There was a standing room only crowd at C & F Bank’s commercial loan office at Innsbrook this morning as a panel of local SBA financing experts offered their insights and recent experiences on current trends in small business financing throughout the RVA metro area.

Special thanks to panelists Kate Wagoner from Sona Bank, Dave Phillips from VantageSouth Bank, Chris Zobel from the SBA, and Tom Kelley from host C & F Bank. All reported increased lending activity in recent month, as well as increased merger and acquisition activity throughout the small business community. With an estimated $10 trillion worth of small businesses ownership transitions waiting to happen over the next 5-10 years as baby boomer owners look to retire, the panelists expressed optimism for the future.

Other topics addressed this morning ranged from descriptions of different SBA loan programs, how best to prepare a business for SBA financing, what lenders are looking for in prospective borrowers, how to navigate the loan application, underwriting, and

The Focus Group organizes 4-6 networking and educational programs throughout the year, so stay tuned for details for our next event!