CDC Small Business Finance Corp. Tops List Of San Diego Lenders in Loans to Small Business Owners.

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 27, 1999--

CDC Small Business Finance Corp. is San Diego's top small business lender in 1999, according to figures released recently by the San Diego district office of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

CDC funded 146 SBA 504 loans during the SBA's 1999 fiscal year (Oct. 1, 1998-Sept. 30, 1999), a nine percent increase over 1998 and a new record for the 21-year-old company. Project costs represented by the loans totaled $165 million.

CDC also led all SBA lenders in the San Diego district in loans to businesses owned by women and minorities with 61 loans, or 42 percent of its total, for $69.2 million.

"SBA 504 loans, with fixed rates and minimal down payment, remain the most popular choice for small business owners who expand their existing buildings or switch from leasing a building to owning one," said Kurt Chilcott, CDC president and chief executive officer.

He also said that loans funded in 1999 by CDC created 1,400 new jobs and helped retain another 4,970. The numbers are based on federal provisions in the 504 loan program that require companies receiving loans to hire one new employee within two years for each $35,000 they receive, and to identify how many jobs will be preserved.

Favorable economic conditions and relatively stable interest rates that characterized 1998 continued throughout 1999, Chilcott said. He credited SBA cooperation, and the widespread support from bank and non-bank lenders who partner as first trust deed lenders with CDC, as the underpinnings to CDC's strong performance.

CDC was founded in 1978 as a non-profit company to foster regional economic development efforts by channeling federal loan resources to owners of small businesses. In CDC's 21 years of existence, it has funded more than 1,700 small businesses with SBA 504 loans.