Fleet top SBA lender for 2001

SYRACUSE - Fleet Bank is the region's top Small Business Administration (SBA) lender for the second year, according to year-end figures released by the federal agency. During the 2001 SBA fiscal year, Fleet made 145 SBA-backed loans to small businesses across the 13-county Syracuse region. M&T Bank followed with 59 SBA loans for the year. The SBA fiscal year ends Sept. 30.

"Despite the slowdown in the economy, lending in Central New York increased this year," says Bernard J. Paprocki, Syracuse SBA district director.

Fleet's ranking is the result of a concentration on serving small-business customers, says Jim Schepker, spokesman for Fleet. The policy began three years ago, in response to Fleet studies that showed small-business owners didn't think they could get good service at a big bank.

"We're very serious about exploding that myth," says Schepker.

Fleet began building its image as a small-business bank by joining the SBA's Preferred Lender Program (PLP), which allows bank officials to approve directly SBA-backed loans.