Small businesses in the Inland Empire received $37 million in financing from the U.S. Small Business Administration during the last three months.
One dozen companies in Riverside and San Bernardino counties received one of the administration’s 504 loans during September, October and November, said Larry Nuffer, spokesman for CDC Small Business Finance in San Diego.
CDC Finance is one of about 200 non-profit businesses licensed by the federal government to administer 504 loans, which are used by small businesses to buy fixed assets – usually land or a building – for expansion.
The company, which has multiple clients in the Inland Empire, releases quarterly data on the state of the 504 loan program in Southern California submarkets as a service to the industry.
“We think it’s a good barometer for people to have,” Nuffer said.
Inland companies that received 504 loans during the past three months represented the insurance, transportation, healthcare and hospitality industries. The largest loan, which was arranged through BBCN Bank, was worth nearly $9 million, according to CDC Finance.
Nuffer called the $37 million figure “a little higher than normal” for a three-month period in the Inland Empire.