Mountain West leads state in SBA loans

The Daily Inter Lake

Mountain West Financial Corp., the holding company for Mountain West Bank, led the state in dollar volume of Small Business Administration loans for the first half of fiscal year 2007.

Mountain West financed 23 SBA loans worth a total of $7.4 million.

The Montana SBA District Office approved 229 loans totaling $38.5 million during the six-month period ending March 31, 2007.

Of those loans, 215 were approved under SBA's flagship 7(a) guaranteed loan program and 14 were made through the 504 Certified Development Company Program, a program that provides growing businesses with long-term fixed-rate financing for major fixed assets such as land and buildings.

New businesses accounted for 88 of the loans; 38 were made to women-owned businesses, 25 loans went to veterans and 17 were given to minority-owned businesses.

Mountain West outpaced other SBA lenders by nearly $3.5 million. In second place was Yellowstone Holding Co. with $3.9 million in SBA loans.

Glacier Bancorp processed 39 loans totaling $2.7 million.

Mountain West President and Chief Executive Officer Doug Boutilier said the bank's success has been driven by strong customer relationships and community outreach during its 16-year history. Mountain West Financial Corp. is the fourth-largest bank holding company in Montana.

"I believe this is an amazing accomplishment in a relatively short period of time," Boutilier said in a prepared statement. "The addition of new offices planned for Helena, Missoula, Bozeman and Kalispell, and the expansion and remodeling of two of our offices in Helena and Great Falls, is a testament to our strong presence in Montana and our true commitment to the communities we serve."

Since 1991 Mountain West has grown to $679 million in assets, nearly $600 million in loans and $569 million in deposits.