WASHINGTON — While credit unions were not included in the Small Business Administration's Small Business Economy: A Report to the President for 2007 because of their relatively new relationship with SBA, the agency said it is working harder to include credit unions in future reports.

The report reviews the economic environment for small businesses in 2006. One of the findings was that lenders with more than $10 billion in assets continued to increase their dominance in loans under $100,000 but remained "passive" with loans in the $100,000 to $1 million loan range, which is often seen as a "sweet spot" for many credit unions. In 2003, SBA opened its loan guaranty programs to credit unions. There are nearly 400 credit unions that are SBA lenders.

Still, because credit unions are not required to file certain reports such as Community Reinvestment Act reports, they are not included in the data SBA analyses, said John McDowell, press secretary for SBA's Office of Advocacy. The agency just added thrift data to the annual report, he added. Financial constraints and resources also limit SBA's ability to marry NCUA's data with other data used in the report.