Small Business Today Magazine NOV 2014 EXHIBIT NETWORK | Page 30

EDITORIALFEATURE

Faster Government-

Guaranteed Loans for Small Businesses                     
By Bruce Hurta

F

or small businesses that are in the market for
an SBA 7(a) government-guaranteed loan,
processing the loan request and funding the
loan proceeds has become a much quicker
process.  The U.S. Small Business Administration
(SBA) continues to focus on ways for participating
lenders to deliver small business loans with more
ease, efficiency, and speed.  In fact, the SBA loan
underwriting process has evolved to its present
state whereby it is more efficient than many banks’
conventional small business loan underwriting
processes.  By uniformly evaluating loan requests
through the use of SBA forms and procedures,
participating SBA lenders, such as banks and credit unions, are able to quickly and efficiently serve
their small business loan requests on a consistent
basis for each lender.  Indeed, the federal government fiscal year that ended September 30, 2014
promises to be another vibrant year for SBA loan
production throughout the United States.

Of great importance, for the efficiency of this
program, is the PLP (Preferred Lender Program)
for SBA 7(a) lenders.  With a minimum amount
of time, satisfactory experience, and demonstrated
proficiency with the SBA government-guaranteed
loan program, an SBA lender may now earn the
PLP designation so that they are given the authority by the U.S. Small Business Administration to approve SBA 7(a) loans on behalf of the SBA.  This
program has created a group of highly experienced and proficient SBA lenders who no longer
must wait for a second set of SBA processing and
approval before funding the loan.  As long as the
lender remains in good standing with the SBA and
its PLP requirements, they can continue to process,
close, and fund SBA loans using only their own authority.  One can draw the conclusion that working
with a P