North Bay Business Journal

NORTH BAY – The passage of HR 5297, the Small Business Jobs Act, established in the Treasury the Small Business Lending Fund of $30 billion and $12 billion in tax incentives intended to spur lending and get small businesses back on their feet.

NORTH BAY — The economy is still challenged, and businesses are still struggling. But there are some positive things happening, according to leading SBA lenders in the North Bay.

Elected officials proclaim to understand and support small businesses but often fail to provide a truly conducive atmosphere for a sector that makes up the majority of the economy, according to Hector Barreto of the California Commission for Economic Development. … Small Business Majority, a Sausalito-based, national non-profit advocacy group for small businesses, recently said that Assembly Bill 32, California’s clean energy law, could generate as much as $4.6 billion for a wide range of small companies through 2020. … California Community Colleges through Economic and Workforce Development, have created the Business and Entrepreneurship Centers program.

NORTH BAY – The passage of HR 5297, the Small Business Jobs Act, established in the Treasury the Small Business Lending Fund of $30 billion and $12 billion in tax incentives intended to spur lending and get small businesses back on their feet.

NORTH BAY – The House passed HR 5297 today, the small business lending bill that once made into law will greatly increase the reach of Small Business Administration loans.

NORTH BAY — This morning, the Senate passed HR 5297, the small business lending bill that once made into law will greatly increase the reach of Small Business Administration loans.

SEBASTOPOL – A long-time family-owned business in Sonoma County has jumped on opportunities offered by the soft real estate market and new SBA incentives to purchase its own building in Santa Rosa.

NORTH BAY — The Small Business Administration loan incentives rolled out last year have once again run out, leaving lenders and borrowers in a state of uncertainty.

NORTH BAY — This fiscal year, 106 SBA 7(a) and 39 SBA 504 loans have been made in the North Bay for a total of $58.5 million. Kresky Signs of Petaluma, in business since 1953, is one borrower.

Based on active lenders in the North Bay, including the Business Journal’s 2009 list of largest SBA lenders to the region

NORTH BAY – The Small Business Administration has been working at increasing levels of lending since March of last year when the government rolled out a $730 million multi-faceted program to encourage borrowers to apply for and bankers to approve loans.

NORTH BAY – The fee waiver and higher guarantee percentage that rolled out last February for Small Business Administration loans was extended for the second time through the end of this month, and it is expected to be extended again through the end of the year.

It was a year dominated by a struggling economy that touched virtually everyone.

SONOMA – Bill Saks brought together Willie McDevitt and Ed Brush, owners of Petaluma-based commercial general contractor McDevitt & McDevitt, and 10 other investors to build the industrial condominiums. It was the first project to be built in the 53-acre Carneros Business Park, located along the Eighth Street East industrial corridor south of Sonoma. “The [...]

SANTA ROSA – Redwood Credit Union is about to celebrate its 60th anniversary in January and its place as No. 1 Small Business Administration lender in the North Bay. In the last year, RCU has created a Small Business Administration loan department and surpassed the rest of the SBA lenders in the North Bay in [...]

NORTH BAY – In February, the Small Business Administration and Congress rolled out a program to make SBA loans more attractive to both lenders and borrowers by increasing the guarantee percentage and waiving fees. It worked: $730 million was allotted and the guarantee went from 75 percent to 90 percent. But the money that was [...]

NORTH BAY — Serial entrepreneur and QuickBooks guru Ridgely Evers is zooming in on small business lending and he’s out to fix it.

Also: Ex-Prudential executive joining Redwood Trust Inc.

NORTH BAY – The Small Business Administration is finally seeing an uptick in loan applications since the introduction of enhanced programs as part of the recovery act earlier this year.
Karen Mills, SBA administrator, in an address on Sept. 22, said, “SBA weekly loan volume is up about 60 percent compared to the two months before the recovery act. We’ve supported over $10 billion in lending so far. We’re back near 2008 levels in weekly loan volume.”

NORTH BAY – “Don’t let turbulent times stop you: Financing your business in a challenging environment” was the title of and the message given to small business owners during a panel discussion with four North Bay financial industry veterans in cooperation with the Business Journal.