Small Business Jobs Act frees up SBA-backed loan funds

SALT LAKE CITY — One week after President Barack Obama signed the Small Business Jobs Act, the Small Business Administration approved SBA-backed loans for 1,939 businesses across the country, amounting to about $970 million.

The loan applications had been in place, but they needed an extension of higher guarantees for the lenders and lower fees for borrowers that the newly approved legislation provided.

The Small Business Jobs Act extended benefits that had been available through the SBA Recovery Act.

One Salt Lake company, Sterling ATM, now will pay $24,000 less in fees for a loan its owners are taking out to buy a seven-acre chunk of land for a new office and warehouse complex.

Sterling ATM co-owner Mark Harling said when he and his business partner, Steven Binder, discovered they could get a really "aggressive" interest rate on a loan through a program in which KeyBank and the SBA are partners, they were "really excited."

"Then, when we found out about the $24,000 savings, it was even better," Harling said. "That will be money we can spend on working capital or improvements to the plant."

Sterling ATM makes enclosures, signs, kiosks and other items for ATM machines. Among its customers are Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank and PNC Bank.

Sterling ATM currently operates out of four locations, but that arrangement is ineffective and will soon end. Harling and Binder want to organize the business even better under one roof at a 53,000-square-foot facility that will provided the necessary extra space to accommodate their company and help it grow.

"Like a lot of fast-growing businesses, when we saw the first space we leased it looked huge to us, but in five years we outgrew it and had to get another one down the street," Harling said. "Then we had to get two others. Now we can take all our operations and wrap them into one really nice building that will make us more efficient."

SBA Administrator Karen Mills said the extension of the Small Business Recovery Act benefits, plus others that help lenders and borrowers, will be a boon for small businesses, which provide the majority of new jobs.

"Enhancements first made under the Recovery Act have made SBA-backed loans a key source of much-needed capital for tens of thousands of small-business owners, helping them not just keep their doors open, but also grow and create jobs all across the country," Mills said.

e-mail: lindat@desnews.com