Zions First National Bank once again ranks as the top lender of U.S. Small Business Administration loans in Utah.
The bank, a subsidiary of Salt Lake City-based Zions Bancorp, has ranked in the No. 1 spot for the past 19 years. It has been the top SBA lender in Idaho’s Boise SBA district for the past 11 consecutive years.
Zions said that along with its affiliates it approved 437 SBA loans in Utah, totaling $44.1 million for the fiscal year ended Sept. 10. Those loans represented 40 percent of the 1,071 SBA-backed loans approved in the state during fiscal 2012.
According to SBA data, the loans helped Utah businesses hire 1,212 new employees and retain 2,289 positions.
"Roughly 97 percent of companies in Utah qualify as small businesses, and we know they help fuel our economic growth because they are the principal source of new jobs," Scott Anderson, Zions president and CEO, said in a statement.
Zions also leads other financial institutions in Utah in marketing SBA loans to women- and minority-owned businesses and startups. During fiscal 2012, 32 percent of the SBA loans approved by Zions were to women and minorities, and 34 percent were made to new businesses. Salt Lake Tribune
