Guaranty takes early lead in small-business lending

Guaranty Federal Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq: GFED) was the No. 1 southwest Missouri lender of U.S. Small Administration-backed loans in the agency’s fiscal 2020 first quarter.

In the 28-county area covered by the SBA’s Springfield branch office, Guaranty Bank issued 11 loans totaling $3.1 million for the three-month period that ended Dec. 31, according to a news release.

“SBA programs and services are taxpayer-funded programs and every county could benefit,” said Ram Basnet, branch manager in Springfield, in the release. “It is a shared responsibility of every citizen and economic development professional in each of these counties to learn about these programs and take advantage of them.”

Below are the top five SBA lenders across the district, by the number of loans issued, with total loan amount included, for the fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 31:
• Guaranty Bank, 11 loans, $3.1 million;
• Rural Missouri Inc., 10 loans, $6.5 million;
• U.S. Bank, eight loans, $160,000;
• OakStar Bank, seven loans, $5.6 million; and
• Legacy Bank & Trust Co., five loans, $1.1 million.

OakStar Bank led southwest Missouri lending for the SBA’s previous fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2019. OakStar issued 46 loans totaling $20.9 million, with No. 2 Guaranty Bank reporting 45 loans totaling $12.5 million, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

For the SBA’s fiscal 2020 first quarter, southwest Missouri lenders issued 70 small-business loans totaling $23.7 million, according to the release. Greene County was the leading area, with 26 loans totaling $10.7 million.