SYRACUSE — M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB), NBT Bank (NASDAQ: NBTB), and Adirondack Bank are recognized as the “most active” small-business lenders in the Central New York region during the 2013 fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.
That’s according to Bernard J. Paprocki, executive director of the Syracuse district office of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
The banks had the highest number of 7(a) approvals in their respective categories based on asset size, the SBA said in a news release.
The 7(a) program is the SBA’s primary loan program meant to help start-up and existing small businesses to obtain financing when they might not qualify for business loans that are not backed by the government.
For the eighth consecutive year, M&T Bank topped all large commercial banks in the Central New York region and the entire 34-county Syracuse SBA district, the agency said.
M&T Bank approved 70 loans for small businesses in Central New York with a value of $7.6 million and a total of 150 loans district-wide totaling $17.1 million, according to the SBA.
M&T Bank is also the most active third-party lender in the Syracuse district’s 504 program with 14 loans valued at $26.4 million, the agency said.
The 504 program is designed to assist entrepreneurs in obtaining long-term, fixed-rate financing for capital assets like the purchase of real estate and equipment with a minimum useful life of 10 years.
The 504 program is offered through certified development companies (CDCs), which are private, nonprofit corporations set up to contribute to the economic development of their communities. CDCs work with the SBA and private-sector lenders to provide financing to small businesses.
NBT Bank was the most active large community lender in Central New York and the Syracuse district for the third consecutive year, the SBA said.
It approved 20 loans for Central New York businesses valued at $2.9 million and 50 loans district wide worth $5.8 million, the agency added.
Adirondack Bank was the top small-community lender in Central New York with 10 loan approvals valued at $6.2 million, according to the SBA.
“Strong” relationships with the agency’s lending partners are “essential” in providing small-business owners with much-needed access to capital, Paprocki said in the news release.
“With continued partnership, Central New York entrepreneurs can continue to create jobs and invest in their businesses and communities,” Paprocki said.
Buffalo–based M&T Bank has more than $83 billion in assets and more than 725 branch offices in its footprint that includes eight states, Washington, D.C., and the province of Ontario, Canada.
NBT Bank, N.A., part of Norwich–based NBT Bancorp, has 160 locations, including 125 NBT Bank offices in upstate New York, northwestern Vermont, and western Massachusetts; 35 Pennstar Bank offices in northeastern Pennsylvania; and five Hampshire First Bank offices in southern New Hampshire.
Headquartered in Utica, Adirondack Bank operates 18 branch offices throughout Central and Northern New York, including an office at 120 E. Washington St. in Syracuse. The bank has about 165 employees.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com