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Lending hot spots
The small business lending scene has been grim this year, but some banks are still making loans. Below is data on banks that have made loans through the SBA's 7(a) small business loan program in the 2009 fiscal year.
Rank City # of loans Total $ lent Top lender
1 Salt Lake City, UT 1,838 $175,276,200 Zions Bancorporation
2 Minneapolis, MN 1,649 $289,400,903 U.S. Bank
3 Milwaukee, WI 1,549 $268,219,356 Associated Banc-Corp
4 Los Angeles, CA 1,265 $377,060,925 Superior Financial Group
5 Chicago, IL 1,141 $205,909,566 Jpmorgan Chase & Co.
6 Dallas, TX 1,015 $342,320,101 Compass Bancshares
7 Detroit, MI 997 $203,958,571 Huntington Bancshares Incorpor
8 Columbus, OH 972 $142,256,020 Huntington Bancshares Incorpor
9 Boston, MA 845 $121,783,800 Citizens Financial Group
10 Newark, NJ 844 $257,302,400 Td Banknorth
11 San Francisco, CA 822 $228,662,800 Wells Fargo & Company
12 Denver, CO 810 $213,647,219 U.S. Bank
13 Atlanta, GA 787 $269,105,282 Bb&T Corporation
14 Miami, FL 783 $216,289,183 Superior Financial Group
15 Philadelphia, PA 772 $169,352,040 Manufacturers And Traders Trust Company
16 Indianapolis, IN 761 $177,728,694 Huntington Bancshares Incorpor
17 New York, NY 740 $144,676,800 Jpmorgan Chase & Co.
18 Seattle, WA 732 $184,232,425 U.S. Bank
19 Phoenix, AZ 710 $207,380,600 Wells Fargo & Company
20 Santa Ana, CA 709 $206,537,100 Wells Fargo & Company
21 Charlotte, NC 702 $181,293,528 Bb&T Corporation
22 Portland, OR 662 $121,046,900 U.S. Bank
23 Cleveland, OH 653 $111,993,300 Huntington Bancshares Incorpor
24 San Antonio, TX 651 $144,300,255 Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union
25 Jackson, MS 644 $98,649,022 First Financial Banc Corporati
Source: Small Business Administration. 7(a) loans in Fiscal Year 2009, through Aug. 31, 2009.
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How we picked the Best Places
This year we partnered with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to find the 50 most business-friendly communities in America.

With help from Robert Fairlie, an economist and leading scholar of entrepreneurship at the University of California, Santa Cruz, we developed a methodology and sifted through such data on factors such as per capita income, hourly wages, workforce quality, crime rates, taxes and foreclosures. More

Comments? E-mail the editors
Data partners

This package was produced in partnership with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Foreclosure data provided by RealtyTrac.

Housing price-to-income data provided by Moody's Economy.com.