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OVERALL ECONOMIC CONditions and low interest rates are creating opportunities for businesses to finance new ventures, fund expansions or reorganize debt.
With the prime lending rate near all-time lows, it's a bull market for commercial lending. To attract companies looking for financing, competing lenders are finding new and inventive ways to help firms get the financing they need.
According to Jim Coffey, a loan officer with the U.S. Small Business Administration in Little Rock, lower interest rates encourage business startups as well as help existing companies.
"Money is still about the cheapest thing you can buy," Coffey says. "1995 was a boom year nationwide" for SBA guaranteed loans.
Loans for new business aren't the only forms of financing in high demand. Depending on a company's obligations, now may be an excellent time to refinance.
Bankers, however, warn against companies jumping at little dips or worrying about small increases in interest rates.
Bill Scholl, executive vice president of Boatmen's National Bank of Arkansas, says "little nuances shouldn't make that much of a difference" in a company's decision to refinance.
Lunsford Bridges, president and chief executive officer of Metropolitan...