First Busey Corporation receives $72.7 million to spur small businesses to create jobs

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has announced that an additional 50 community banks across the country received a total of $767 million as part of funding provided through the Small Business Lending Fund (SBLF). The bank receiving the most money was First Busey Corporation of Champaign, Ill., which received $72.7 million. The smallest award of $1.5 million went to PFSB Bancorporation, Inc. in Pigeon Falls, Wis.

“These funds will provide a powerful incentive for community banks to expand their lending to small businesses, spurring new investment and job creation” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Neal S. Wolin. “Breaking down barriers to credit will provide critical support to Main Street entrepreneurs looking to invest in their local communities, grow their businesses, and put more Americans back to work.”

The SBLF, which was established as part of the Small Business Jobs Act that President Obama signed into law, encourages community banks to increase their lending to small businesses, helping those companies expand their operations and create new jobs.

Enacted into law as part of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (the Jobs Act), the Small Business Lending Fund (SBLF) is a $30 billion fund that encourages lending to small businesses by providing capital to qualified community banks with assets of less than $10 billion.

The Small Business Jobs Act defines small business lending as certain loans of up to $10 million to businesses with up to $50 million in annual revenues. Those loans include:
• Commercial and industrial loans
• Owner-occupied nonfarm, nonresidential real estate loans
• Loans to finance agricultural production and other loans to farmers
• Loans secured by farmland

To learn more about this program and other banks involved, go to:
http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1284.aspx