At the end of the last fiscal year, the SBA reported to have aided 400 Iowa businesses.
By the end of the last fiscal year, the SBA’s Iowa District Office reported to have given out small business loans totaling almost $170 million.
The total dollar amount of the 405 loans given out is up from the previous year whose total was closer to $155 million. While these numbers are encouraging and do show progress, Jayne Armstrong, director of the SBA Iowa District Office, says the organization tries not to focus on the total dollar amount, according to Radio Iowa.
“We don’t really get too hung up on the dollar volume as much,” Armstrong says. “We’d like to put more money on the street and to help more small businesses but it’s going to fluctuate every year. As long as we’re meeting the needs of the small business community, that’s the most important thing to us.”
The SBA reported these loans created 1,258 jobs in Iowa and retained 2,645 jobs. Armstrong also says that although unemployment is low in the state, some small business owners are struggling to find qualified workers.
The loans given out by the SBA went mostly toward expansion for small businesses. “Sometimes, there are bigger deals out there that they’re looking for expansions or buying commercial real estate,” Armstrong says, “and also times when they just need small amounts of working capital.”
