The WSJ has a good article about how start-up companies and existing small businesses are increasingly turning to credit unions for business loans.
Many regional banks avoided much of the fall-out from the consumer mortgage market - as they sold their mortgages to the big investment and commercial banks or were never really in the business because they couldn't compete with mortgage brokers. But they did instead do a lot of lending to local real estate developers, who are now defaulting on their loans at increasingly high rates. This leaves the regional banks with mounting losses and a decreasing ability to provide loans to small businesses.
Credit unions, on the other hand, largely avoided most types of real estate lending according to the article - leaving them in good shape to take up some of the lending slack. Consumers are increasing their savings rates and are trusting the local credit unions more to handle their money. So these credit unions are seeing their deposits rise and are able to comfortably lend to small businesses - ranging in amounts from only a few tens of thousands up to $750,000 or more per loan.
So if you are a small business in Arizona with a good track record that has been having trouble securing loans from your usual sources, try calling several of your local credit unions to see if they can provide financing. And if you need an attorney to help review loan documentation, I'd be happy to help.
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