Small Business Conference Set In Maine
August 30, 2010 The conference has a guest list of about 350. Gov. John Baldacci and other government officials, Tom's of Maine founder Tom Chappell and Bob Coleman, founder and publisher of Coleman Publishing, are also among those attending.
. . . keep reading
|
Small businesses hold off spending while waiting for aid
August 30, 2010
Many other businesses have paused expansion as they wait for the outcome of the bill, says Bob Coleman, publisher of the Coleman Report, which provides information on small-business lending.
Some businesses can save thousands of dollars on the waived loan-fee provision alone, and they are thinking, " 'I might as well hold off and save the money,' " he says. . . . keep reading
|
Bill to help small businesses could put banks at risk
July 28, 2010
People in favor of the bill says those kinds of fears are overblown. Bob Coleman is editor of a trade newsletter that reports on small business loans. He says banks are in the business of figuring out who they should and shouldn't lend to. BOB COLEMAN: They understand there's a risk, but they're in the job of mitigating risk. The bill, which is part of a bigger package of aid for small businesses, could get voted on this week. . . . keep reading
|
As Lending To Small Businesses Plummets, Bernanke Implores Banks To Do More
July 14, 2010
Coleman blames the economy for the lack of available loans, pointing to near-double-digit unemployment and the lack of demand for goods that's causing businesses and banks to hold back. Coleman also said uncertainty over new regulations -- like those businesses will face as part of the recently-enacted health care law -- has made some think twice about borrowing.
. . . keep reading
|
S.B.A. Lending Plunged in June
July 12, 2010
According to industry consultant Coleman Publishing, in the first half of the S.B.A.'s 2010 fiscal year (which began in October 2009), First Intercontinental made nearly $28 million in loans, making it the 45th largest S.B.A. lender by dollar volume.
. . . keep reading
|
More Lending to Small Businesses
July 12, 2010
Bob Coleman publishes a trade newsletter on small-business lending. He says it's really the slightly bigger than mom-and-pop shops that are having the most trouble borrowing.
. . . keep reading
|
JPMorgan Cuts Rates to Small Businesses that Hire
June 29, 2010
JPMorgan's average rate on a small-business loan is about 6 percent, a spokesman said. The average rate on a small-business loan across U.S. banks is about 5.5 percent, estimated Bob Coleman, author of the Coleman Report on loans backed by the Small Business Association.
New York
. . . keep reading
|
Obama wants $30B to boost small biz
February 2, 2010
Bob Coleman, who publishes a newsletter on small-business borrowing, says the president's plan will surely help.
BOB COLEMAN: $30 billion with a "b" is certainly a positive development for the entrepreneur on Main Street. That entrepreneur needs the local community bank to meet payroll, to fund their working capital to pay their vendors.
But Coleman says, even with $30 billion in new government capital and financial incentives for banks, it may still be hard for a cash-starved small business to land a loan. After a lousy year, many of them don't look credit-worthy on paper.
COLEMAN: That small business person walks into the bank, and first of all, revenues have decreased, and most likely profitability, if there is any at all. Bankers are risk-averse.
. . . keep reading
|
Consumer Reporter Clark Howard- TV Coverage of the Coleman Report with Video Clip (2:30)
June 14, 2010
It's been a tough decade for small business owners. Since 2001, 17 percent of franchise owners have closed their doors. If you are considering a franchise, how do you pick a winner? Gary Pipcorn was laid off about 10 months ago, and he was looking for a new opportunity. "I've done several start-ups before," Gary said, "But they've always been for somebody else, and this time I'd like to do a start-up on my own." But how do you tell if your franchise will be a success? One way banks decide whether to give you a loan: The Coleman Report. . .
Atlanta, Georgia
. . . keep reading
|
You Can Take Advantage of Your "Expert" Status in Many Ways
June 6, 2010
"The thing about being a specialized publisher is that you're on the front line. You're someone who has been in the field for a long time. It's an outlook no one else can have. Whereas an industry newsletter can see the trend, a specialized publisher will see trends even better." Bob Coleman, a specialized publisher, does a Small Business Lender Internet Radio Show on his Website with sponsors.
