I am a big fan of the U.S. Small Business Administration and the agency’s assortment of lending programs. SBA’s loan guarantee programs enable small business lenders to make loans that they would otherwise deem a bit too risky to fund conventionally. In other situations they use the agency’s loan-guarantee programs to grant longer loan terms and sometimes decrease the equity requirement that borrowers would need for conventional financing. “SBA loans can provide more flexible terms, longer amortization, or fixed rate options that are unavailable with some conventional loans,” according to an e-mail response I received from Pittsburgh, Penn.-based PNC. Last year, the bank acquired the United States affiliate of RBC, a huge financial institution domiciled in Canada. The bank … [Read more...]