EASTERN PA — Lending by the Small Business Administration (SBA) increased 14 percent in one year across the 40 counties of eastern Pennsylvania.

From 2022 to 2023, total dollar amounts decreased by 7.4 percent, from $732 million to $678 million, according to the SBA.

The SBA cited a 19.3 percent increase in 7(a) loan approvals—224—rising from 1,163 to 1,387. Approvals of the agency’s 504 loans—which provide long-term, fixed rate financing for major fixed assets —decreased by 30.4 percent, or 42 loan approvals, from 138 to 96. 

There was a 55.8 percent increase in microloan approvals, which in 2023 rose from 104 to 162, with an average loan size of $11,378.

Lending to traditionally underserved borrowers saw substantial growth year-over-year from 2022 to 2023, the SBA reported, with the following approvals given: Black-owned small businesses, up 28.2 percent; Latin-owned small businesses, up 60.2 percent; women-owned small businesses, up 36 percent; and veteran-owned small businesses, up 20.9 percent. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.