. . . keep reading
|
Financing Programs Aim to Help Franchisees
April 29, 2010
Before the recession, too-lenient franchisers sometimes funneled weak candidates through the start-up process, says Bob Coleman, who collects data on loans backed by the Small Business Administration. According to a preliminary report compiled on loans from the government's last fiscal year, some franchises had loss rates as high as 27%. As a result, "banks today look at the performance of the franchiser," he says.
. . . keep reading
|
Credit Freeze Will Thaw in 2010
February 6, 2010
Look for lending to smalls to rise about 10% this year, says Bob Coleman, a small business lending expert. The free flow won't start until late in the year, when banks and companies are more confident of growth. That, in turn, will help spur the economy.
. . . keep reading
|
SBA-Backed Loans Are Bright Spot in Gloomy Climate
February 4, 2010
SBA-backed loans in the past have made up only a small portion of overall small-business loans--around 7% to 8% according to the SBA's estimations, and as little as 1% by other counts.
But thanks to stimulus-related measures, SBA loans this year could be "pushing 10% to 15%," according to industry expert Bob Coleman, who keeps a pulse on SBA lending through his independent publication, the Coleman Report.
. . . keep reading
|
For many, SBA loans never looked so good
January 24, 2010
Bob Coleman, editor of a newsletter on small business lending, said the SBA has historically funded all or most of its guarantee obligations through its fees.
The fee waiver funded by stimulus dollars means taxpayers will take a hit, but Coleman said that may be worth the cost.
"The dollars are minuscule compared with the benefit to taxpayers in (preserved) jobs and tax revenues," said Coleman, editor of Coleman Publishing in La Canada, Calif.
. . . keep reading
|
A Jump Start for Stalled Small Business Lenders
January 8, 2010
Nationwide, 257 lenders that made 504 loans in the 12 months before Sept. 30, 2008, dropped out of the program the following year, a decline of 13%, according to the SBA. Loan volume dropped 28%, from $5.4 billion to $3.9 billion, in the same period. "If the bank wants to make these loans, they have to hold them on the books," says Bob Coleman, publisher of the Coleman Report newsletter on SBA lending.
. . . keep reading
|
Start-Ups Will Keep Struggling in 2010
January 5, 2010
As for Small Business Administration-guaranteed loans or conventional bank loans, the best thing about 2010 is that it won't be 2009, says Bob Coleman, publisher of "The Coleman Report," a La Canada, Calif., trade publication for SBA lenders. "We're better off than where we were 12 months ago, but we are nowhere near where we were two years ago," he says.
The SBA approved less than 45,000 loans for the 12 months ended Sept. 30, down 36% from a year earlier. Total volume for its flagship 7(a) loan was $9.3 billion, off year-ago levels by $3.4 billion.
Stimulus-related measures, however, contributed to an uptick in SBA lending in recent months. Mr. Coleman expects that trend to continue for 2010.
But SBA loans make up only about 1% of overall small-business lending, Mr. Coleman estimates. That figure may grow to 5% to 10% in 2010 as the government provides more incentives for financial institutions, especially community banks, to provide financing to small businesses, he says.
. . . keep reading
|
Out of the Bunker for 2010
January 2010
The news isn't as good on the loans front. According to Bob Coleman, who analyzes SBA lending, 2010 should be better for government-backed loans, but lending will not return to pre-recession levels for several years. To put it in perspective: There were 43 percent more SBA loans going into default in 2008 than the year before, according to the Coleman Report, including 13 percent of all franchise loans. In 2009, SBA lending was off by at least 35 percent.
Naturally, entrepreneurs also need to be aware that the recession has completely remapped franchise financing. "In the past, there were 10 or 12 big national lenders that would finance franchises anywhere in the country," Coleman says. "Now you have to go through a community or regional bank. The national lenders aren't out there."
. . . keep reading
|
Small firms still facing hurdles in borrowing
December 16, 2009
Bob Coleman, publisher of Small Business Lending News in La Cañada, adds that for small to midsized lenders, another problem is that many SBA loans are secured by commercial property. Now that commercial property prices are plummeting, the value of the collateral has dropped, drawing the scrutiny of the regulators.
"If a bank extends a $750,000 loan based on the value of the property being used as collateral and then the value of the property drops to $650,000, the regulators are going to tell the banks they need more capital to cover that loan," Coleman said.
But Coleman added that those problems are generally associated with regional or community lenders, not the big banks that have been generating profits with the help of federal stimulus dollars.
