Thirteen banks have committed to increase lending by $20 billion to small businesses over the next three years.
The announcement was made by Vice President Joe Biden and SBA Administrator Karen Mills Tuesday as both urged Congress to pass the American Jobs Act.
The banks that said they will increase small business lending by a combined $20 billion are Wells Fargo, Key Corp., Regions Financial Corp., Huntington Bancshares Inc., M&T Bank Corp., JP Morgan Chase & Co., Citizens Financial Group Inc., Citigroup, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, TD Bank, US Bank, PNC Bank NA. and Sun Trust Banks Inc.
The new small business lending commitments represent an increase of 10% or more beyond the current levels of lending at many of the participating banks, according to Biden and Mills.
“The only way we’re going to turn the vicious economic cycle we’ve been in into a virtuous one is by cutting taxes on our small businesses and making sure they can get the loans they need to grow and hire more workers,” Biden said.
Biden and Mills made the bank lending announcement at Wrap Tite Inc., a small business in Solon, Ohio. The manufacturer and distributer of packing and shipping products recently received a $1.5 million SBA loan to purchase and renovate a new facility and hire five new workers, Mills said.
