Small-business-friendly Md. banks are ranked

The Bank of Annapolis in Annapolis and Home Bank in Newark in Worcester County topped a list of Maryland's most small-business-friendly banks in a new survey by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The annual survey, which focuses on small business loans of less than $100,000, identified 478 of the nation's 9,670 commercial banks as "micro-business friendly."

Banks in the top 10 percent in small business lending in Maryland also include First United Bank and Trust Co. in Oakland; Industrial Bank in Oxon Hill; Bank of Glen Burnie in Glen Burnie; Peoples Bank of Kent City in Chestertown; Westminster Bank and Trust Co. in Westminster, and Talbot Bank of Easton in Easton.

In June 1996, the Bank of Annapolis had made 380 loans worth $46.57 million, while Home Bank made 401 loans valued at $24.58 million, the survey said.

Banks were scored based on the number of "microloans," the dollar value of those loans, the bank's ratio of such loans to assets and the bank's ratio of such loans to all of its business loans. Rankings were based on all business loans under $100,000, not just those that were backed by the SBA.

Pub Date: 7/23/97