Small business

West Town Bancorp in Illinois has revved up its government-backed lending to small businesses, making it a good example of how community banks can outhustle big lenders in the quest for new sources of fee income.

The state of Washington halts a plan to update its 15-year-old member business loan rule while the federal regulation undergoes a legal challenge from the Independent Community Bankers of America.

The $21 billion-asset bank said Monday that it had hired John Gannon as group manager of Small Business Administration lending and Clyde Thompson as credit officer.

The $2.2 billion-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing that it redeemed $12.2 million, the remaining half of its SBLF shares, on Sept. 22 at a liquidation value of $1,000 each for $12.4 million.

Randolph Bancorp raised $57 million in a mutual-to-stock conversion and is using the proceeds to fund acquisitions — it closed its first-ever deal in July — and dramatically improve its digital capabilities.

Ten institutions are rising above national grievances to help startups – many minority owned – get up and running in a struggling mill town.

Carolina Premier Bank in Charlotte, N.C., has hired Don Jackson from Community One Bank in Asheboro, N.C., as director of Small Business Administration lending, a new position at the bank.

For large banks, the risks of partnering with marketplace lenders do not matter. But small community banks can't afford to partner with competitors angling to poach their customers.

For First Foundation, the government-backed program should help address a recent CRA exam's criticism that it has "poor penetration among businesses of different revenue sizes."

Fundation Group, a New York-based online small-business lender, announced Tuesday that it has secured a $100 million credit facility from Goldman Sachs.