WASHINGTON Today (Aug. 31, 23011), the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that four additional Missouri community banks have received $117.1 million as part of the next wave of funding provided through the Small Business Lending Fund (SBLF). In July Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. of Poplar Bluff received $20 million in SBLF funding. The SBLF, which was established as part of the Small Business Jobs Act that President Obama signed into law, encourages community banks to increase their lending to small businesses, helping those companies expand their operations and create new jobs.

The latest banks to receive funding and the amounts are:

• Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. (Springfield, Missouri), $57.9 million

• Liberty Bancshares, Inc. (Springfield, Missouri), $23.0 million

• The Landrum Company (Columbia, Missouri), $20.0 million

• Liberty Bancorp, Inc. (Liberty, Missouri), $16.2 million

The SBLF helps small businesses meet their challenges by providing capital to community banks that hold under $10 billion in assets. The dividend rate a community bank pays on SBLF funding is reduced as that bank increases its lending to small businesses.

The SBLF is one part of the Obama Administrations comprehensive agenda to help small businesses access the capital they need to invest and hire. The State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), which is also a key part of the Small Business Jobs Act, allocates $1.5 billion to new and existing state programs that will leverage private financing to spur $15 billion in new lending to small businesses and small manufacturers.

The Obama Administration has also supported 17 direct tax breaks that provide tax relief of more than $50 billion for small businesses. These tax breaks were designed to support job creation and retention, entrepreneurship, investment, and growth. The Administration has also worked with Congress to extend and expand existing Small Business Administration loan programs that helped put more than $42 billion in the hands of small businesses.

Go Back