. . . keep reading
|
Superior Financial Group Emerges as Nation's Top SBA Lender
December 2, 2009
Superior Financial Group, a small, independent operation located in Suburban Walnut Creek, CA, produced 2,690 SBA (7a) loans totaling $27.1 million to entrepreneurs during SBA's fiscal year running October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2009. "This independent lender was able to outperform the larger, more established Banks by providing financial products to meet the needs of Main Street businesses providing capital and training to expand their business and hire new employees. In doing so, SFG has become the top SBA lender in the country," stated Bob Coleman, Founder of Coleman publishing. "This really is a story of David and Goliath," he added.
. . . keep reading
|
BBVA Compass ranked third for SBA lending
November 23, 2009
The Birmingham-based bank received third place for doling out a hefty amount of loans backed by the Small Business Administration, according to the recently released Coleman Report 500, which provides information for SBA lenders.
. . . keep reading
|
Can Treasury, SBA help small business?
November 18, 2009
The stimulus package passed by Congress made it easier for banks to make SBA loans and waived fees to borrowers. And that helped a lot, says Bob Coleman, who puts out a report on small-business lending.
. . . keep reading
|
As others lie low, Cincinnati's Quadrant boosts loans by 38 percent
October 30, 2009
Quadrant Financial Inc. boosted its lending volume by a whopping 38 percent in the first nine months of the fiscal year ended in September. Its affiliated banking company finished the fiscal year as the nation's 28th-largest SBA lender by dollar volume, with $47 million in SBA loans, according to Bob Coleman of trade publication The Coleman Report.
. . . keep reading
|
Small Businesses Could Face New Credit Squeeze
October 30, 2009
"We're entering into an era of uncertainty," says Bob Coleman, founder of Coleman Publishing, a firm in La Canada, Calif. that tracks and reports government-guaranteed lending activity. Previous government programs, including last summer's emergency-loan ARC program, have taken time to ramp up, as banks must evaluate the rules and -- if they decide to participate -- prepare their internal systems to support it. Even if Mr. Obama's plan successfully launches by year's end, there could be a dip in SBA lending for weeks or months until risk-averse banks engage, Mr. Coleman says."
. . . keep reading
|
Focus on small business: Ridgestone tosses a lifeline of loans
October 19, 2009
The stimulus programs lowered the risk for lenders, said Bob Coleman, editor of Coleman SBA Lender Daily, a La Canada, Calif.-based newsletter for small-business lenders. "For the lender to say 'yes,' now they are only taking a 10 percent risk as opposed to a 25 percent risk."
. . . keep reading
|
Status Report: Small-Business Lending
September 19, 2009
Firms holding their expansion plans in check may have a good reason, says Bob Coleman, a small business banking analyst in La Canada, Calif. "We're still in a recession," he says. "We're not talking Armageddon here, but it will [likely] remain tough for businesses to get loans," says Coleman.
. . . keep reading
|
S.B.A. Lending Is Rising, But What Happens When the Stimulus Runs Out?
September 14, 2009
Industry analysts and players give much of the credit to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Sure it gave us the ARC loan program, but it also contained two important provisions that stimulated government guaranteed lending. Crucially, it bolstered the guaranty in the agency's flagship 7(a) loan to 90 percent, from, depending on the size of the loan, 75 or 85 percent. On a million-dollar loan, for example, the higher guaranty reduces the bank's exposure by $150,000, says Bob Coleman, an industry analyst.
. . . keep reading
|
A market that healed itself
August 28, 2009
"The current investor community is different than few years ago, when foreign investors represented a large portion of the buyers of SBA pools," said Chris Laporte, chairman of Coastal Financial Holdings, at a conference on TALF held last week by trade publisher Coleman Publishing."
. . . keep reading
|
SBA's "Rescue" Loans Have Big Problems
July 27, 2009
In a Twitter communiqu online, Bob Coleman, publisher of the Coleman Report, wrote, "ARC is a bust. SBA has only approved 139 loans for $4.6 million in the first 2 weeks. Go another way." His follow-up tweet says, "Good CNN article about SBA ARC Loans http://tr.im/qlw3."
. . . keep reading
|
Some Small Business Still Struggle to Get Financing
July 22, 2009
SBA 7(a) lending for the fiscal third quarter ended in June dropped 38% by volume and 50% by number of loans compared with the same quarter last year, according to the Coleman Report, which provides information on small-business lending.
