For the fourth consecutive year, Seedcopa has been ranked by the U.S. Small Business Administration as the No. 1 SBA 504 Lender in Eastern Pennsylvania — attaining the most SBA 504 loans for small- to mid-sized businesses in the region.
The SBA 504 is a fixed-rate loan program for small- to mid-sized business owners, with the loans often acting as a complement to conventional, commercial loans that Seedcopa facilitates through local banks and credit unions.
For fiscal year 2023, which ended Sept. 30, Seedcopa supported 29 small business owners with SBA 504 loans, according to year-end loan volume reports for the SBA’s Eastern Pennsylvania district office.
A statewide certified development company, Seedcopa has the ability to cover all counties in Pennsylvania. This year’s loans spanned 13 counties including Berks, Bucks, Chester, Dauphin, Delaware, Lancaster, Lehigh, Luzerne, Montgomery, New Castle, Northampton, Philadelphia & York.
Of the businesses that were assisted, 34% were owned by women.
A total of 17 banks partnered with Seedcopa to make the loans possible for small business owners. The SBA 504 loan projects totaled $23.2 million, according to a press release.
“In a year where interest rates have progressively increased, Seedcopa’s loan volume has remained impressive,” Sherwood Robbins, Seedcopa’s managing director, said in a statement. “This is a testament to the enduring value of the below-market, fixed-interest rates offered by the SBA 504 loan program to small and mid-sized businesses.”
Seedcopa partners with economic development entities and bank partners throughout the region to help area businesses get the money they need to buy, build, renovate or expand on new or existing land, or to purchase machinery and equipment.
Typically, an SBA 504 loan structure requires a contribution from the business owner of 10%. A third-party lender, like a bank or credit union, contributes 50% of the project cost. The SBA-backed portion of the loan is 40%.
Seedcopa has been assisting small businesses with their financing needs for more than 40 years. In the last 10 years, Seedcopa and SeedcoDE have provided more than $200 million in financing for businesses and retained more than 3,300 jobs, according to the release. While Seedcopa has held the top SBA lender spot for 504 loans consecutively for the last four years, it has held the top spot numerous times.
For more information visit https://seedcopa.com/
Source: Berkshire mont