The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently released information on the SBA Veteran Pledge Initiative, which is a commitment by national, regional and community lenders to increase loans to veterans by five percent each year for the next five years. PADGETT BUSINESS SERVICES®, offering financial services to small businesses for more than 40 years, has gathered the details on the SBA Veteran Pledge Initiative for you.
The program is open to veterans who want to start a new small business, as well as those veterans who are looking to expand their existing small business. The SBA lending partners include 20 national banks and 100 regional and community banks. The banks have pledged to increase lending by $475 million in the next five years. This increase in lending will allow 2,000 more veterans to start or expand a business. This program will increase the $2.1 billion per year that SBA programs provide in lending support to veteran small business owners.
“Our service men and women have made incalculable contributions and sacrifices for our country, and supporting them as they pursue their dreams to start or grow their own business is one of SBA’s highest priorities,” SBA Administrator Karen Mills said. “Through this partnership with national lending partners and regional and community lenders across the U.S., we stand ready to serve veteran entrepreneurs with loan-guarantees, entrepreneurial training, and resources that are critical tools to help them start businesses, drive the local economy and create jobs for themselves and their communities.”
The program enhances the VetLoan Advantage strategic initiative, an existing partnership between SBA and the National Association of Development Companies (NADCO). The VetLoan Advantage program is for veterans who currently own, or are interested in owning small businesses. It offers training and financing discounts.
Currently, nine percent of all U.S. small businesses are owned by veterans. More than five million people are employed at the 2.45 million veteran-owned businesses. The initiative will benefit these business owners as well as the veterans who are looking to start a new business venture.
SBA assists more than 200,000 veterans each year through its 68 local district offices and its 15 Veterans Business Outreach Centers. SBA also partners with 1,000 Small Business Development Centers and 12,000 SCORE volunteers.
This program is a great incentive for veterans who have dreamed of owning a small business to take the leap and follow their dream. If you are a veteran who currently owns, or is considering owning, a small business, PADGETT BUSINESS SERVICES® will handle all of your financial services needs, freeing you to grow your business.