. . . keep reading
|
CIT Group Strikes Deal with Creditors to Avoid Bankruptcy
July 21, 2009
The Coleman Report, an industry publication, said last week that CIT's originations of government-guaranteed small-business loans in the past nine months fell 88 percent from the corresponding period a year earlier. The total volume, $66 million, dropped the company from its position as the nation's largest small-business lender for the first time in nine years.
. . . keep reading
|
CIT $3-B Rescue May Not Provide Cure
July 21, 2009
In the quarter ended on June, CIT's loans to small businesses plunged 88 percent to $65.7 million and the company fell to 15th in the category from first a year earlier, according to the La Canada, California-based Coleman Report.
. . . keep reading
|
Wells Fargo Wins Small-Business Customers From CIT (Update 1)
July 20, 2009
Wells Fargo & Co., the biggest bank on the U.S. West Coast, gained small-business customers in the quarter that ended in June as CIT Group Inc. ran short on cash, according to the Coleman Report. Wells Fargo's lending to small businesses increased 27 percent from a year earlier to $586.9 million, while CIT's plunged 88 percent to $65.7 million, Coleman said in a report dated July 13 that was e-mailed today... "CIT will not be a player in the industry until it solves its liquidity problems -- one way or another," Coleman said. The Coleman Report... provides weekly data on small business lending in the U.S. The third-quarter report, issued according to the government's fiscal calendar, said lending fell 38 percent in the period from a year earlier to $2.5 billion. Wells Fargo's market-share gains were helped by acquisition in January of Wachovia Corp., which was the fourth-biggest small-business lender last year, Coleman said.
. . . keep reading
|
Alternatives to CIT Are Scarce, for Now
July 17, 2009
Though 7(a) lending was up in the last quarter, that's mainly due to the more generous (and temporary) 90 percent guarantee authorized by the February stimulus law, according to Bob Coleman, the S.B.A. industry analyst who publishes the Coleman Report. Nonetheless, Mr. Coleman sees a handful of banks gearing up for additional 7(a) lending once the economy improves, most notably Wells Fargo, now the largest lender by volume. Others to watch are Live Oak Banking Corp. of Wilmington, N.C. (the fifth-largest lender by volume), and Excel National Bank, of Beverly Hills, Calif. (the 14th-largest).
. . . keep reading
|
CIT Group's Borrowers May Find No Shortage of Credit
July 15, 2009
Defaults on loans from participants in the Small Business Administration jumped to 3 percent of those provided in 2008 from 2.4 percent in 2007 and 1.5 percent in 2006, according to March data from the Coleman Report in La Canada, California. CIT's small-business unit was the fifth-biggest SBA lender in the first quarter, issuing $44.9 million in loans, the Coleman Report said. Last year, CIT was the top small-business lender at $771.4 million, according to the report, which projects CIT's volume for this year will drop by $591.8 million.
. . . keep reading
|
CIT's Troubles Are Small Business's Troubles
July 13, 2009
CIT had an unusual method for financing 25-year loans, according to Bob Coleman, an industry analyst who publishes the Coleman Report. It would sell the S.B.A.-guaranteed portion, or 75 percent of the loan, on the secondary market, and the proceeds would finance much of the company's new loans. To finance the other 25 percent, CIT would borrow short-term money and refinance it every three months. "They had a very good credit rating, so they could borrow at low rates in the commercial 90-day paper market." But when credit markets, including both for short-term notes and pools of S.B.A.-guaranteed loans, froze last fall, CIT couldn't make new loans. Mr. Coleman does not believe these problems figure greatly in CIT's bigger liquidity problems. In S.B.A. lending circles, CIT is regarded as having a strong portfolio of loans. "You cannot be the No. 1 lender for 10 years in a row and have a sloppy portfolio," he says. "They weren't doing some of the crazy things that other lenders would do."
. . . keep reading
|
Lender Fears Force SBA Program into Slow Lane
July 2, 2009
Coleman Publishing, which tracks SBA loan data and puts out a daily newspaper on the subject, said Wednesday that unless lending picked up, the funds allotted for the Arc program would only be half disbursed at the current lending rate by the time the program ends on Sept. 30, 2010.
