VT Credit Unions: Capital for Small Biz Posted by Association of Vermont Credit Unions on 11:15 AM

Small business entrepreneurs in Vermont would do well to fill their capital needs from the state's credit unions, versus banks, based on data released from the Vermont District Office of the Small Business Administration.

From October 1 through March 31, Vermont financial institutions made 98 SBA guaranteed loans for a total of almost $17 million. The five participating Vermont credit unions accounted for 19 of those SBA loans to small business. But the real story is that the average loan size among all five credit unions was just over $61,000, while the average size of loans made by the state's banks was well over $315,000. And the average loan of each of the five Vermont credit unions was less than all but one of the 16 banks.

Those statistics speak to how not-for-profit cooperative credit unions work to support the needs of small business owners, on average, more than most for-profit banks.