First Busey Corp. in Champaign, Ill., has received $72.6 million from the Small Business Lending Fund, the largest award to date since the Treasury Department began disbursing funds to community banks last month.
The $3.5 billion-asset First Busey said late Thursday that it used the funds to pay off the balance of the $100 million it owed to the Treasury for its participation in the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The company had already paid roughly paid $27.4 million on the Tarp investment it received in March 2009.
Roughly 90 banks have received low-interest loans from the $30 billion Small Business Fund and, like First Busey, many have used the proceeds to retire Tarp debt.
