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All metro areas
These banks have made loans through the SBA's 7(a) small business loan program in the 2009 fiscal year. Loan data is for loans made in and around the listed city. Click on the city name for a full list of active local lenders.
City # of loans Total $ lent Top lender
Abilene, TX 194 $43,008,300 First Baird Bancshares
Akron, OH 653 $111,993,300 Huntington Bancshares Incorpor
Albany, GA 787 $269,105,282 Bb&T Corporation
Albany, NY 586 $83,823,974 Manufacturers And Traders Trust Company
Albuquerque, NM 267 $62,960,387 Western Commerce Bancshares Of
Alexandria, LA 467 $99,977,415 Gulf Coast Bk & Tr Co
Allentown, PA 772 $169,352,040 Manufacturers And Traders Trust Company
Altoona, PA 277 $42,842,200 Citizens Financial Group
Amarillo, TX 194 $43,008,300 First Baird Bancshares
Ames, IA 347 $88,057,650 First American Bank
Anchorage, AK 107 $18,472,422 Wells Fargo & Company
Anderson, IN 761 $177,728,694 Huntington Bancshares Incorpor
Anderson, SC 289 $73,238,900 Superior Financial Group
Ann Arbor, MI 997 $203,958,571 Huntington Bancshares Incorpor
Anniston, AL 334 $72,411,066 Redstone Federal Credit Union
Appleton, WI 1,549 $268,219,356 Associated Banc-Corp
Asheville, NC 702 $181,293,528 Bb&T Corporation
Athens, GA 787 $269,105,282 Bb&T Corporation
Atlanta, GA 787 $269,105,282 Bb&T Corporation
Atlantic City, NJ 844 $257,302,400 Td Banknorth
Auburn, AL 334 $72,411,066 Redstone Federal Credit Union
Augusta, GA 787 $269,105,282 Bb&T Corporation
Austin, TX 651 $144,300,255 Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union
Source: Small Business Administration. 7(a) loans in Fiscal Year 2009, through Aug. 31, 2009.
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 Affordable wages  Few foreclosures
 Educated workers  Low housing costs
 Low crime  High local incomes
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 Growing small business population

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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

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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.