U.S. Small Business Administration Honors Zions Bank

Zions Bank has been honored by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) as First Mortgage Lender of the Year for its excellence in making first mortgage loans in conjunction with SBA 504 projects for commercial owner-occupied real estate. The award was presented May 18 by the SBA at a reception in Washington, D.C. as part of National Small Business Week.

“In the early 1990s, Zions Bank’s National Real Estate Department became a pioneer in originating loans through local banks nationwide. Today, we’re honored to receive this recognition from the SBA, and we’re proud to be the leading nationwide secondary market SBA 504 first mortgage lender for small business commercial real estate loans,” said Zions Bank President and CEO Scott Anderson.

Zions Bank’s National Real Estate referral sources include over 200 banks and other lenders who work with Zions to co-originate or sell commercial real estate loans — including SBA 504 loans — that may be outside their lending parameters or capacity. The division typically originates $1 billion or more in new business annually, with an average loan size of just under $1 million. Typically, more than half of the National Real Estate’s yearly fundings are SBA 504 loans.

Zions Bank’s National Real Estate Department has grown to 110 employees who work to maintain a 65 percent market share in the small commercial real estate loan secondary market. The department has 10 experienced business development officers with offices in Cleveland, Dallas, Los Angeles, Memphis, Phoenix, Portland, Salt Lake City, Sacramento, San Diego, and Ft. Lauderdale. Today, Zions Bank’s National Real Estate Department services over 6,500 loans totaling more than $5 billion in all 50 states.

Zions Bank has previously received several SBA recognitions, including Export Lender of the Year in 2006, Region VIII Financial Services Champion of the Year in 2005, and the designation as one of the top Ten Outstanding SBA Lenders from across the U.S. in 2004. Zions has also been the Utah District’s top 7(a) SBA lender for the past 15 consecutive years, and has been the top SBA lender in Idaho’s Boise District for the past seven consecutive years.

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