BizSugar.com › Raising Capital › Small Firms Get Local Loans

Small businesses have been having increasing trouble getting loans as the credit markets have seized up. But some, such as Tio's Mexican, are finding that smaller community banks and credit unions are more open to offering financing. For one thing, many smaller lenders are in relatively strong financial shape because they didn't make the types of investments that got many of their larger brethren in trouble.

In addition, private local lenders may be more familiar with a region's business climate, so they are better able to look beyond national trends to base their decisions on the more immediate factors affecting an individual business.