U.S. Treasury: Two Washington Community Banks Receive $27.9 Million to Help Small Businesses

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced Wednesday that two additional Washington community banks received a total of $27.9 million as part of the next wave of funding provided through the Small Business Lending Fund (SBLF). The SBLF, which was established as part of the Small Business Jobs Act that President Obama signed into law, encourages community banks to increase their lending to small businesses, helping those companies expand their operations and create new jobs.         
 
The Washington community banks receiving funding as part of the announcement include the following. Additional SBLF funding announcements will be made on a rolling basis in the weeks ahead.

• Peoples Bancorp (Lynden) -- $18.0 million
• Puget Sound Bank (Bellevue) -- $9.9 million

“These funds will provide critical support to Main Street community banks so they can expand their lending to small businesses,” Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Neal S. Wolin said. “This program helps entrepreneurs in communities across the country access the capital they need to grow their operations, invest in new equipment, and hire additional workers.” 
 
In July, U&I Financial Corporation (Lynnwood) received $5.5 million in SBLF funding. To date, including the Wednesday announcement, three Washington community banks have now received a total of $33.4 million in SBLF funding.
 
Small businesses play a critical role in the U.S. economy and are central to growth and job creation. Small businesses employ roughly one-half of all Americans and account for about 60 percent of gross job creation. But small business owners faced disproportionate challenges in the aftermath of the recession and credit crisis, including difficulty accessing capital.
 
The SBLF helps small businesses meet this challenge by providing capital to community banks that hold under $10 billion in assets. The dividend rate a community bank pays on SBLF funding is reduced as that bank increases its lending to small businesses – providing a strong incentive for new lending to small businesses so they can expand and create jobs. For more details on the SBLF program, please visit, link.
 
The SBLF is one part of the Obama Administration’s comprehensive agenda to help small businesses access the capital they need to invest and hire. The State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), which is also a key part of the Small Business Jobs Act, allocates $1.5 billion to new and existing state programs that will leverage private financing to spur $15 billion in new lending to small businesses and small manufacturers.
 
The Obama Administration has also supported 17 direct tax breaks that provide tax relief of more than $50 billion for small businesses. These tax breaks were designed to support job creation and retention, entrepreneurship, investment, and growth. The Administration has also worked with Congress to extend and expand existing Small Business Administration loan programs that helped put more than $42 billion in the hands of small businesses and deliver other important benefits to help small businesses expand and hire.

-- This information is from a U.S. Department of the Treasury news statement. It is being posted as a public service announcement because small business owners in the Sammamish area might be looking for dollars to open a company or invest and expand an existing one.