BofA Community Development Bank and SBA approve new FA$TRAK loans.

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 2, 1995--Bank of America Community Development Bank has approved three loans under the U.S. Small Business Administration's new FA$TRAK Program, which was introduced by the SBA last month to reduce red tape, provide wider access to credit for small businesses, and cut costs to taxpayers.

"We believe these are the first loans in California and among the first in the nation to be approved under the FA$TRAK Program," said BofA Community Development Bank President Mike Mantle. "We're excited about expanding our partnership with the SBA to provide more choice and easier access to credit for our small business customers."

The three approved loans under the FA$TRAK Program include:

- Loubara's Famous Foods, a San Diego-based, African American-owned restaurant specializing in Creole and Cajun cuisine.

- Par Four International (PFI), a San Diego-based business that provides custom finishing for golf club manufacturers.

- The Lite Lunch Box, a San Francisco catering business that provides low-fat, boxed luncheons for business meetings and other events.

FA$TRAK is a two-year pilot program developed by the SBA to lower the turnaround time for loan applications by requiring less documentation, and to decrease the use of taxpayer funding by lowering the portion of the loan guaranteed by the SBA. Under the FA$TRAK Program, 50 percent of the loan amount is guaranteed by the SBA, compared to 70 to 90 percent of conventional loans.

"FA$TRAK not only allows us to provide more financing choices for the customer -- it also allows us to reduce our loan processing times by anywhere from 15 to 30 days," Mantle said. "This is another program that will help BofA Community Development Bank better meet its mission of providing credit to small businesses -- particularly minority- and women-owned businesses -- throughout California and the western U.S."

BofA Community Development Bank is a subsidiary of BankAmerica Corporation that focuses on community development lending, including government-assisted small business loans and financing for construction and rehabilitation of affordable multifamily housing. In 1994, it provided a total of more than $350 million in community development loans.

FA$TRAK is just one in a series of new programs introduced by the SBA over the past year to expand financing options for small businesses, particularly emerging minority- and women-owned businesses. Other programs include the LowDoc Program, which reduces application paperwork, and the Women's Prequalification Program, which provides women-owned businesses with preapprovals from the SBA for the guaranteed portion of a loan.

-0-

Note to Editors: To contact FA$TRAK loan customers, please call the contacts listed above).

CONTACT: Bank of America -- San Diego 

Lisa Margolin Feher, 619/549-7405

Bank of America -- San Francisco

Russ Yarrow, 415/953-1411

SBA -- San Diego

Al Converse, 619/557-7250 (ex. 1116)

SBA -- San Francisco

Barbara Bizani, 415/744-8479