Bank of Montana small business loan program featured on KPAX

The Bank of Montana, a local Montana bank specializing in Montana business loans, was recently featured on KPAX news.Here’s why:“The government selected the Bank of Montana into its Small Business Lending Fund program and it's the only Montana bank to receive the honor, and one of just 130 banks nationwide that were picked. Bank of Montana President Tom Swenson says in the business' 20 years of experience, this is the highest demand he's ever seen for small business loans.”The initiative is a key part of U.S. Senator Max Baucus' Small Business Jobs Act of 2010which is designed to help create the right economic conditions for small businesses to create jobs.The program has already allowed the Bank of Montana to increase its lending in the form of Montana small business loans by more than 100% in just two weeks. Swenson added he expects the program should create or maintain a minimum of 300 jobs across the state.“Small businesses are the engine of Montana’s economy. This is great news for Montana as we pull out all the stops to give Main Street businesses the tools they need to drive our economy forward and supply the good-paying jobs we need right now,” said Baucus. “Bank of Montana is already supporting the loans that Montana businesses need to expand and hire more people. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Montana in light of this major influx of lending capacity.”More than 400 banks applied for the federal program. According to the U.S. Department of Treasury's website, the program became law as part of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 and is a $30 billion fund that encourages lending to small businesses by providing capital to qualified community banks with assets of less than $10 billion.Follow this link to watch the video and read the entire KPAX article about Bank of Montana.