SBA and corporates caucus at Caucus

WASHINGTON-The Small Business Administration (SBA) met with several credit union representatives to discuss areas where credit unions can become more involved in guaranteed-business lending and particularly how corporate credit unions can facilitate it. Delegates from NAFCU, CUNA, the Association of Corporate Credit Unions (ACCU), Empire Corporate Federal Credit Union, WesCorp, and other corporate and natural person credit unions attended the meeting with SBA General Counsel David Javdan and a handful of agency staff. "It sounds like there are a lot of possibilities, both for what they can do now and what they may do in the future," NAFCU Director of Regulatory Affairs Gwen Baker noted. CUNA and ACCU officials were unavailable for comment on the eve of CUNA's Annual Symposium in Orlando. NAFCU Senior Vice President and General Counsel Bill Donovan and Empire Corporate Senior Vice President of Membership Relations Dirck Van Deusen said that the meeting had a positive atmosphere but both reported that there is nothing new on that front yet. SBA is reviewing the issue of broader credit union involvement in SBA's 7(a) lending program. Related topics that were discussed included corporates' aid to its members with underwriting of loans, training personnel, and corporate purchasing power of SBA-backed loans. One example of what corporates are doing currently came from WesCorp, which is presently working with a regional SBA office to encourage more member credit unions to participate in SBA-backed lending. -scooke@cutimes.com