. . . keep reading
|
SBA Loans Start to Trickle
June 28, 2009
And on Friday, Coleman Publishing reported, "In just two year's time, the U.S. Small Business Administration's Patriot Express Pilot Loan Initiative has supported more than $315 million in loans to more than 3,750 veterans and their spouses who are using the SBA-guaranteed funds to establish and expand their small businesses. As a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which raised loan guarantees to 90 percent, and eliminated fees temporarily, the number of Patriot Express loans increased to record levels in April and May of 2009."
. . . keep reading
|
SBA Tweaks Rules of 504 Loan Program
June 26, 2009
"Most are struggling and working overtime to figure out how to be able to survive this economy," says Bob Coleman, publisher of the Coleman Report, a newsletter for SBA lenders.
. . . keep reading
|
SBA Offers Aid to Cash-Strapped
June 20, 2009
"The general consensus is that the lenders aren't too excited about it," says Bob Coleman, publisher of "The Coleman Report," a La Canada, Calif.-based trade publication for SBA lenders. "It's a tremendous amount of paperwork."
. . . keep reading
|
Surprising Funding Source for the Fitness Industry
June 10, 2009
This column includes some interesting figures, provided to me by Bob Coleman, the founder of the "Coleman Report," a newsletter covering the U.S. SBA loan programs. Coleman also is a national expert covering SBA lending programs and has worked for more than 25 years in the SBA industry.
. . . keep reading
|
The Lowdown on ARC Loans
June 10, 2009
Bob Coleman who provides training and publishes reports for participating SBA banks conducted a survey of bankers in which some participants say they are scared to death to participate in such a program.
. . . keep reading
|
Business Closure Picture Incomplete for Gainesville
April 18, 2009
Coleman, an expert on small businesses and publisher of the financial newsletter The Coleman Report, said that small business failure rates increased 154 percent from 2007 to 2008. Of all the businesses that have received Small Business Administration loans since 2001, nearly 12 percent have defaulted. The default rate "spiked tremendously" in the past two years, Coleman said...
"That is one of the reasons you have credit constriction at the bank level for small businesses and restricting capital for Main Street," Coleman said. "Small business performance, unfortunately, is indicative of the entire economic climate."... "All new employment is coming from small business right now," he said. "The buzz is that small business will be the leader in taking us out of the recession."...
"It's tragic what's happening in our local communities from that standpoint," he said. "The problem we have is while there will be a recovery, and the banks will survive and Detroit will survive, those people aren't coming back to Main Street. That's the real tragedy for our communities."
. . . keep reading
|
Why Obama'Why Obama's Small Biz Rescue Plan is Collapsing
April 3, 2009
The most recent casualty is Community West Bank. In 2008, this little California-based bank wrote 62 SBA loans for $25 million, while expanding its reach to 20 states across the U.S. Earlier this week, industry analyst Coleman reported that Community West had changed its mind. By Wednesday, it had reduced its lending footprint to the Rockies and west, and halved its staff.
. . . keep reading
|
SBA Numbers: Declining loans? Whose de-fault is it?
April, 2009
The default rate on SBA-backed loans given to franchisees has more than quadrupled since 2004, according to information prepared by the Coleman Report, a newsletter out of California that tracks the SBA lending market. In 2004, the default rate for franchisees was 3.1 percent. By 2008 it was 13.4 percent... And Bob Coleman, publisher of the Coleman Report, stressed that not too much should be read into the difference. He said that the majority of franchise loans are in the 7(a) program, which has a higher default rate than the 504 program, which is tied to property. The default rates include numbers for both programs.
. . . keep reading
|
Top Lenders Pull Plug on Small Biz Loans
March 23, 2009
If current lending trends continue, only two of the top 30 lenders are projected to increase their loan volume this year, according to Bob Coleman, the head of Coleman Publishing... "Regulators are demanding that banks put more into their reserves right now. The SBA is being nitpicky with the defaulted loans, and lenders are finding it more difficult to get paid the government guarantee," he said..."Right now these loans aren't profitable," Coleman said. "The stimulus hasn't taken effect, and it's still months away from helping lenders. Some lenders don't think it'll be effective - they don't think it will be strong enough by itself, that the economy also needs to turn around." With a sigh, he added: "I guess that's where you get the chicken-and-the-egg thing."
. . . keep reading
|
|
