The U.S. Small Business Administration announced recently that it would be increasing lending activity to veterans by 5 percent annually over the next five years.
With the support of SBA’s top 20 national lending partners, and about 100 regional and community partners, the SBA said it expects to help an additional 2,000 veterans obtain loans to start or expand small businesses by increasing lending by $475 million.
Veteran-owned businesses make up 9 percent of all small businesses and employ more than five million people, according to the SBA.
The SBA reports helping more than 200,000 veterans, service-disabled veterans and reservists each year.
