SBA Strengthens Small Business Community Lending Network

WASHINGTON - Today, Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the voice in President Biden's Cabinet for America's more than 34 million small businesses, announced additions to the Community Advantage Small Business Lending Company (CA SBLC) program. The SBA is adding more nonprofit organizations to the program to assist underserved markets. The Biden-Harris Administration's updates further increase 7(a) loan access to veterans, women, rural areas, and low-to-moderate income communities.

"The SBA's vital capital access programs help drive our economy forward by empowering more small businesses to create jobs and lift up local communities," said SBA Administrator Guzman. "The Biden-Harris Administration's expansion of the SBA's Community Advantage SBLC program fills capital gaps and helps ensure that underinvested communities get the resources they need to start and grow successful businesses. Our new CA SBLC lenders will support entrepreneurs in underserved communities so they can achieve their American dreams of business ownership."

CA SBLC licenses are for nonprofit organizations that serve as non-depository lenders. A CA SBLC license allows responsible lending organizations to underwrite small business loans to underserved markets using the SBA's 7(a) government guaranty-reducing the borrower's costs and the lender's level of risk.

SBA has approved two new CA SBLCs, with additional lenders in review to be announced shortly. With this expansion, SBA extends the capital network to new markets.

• Disability Opportunity Fund (Disability Fund, Inc.) in Rockville Centre, N.Y., is a Community Development Financial Institution, launched in April 2007, and operating nationally. As a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, the DOF provides financing, technical services, and policy advocacy to increase access for people with disabilities to receive appropriate and affordable housing and related services throughout the United States. It plans to build upon this work to address credit gaps in low-to-moderate income communities and focus on smaller loan amounts, increased loan volume, and targeted outreach to real estate developers, communities and organizations serving the disabilities market and to any group participating in the creation of access to housing, schools or any other projects for people with disabilities.
• Accion Opportunity Fund (Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development, Inc.) in California is a Community Development Financial Institution offering support for small business owners by providing them with fairly priced loans, educational resources, coaching, and support networks in English and Spanish. The AOF supports entrepreneurs who are women, people of color, or with low-to-moderate income to secure capital and resources. For over 30 years, AOF has served a client base that is over 90% women, people of color, and/or low-to-moderate income. AOF-supported businesses have historically had a 96% survival rate, compared to the national small business survival rate of 50%.

SBA created the CA SBLC license in 2023, giving over 140 mission-based lenders a permanent home in SBA lending. In fiscal year 2024, the first full year of the new license, community advantage lending supported over $196 million in SBA lending, up 40% compared to the previous year under the pilot program. In 2024, SBA further enhanced program growth by increasing the loan maximum up to $500,000. Prior to the Biden-Harris Administration, the maximum loan size for the similar pilot program was $250,000.

"Mission-driven lending is a vital part of the small business economy," said SBA Office of Capital Access Associate Administrator Katie Frost. "These new CA SBLC lenders continue to strengthen this community within SBA lending to support even more of the hardest to reach small businesses across the country."

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About the U.S. Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, or expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

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