ICBA Celebrates Small Business Week 2015
Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) May 04, 2015 -- The Independent Community Bankers of America® (ICBA) and the nation’s more than 6,000 community banks are joining the Small Business Administration (SBA) in celebrating National Small Business Week, May 4-8. ICBA is reminding everyone about the critical role community banks serve in supporting local small businesses and is encouraging consumers to Go Local with banking, dining and shopping.
“Community banks understand their local markets, communities and neighborhoods better than anyone else. They understand the unique situations local entrepreneurs and small business owners face. After all, community banks are small businesses themselves,” said ICBA Chairman Jack Hartings, president and CEO of The Peoples Bank Co., Coldwater, Ohio. “Small businesses are at the center of the nation’s economic prosperity. They create local jobs and economic growth in cities and towns across the country.”
Community banks are the primary source of lending for small businesses. In fact, community banks provide more than 50 percent of small business loans to small businesses and 77 percent of agricultural loans nationwide.
Community banks collectively hold $2.4 trillion in loans to consumers, small businesses and the agricultural community. Community banks are prolific small business lenders, providing most small business loans under $1 million to local entrepreneurs and small business owners.
Small business owners and consumers can find their local community bank by visiting ICBA’s Community Bank Locator at http://www.banklocally.org.
To learn more about community banks and the positive impacts they have on small businesses across the nation, visit http://www.icba.org or follow #GoLocal and #BankLocally on Twitter.
About ICBA
The Independent Community Bankers of America®, the nation’s voice for more than 6,000 community banks of all sizes and charter types, is dedicated exclusively to representing the interests of the community banking industry and its membership through effective advocacy, best-in-class education and high-quality products and services. For more information, visit http://www.icba.org.
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Aleis Stokes, Independent Community Bankers of America, +1 (202) 821-4457, [email protected]
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