IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Some small businesses in the Inland Empire will soon divvy up $21 million in loans that they will use to expand their operations.
Eleven Inland businesses – none of which are being identified yet – have been approved for the loans, with one of those businesses slated to receive $7.5 million, according to a statement by CDC Small Business Finance in San Diego.
CDC helps arrange the SBA-504 loans, which originate with the U.S. Small Business Administration, in partnership with local banks. Its territory includes parts of Riverside and San Bernardino even though the company is based in San Diego.
Small businesses use SB-504 loans to expand, usually by purchasing a building or constructing one of their own. The loans can also be used to buy equipment.
The Inland businesses include several law firms, two medical practices, a restaurant and a company that manufactures metal parts for the aerospace and medical industries.
All of them have qualified for the loans during the past three months, said Phil Mulder, a commercial loan officer with CDC.
“Basically, we’re going to help pay for a lot of concrete tilt-ups,” Mulder said. “They’re all going to be expanding in one way or another. Slowly but surely, the [economy] is coming back.”
Industrial vacancy in the two-county region right now is about two percent, meaning that when companies need to expand they often have to build something new or expand their current operation.
“Building inventory is tight right now,” Mulder said. “There are very few buildings coming on the market, and when they do they’re purchased quickly, but small businesses that want to expand are finding a way. They’re not sitting on their hands.”
CDC is one of the leading providers of SBA-504 loans in the United States. The local banks it works with to distribute the loans include Bank of America, Bank of Southern California, Cathay Bank and OneWest Bank, according to the statement.
