Connecticut is sweetening its small-business loan programs in hopes of enticing bankers there to increase lending.

Central Bancorp in Somerville, Mass., said Tuesday that it lost $9.5 million in the quarter that ended Sept. 30 after taking a hefty impairment charge on its Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac preferred stock.

Guaranty Bancorp in Denver said Tuesday that it lost $265.8 million in the third quarter, or $5.21 per share, as it wrote off the remainder of its goodwill and beefed up loan-loss reserves.

Peapack-Gladstone Financial Corp. in Gladstone, N.J., said Monday that its third-quarter net income increased 33% from a year earlier, to $3.5 million.

BankFinancial Corp. in Burr Ridge, Ill., said Monday that it lost $25.1 million in the third quarter as a result of a large impairment charge it took on its holdings in Freddie Mac preferred stock.

Franklin Bank in Houston said it lost $246 million in the third quarter and that it intends to amend its second-quarter call report to show that it has been "significantly undercapitalized" since at least June 30.

Harrington West Financial Group Inc. in Solvang, Calif., said Monday that it swung to a loss $3.2 million, or 52 cents per diluted share, in the third quarter from a profit of $498,000 a year earlier.

No banking company was hit harder by the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than Midwest Banc Holdings Inc. in Melrose Park, Ill., and now the Treasury Department is coming to its aid.

Carrollton Bancorp Inc. in Baltimore said Monday that a spike in problem loans slashed its third-quarter profit 94% from the year-earlier period, to $51,000.

Heritage Community Bancorp. Inc. of Glenwood, Ill., has signed a letter of intent to merge with First Community Financial Partners of Joliet, Ill.

AmericanWest Bancorp. of Spokane reported a third-quarter loss of $96.9 million, or $5.63 a share, compared with a profit of $5.3 million, or 31 cents a share, a year earlier.

Like hundreds of other banks, International Bancshares Corp. in Laredo, Tex., is weighing whether to apply for the Treasury Department's Capital Purchase Program.

With more than a fifth of its loans not performing, Corus Bankshares Inc. has turned off the origination spigot and is not planning to turn it back on anytime soon.

The banking industry is being painted as the scapegoat for the growing economic malaise that now infects the nation.

The three CEOs lead companies that are vastly different from one another, but one thing that they have in common is that they have remained strong performers in what has been the most challenging climate for banks since the savings and loan crisis.

Temecula Valley Bancorp Inc. in Temecula, Calif., said Thursday that it lost $3.6 million in the third quarter after setting aside $7.6 million to cover problem real estate and construction loans.

The secondary market for Small Business Administration loans has dried up over the past few weeks, and that has forced active SBA lenders such as Unity Bancorp Inc. in Clinton, N.J., to make some tough business decisions.

MIDWEST

Small businesses affected by the departure of an owner or "essential employee" on active military duty can now apply for loans earlier, and ask for more money with fewer collateral requirements, under changes in a Small Business Administration program that took effect Tuesday.

Flushing Financial Corp. in Lake Success, N.Y., said late Tuesday that its third-quarter net income fell 63% from a year earlier, to $2.1 million.