The U.S. Small Business Administration made 3,452 small business loans valued at $713.5 million in the NW and Alaska for governmental fiscal year 2003, it was announced recently by Conrad Lee, regional administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Regional loan records for African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, Women, and Veterans reveal loan dollars totaling $372.8 million. Additionally, 76,759 prospective and/or established small business owners received counseling and training from SBA and its resource partners throughout the region in fiscal year 2003.

“These loans demonstrate our commitment to meeting the unique financing needs of small businesses everywhere, and the impressive increase we have posted for the past year validates our approach to making smaller loans more readily available to the real job creation engine of our economy,” said SBA Administrator Hector V. Barreto.

Nationally, the overall increase in loan approvals under the SBA’s three major loan programs, the 7(a) General Business Loan Guaranty program, the Certified Development Company (or 504) loan program and the Micro-loan program, came to 29.8 percent, reflecting an increase from 59,563 loans in FY 2002 to 76,465 loans in FY 2003.