Florida banks lent $211M

Florida-based community banks increased lending by $211.1 million under a federal loan program instituted last year, according to a new report from the U.S. Treasury Department.

The program, the Small Business Lending Fund, is part of the Small Business Jobs Act passed in 2010. The Treasury Department, through the fund, provided more than $4 billion in capital to 332 community banks nationwide. The dividend rate a bank pays on loans it makes off the fund goes down as the lender makes more loans with the fund. The fund is available to banks with less than $10 billion in assets.

The Treasury Department report, released Tuesday, listed more than 15 Florida institutions that have participated in the program, including six based on the Gulf Coast. The local ones, according to the report, are: Brandon-based Platinum Bank; Naples-based Ovation Holdings, parent of Encore National Bank; Oldsmar-based Jefferson Bank of Florida; Tampa-based HomeBanc; Tampa-based Florida Business BancGroup Inc., parent of Bay Cities Bank; and Fort Myers-based FineMark Holdings Inc.

“This report shows that the Small Business Lending Fund is having a powerful impact,” Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Neal Wolin said a release. “The program is helping spark new lending to local entrepreneurs looking to invest in their businesses and create new jobs.”