1 billion in new loans and investments to approximately 8,500 businesses – almost 7:1 leverage. Business owners reported that more than 95,000 jobs will be created or saved as a direct result of SSBCI support. Additionally, 80 percent of SSBCI-supported loans or investments were made to businesses with 10 or fewer employees.
Through participation in the Financial Services Roundtable, Huntington provided recommendations to Treasury Department that helped shape and standardize SSBCI when the initiative rolled out, enabling more financial institutions to provide small-business financing. Feedback Huntington has provided since initiative’s launch continues to help increase the banking industry’s adoption of the program.