Lending

Of the 53 small business owners set to receive SBA 2010 "Person of the Year" awards during National Small Business Week in May, none of them received a loan from a credit union.

To keep capital flowing to small businesses, the SBA has received an additional $80 million to support its 7(a) and 504 loan programs.

The Federal Reserve System seems at last to be acknowledging credit unions as important economic players based on new inquiries about district data, according to NAFCU's top economist.

The NCUA's Community Development Revolving Loan Fund is offering eight kinds of grants to help credit unions that serve low-income communities finance some of their activities.

Offering business loans for 85 years, Michigan's credit unions have been able to do so "in the same prudent and common-sense manner that they have also handled mortgages and personal loans," Michigan Credit Union League President/CEO David Adams said.

Credit unions are finding some of their strongest ever growth in mortgage underwriting by combining high-tech outreach with a traditionally high touch approach to service-both to their members and real estate professionals.