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Small business seems to be thriving in Fairfield County, if demand for loans to finance startups or to buy established entities is an indication.
"Our lending volume is up 10 percent to 15 percent, which is good for us," said Ed Dayton, executive vice president for commercial lending at First County Bank in Stamford, referring to the bank's commercial loans.
One reason for the spike is that First County hired several new loan officers after "we started making more of an effort to be in that market."
Commercial loans to small business, Dayton said, have a certain appeal for community banks. The loans, with a shorter term than a 30-year mortgage, have a quicker repayment schedule and "usually are on some kind of floating-rate basis," unlike a fixed-rate, longterm mortgage. "If the prime changes, our rate can change and move with the market."
Commercial loans to small business are a lucrative market for community banks also because "the bigger banks don't pay that close attention to the small-business entrepreneur," he said.
And, so far this year First County Bank has seen "a decent amount of new requests for startup operations," Dayton said.
"It appears that a lot of people that have been downsized from other positions and companies have the financial wherewithal to retire but are too young to retire," he said.
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