SBA-backed working capital loans to Puerto Rico up 68% in Fiscal ’21
The US Small Business Administration backed 411 7(a) working capital loans for $89.3 million in Fiscal ’21, exceeding by 68% the $53.3 million on record for Fiscal ’20 for Puerto Rico, the agency confirmed.
The agency also confirmed it saw an increased amount of 7(a) working capital loans in Fiscal ’21 — by count and volume — in the US Virgin Islands compared to Fiscal ’20, when it guaranteed $5.3 million to small firms in the neighboring islands. The increase is more than $1.8 million from the previous fiscal year.
The SBA’s 504 program delivered 41 loans worth nearly $12.8 million to small businesses, the same loan count as in Fiscal ’20. A total of $315,517 in microloan funding went to 12 Puerto Rico small businesses.
Meanwhile, the Fiscal ’21 Community Advantage loan county was just one shy of the previous fiscal year, providing $486,500 to Puerto Rico small businesses, the agency confirmed.
The SBA’s fiscal year ended Sept. 30.
“In Puerto Rico and the USVI, the SBA has delivered for the smallest of small businesses on top of the record-setting pandemic relief made on the islands,” said Josué E. Rivera, SBA Puerto Rico and USVI district director.
“The Puerto Rico SBA 7(a) lending skyrocketed as comparted to last fiscal year, achieving a $86 million increase in volume; USVI also saw an increase in these working capital loans,” he said.
“This capital has made a positive difference to small businesses, as has the SBA, from not only it’s COVID pandemic small business programs but also through traditional lending programs,” Rivera added.
In a release, SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman announced the agency reached $44.8 billion in funding to small businesses through more than 61,000 traditional loans for Fiscal ’21.
