Business Lenders, Leading SBA PLP Lender, to Donate Services to Veterans Business Fund

Nov. 12, 2012 - PRLog -- Hartford, Conn. – Business Lenders, a leading SBA Preferred Lender that specializes in third-party loan servicing, has announced the donation of its loan servicing expertise to the Veterans Business Fund (VBF). The Veterans Business Fund, a not-for-profit organization, was established in response to the high unemployment rate among veterans, many of whom are skilled through their military experience to become successful small business owners but lack sufficient equity capital to qualify for a small business loan. Business Lenders’ generous donation will allow the Fund to have expert loan servicing and guidance at no cost.

VBF provides capital to veterans in the form of a low-interest loan with favorable terms. All principal and interest paid to the Fund are made available to future veteran entrepreneurs requiring assistance in meeting the equity requirements for a small business loan. The initial capital for the Fund has been provided by BoeFly Chairman and CEO Robert Tannenhauser and Board of Directors member Alvin Sarter. BoeFly is a service that makes it easier to obtain small business loans by reducing the time, cost, complexity, inefficiency and frustration associated with small business lending. It connects small business borrowers with multiple lenders from among its more than 2,400 participating banks, based on the lending profiles provided by the banks and the information provided in the borrower’s loan request. Its vantage point as a service provider connecting borrowers and lenders provided the insight that led to the development of VBF.

“The whole Business Lenders team is thrilled to provide our loan servicing expertise to the Veterans Business Fund,” said Penn Ritter, President and CEO of Business Lenders and advisory board member of the VBF. “Our veterans and their families have sacrificed so much for our country, and we couldn’t be more proud that our core business can be put to use in helping veterans in return.”

Business Lenders services more than $200 million in SBA loans and is an SBA Preferred Lender.  

“Penn Ritter is a long-time leader in the Connecticut lending and small business community, and therefore, I wasn’t surprised at all to learn about this generous and special donation of Business Lenders’ services to The Veterans Business Fund,” said Bernard Sweeney, SBA District Director for Connecticut. “Many have talked about the veterans' unemployment problem, but what matters most are those that are doing something. I congratulate Penn and his team for taking this important step.”

“The Veterans Business Fund is very appreciative of Business Lenders making this important donation,” said Robert Tannenhauser, CEO of BoeFly and a member of the VBF Board of Directors. “In-kind donations of critical items like loan servicing empowers the Fund to more successfully achieve our goal of providing veterans with the supplemental capital required to satisfy the equity requirements for a small business loan, and ultimately help make it possible for them to apply their military experience to owning a business while creating jobs and helping to boost our economy.”

VBF sources its funds from charitable contributions from generous donors, individuals, corporations and foundations.

For more information about VBF, please visit www.veteransbusinessfund.org and for more information about Business lenders, please visit www.businesslenders.com.

About Business Lenders

Established in 1994, Business Lenders has funded thousands of SBA loans for small business owners across the country. As a result, we're ranked in the top ten non-bank SBA lenders nationally. Our success over the years has been based upon a philosophy of providing creative solutions to the financial challenges faced by small business owners.

We're lenders, and the fact is, we're not a bank. So we're not bogged down by the umpteen regulatory constraints that make most bankers hesitate to lend to small businesses. We work and think very much like small business owners. And in fact, we're a small business ourselves. Rigid lending formulas have no place in our decisions. Instead, we rely on proven experience and person-to-person knowledge to structure our loans.

About the Veterans Business Fund

The Veterans Business Fund (VBF) is a not-for profit organization. It was established in response to the high unemployment rate among veterans, many of whom are well qualified through their military experience to become successful small business owners but lack sufficient equity capital to qualify for a small business loan.

VBF assists veterans by providing them with the supplemental capital required to satisfy the equity requirements for a small business loan. VBF provides capital to veterans in the form of a low-interest loan with very favorable terms.  All principal and interest paid to the fund are made available to future veteran entrepreneurs requiring assistance in meeting the equity requirements for a small business loan.

VBF was created with the support of Syracuse University’s Burton Blatt Institute, the International Franchise Association’s VetFran program, SunTrust, Business Lenders and others. For more information, please visit http://www.veteransbusinessfund.org.

Media inquiries:

Bill Fallon/ Keating Co. /212.925.6900/ bfallon@keatingco.com