Bright times for SBA loans

Lending to businesses in the Southeast through the flagship loan programs overseen by the U.S. Small Business Administration is up 45% in the last 10 months, with a particular increase in Florida.

The SBA, from October through July, loaned $4.2 billion to entrepreneurs in its Southeast Region, which includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, according to a new report. Total loans, the report adds, neared 8,000, a jump of 2,500 loans from the same time frame in fiscal 2014.

About 25% of the total loan value comes from the South Florida district, which loaned an additional $339 million compared to fiscal 2014 and surpassed the billion-dollar loan milestone for the first time. The South Florida region, based in Miami, covers the Gulf Coast.

SBA-backed loans are up in several areas, the agency adds, including woman-owned businesses.