SBA Expanding Two Loan Programs

The U.S. Small Business Administration is expanding two loan programs that are expected to bring an additional $1 billion over the next year to entrepreneurs, many of them women and minorities.

The SBA Express and SBA LowDoc programs have existed as pilots but will be expanded starting Oct. 1, offering larger loans with faster turnaround and allowing lenders to extend unsecured credit to borrowers and offer revolving lines of credit, SBA Administrator Aida Alvarez said.

Both programs will offer loans up to $150,000, up from $100,000, and both are targeted to so-called “new markets”--start-ups, and women- and minority-owned firms that tend to be recipients of small loans and historically have had less access to capital.

The LowDoc program--which features a one-page application--began in 1992. In addition to the increase in the loan ceiling, turnaround time will shrink to 36 hours and rejected loans will be systematically reconsidered. The Express program, launched under the name FASTRAK in 1994 with 18 participating lenders, will now include 500 additional lenders. In addition to the loan amounts and turnaround time offered by LowDoc, it will allow lenders to offer revolving lines of credit up to $150,000--a feature that women entrepreneurs list as a top priority, Alvarez said. The Express program will also allow banks to extend unsecured credit up to $25,000 without losing their SBA guarantee. The agency guarantees 75% of LowDoc loans and 50% of Express loans.