
Rising interest rates pinch small-business borrowers
The average prime rate, or the rate banks set as a reference for customer loans, was 4%. The prime rate has more than doubled since then, hitting 8.25% in May.
The average prime rate, or the rate banks set as a reference for customer loans, was 4%. The prime rate has more than doubled since then, hitting 8.25% in May.
All over the country, small-business owners are feeling the early consequences of this spring’s banking crisis, which spanned two chaotic weeks in March and is still ricocheting through the economy.
Small businesses are seeing the already-tough process of getting business loans get even tougher. They say they’re getting rejected for loans or seeing more unfavorable terms, meaning some plans for expansion are being put on hold.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled Thursday for BancServ Partners LLC founder Kerri Agee, who was found guilty on fraud and conspiracy charges in August.
Based in Anderson, Bankable offers microloans to small and startup businesses around the state. This is the organization’s first fund specifically targeting Black-owned businesses.
The five former directors and employees of the now-defunct Westfield firm were found guilty on fraud and conspiracy charges. Prosecutors say the five submitted false information in order to get more than $10 million in ineligible loans approved by the Small Business Administration.
The five defendants in the trial include the two co-founders of now-defunct financial services firm Banc-Serv, plus three former employees.
The program, Build Fund, helps small businesses that are not ready for traditional bank loans receive affordable funding.
In helping borrowers secure vital funding that helped them weather the pandemic, banks say the PPP program has helped them build relationships that could lead to a lot of new business.
Fishers-based First Internet Bank began assembling its Small Business Administration lending division in late 2018.
Two days after she was sworn in, Isabella Casillas Guzman said her immediate focus is implementing the small business provisions in the $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue package signed into law last week.
Under the Paycheck Protection Program, the administration is establishing a two-week window, starting Wednesday, in which only businesses with fewer than 20 employees—the overwhelming majority of small businesses—can apply for the forgivable loans.
The government’s new phased approach to distributing the $284 billion in recently allocated Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, funds means it’s unlikely that the money will run out, which it did in April.
If the rule were finalized, it would open up seven SBA loan programs to a range of religious-affiliated businesses such as Christian publishers and for-profit schools affiliated with religious organizations.
Of the 20 banks issuing the most PPP loans to Indiana borrowers, 11 were headquartered in the state—many of which went to extraordinary lengths to extend as many loans as they could.
In Indiana, more than 90% of federal loans topping $150,000 went to companies, according to the Treasury Department data. About 6% of the loans went to not-for-profit organizations.
In all, the list includes 2,499 Indianapolis entities and 11,853 entities statewide that received Paycheck Protection Program loans of $150,000 or more. The list includes the Indianapolis Business Journal, which received a loan of between $350,000 and $1 million.
Business owners and advocacy groups complain that the money in the Paycheck Protection Program has not fully put to work because the program created obstacles that stopped countless small businesses from applying.
Indiana lenders had secured a total of $9.5 billion in Paycheck Protection Program loans for their borrowers as of Saturday, according to the Small Business Administration.
A plan to disclose the names of small business owners who received $150,000 or more in forgivable loans was not enough for to provide a complete picture of how money was allocated.