Main Street Monday: Coleman Report SBA 504 Top 100
SBA’s 504 program posted a strong year. Fiscal 2025 volume came in at $7.8 billion, a 17% jump over FY24. The program has now logged three straight years of growth—though it’s still shy of the $9.2 billion record set in 2022 during the post-COVID surge.
The top five CDC lenders held their positions again this year. And once again, the California and Florida CDCs accounted for nearly one-third of all 504 dollars approved nationwide.
TMC Financing continues to set the pace posting a 30% increase in approvals, finishing FY25 with $836 million funded—comfortably holding the No. 1 spot.
At the edge of the leaderboard, the competition was tight. Only $3 million separated Trenton Business Assistance from cracking the Top 10, swapping places with Small Business Growth of Springfield, Illinois, which now sits at No. 11.
This was also a breakout year for many CDCs. Fourteen recorded triple-digit growth, and the biggest mover inside the Top 10 was Mountain West Small Business Finance, which posted a 44% jump in approvals.
Further down the rankings, 11 CDCs joined the Top 100 for the first time in 2025. The standout: Racine County EDC, which leapt from No. 113 to No. 70 on the strength of $21 million in approvals.
The merger of Black Hills Community EDC and First District Development Company pushed the newly formed Ally Dakota Development into the rankings at No. 91 with $11.5 million.
The Post-Shutdown SBA Loan Surge: Why Expedited Life Insurance Is Critical for Timely Loan Closings
Executive Summary
The recent 43-day federal government shutdown created an unprecedented backlog in SBA loan processing, blocking approximately $5.3 billion in capital from reaching 10,000 small businesses nationwide. With the government reopening on November 12, 2025, lenders are now facing a surge of loan closings as borrowers rush to access desperately needed capital. However, many of these transactions risk significant delays due to a frequently overlooked requirement: life insurance collateral assignment.
This white paper examines why business borrowers delayed completing life insurance requirements
during the shutdown, the current backlog crisis facing lenders, and how partnering with a specialized
business life insurance brokerage can prevent life insurance from becoming the bottleneck in an
otherwise ready-to-close loan.
The Government Shutdown and Its Impact on SBA Lending
Scope of the Disruption
During the shutdown period from September 30 through November 12, 2025, the SBA was unable to process or approve any new loan applications. For fiscal year 2025, the SBA had been on pace for a ecord-breaking year, having guaranteed 84,400 loans totaling $45.1 billion prior to the shutdown. The
agency had been averaging 320 loans per business day worth $170 million.
The shutdown effectively froze this momentum, preventing thousands of businesses from accessing capital for critical needs including payroll, equipment purchases, expansion projects, and working capital. States like California saw 212 loans per week valued at $126.8 million blocked, while Texas experienced 128 weekly loans worth $89 million frozen.
The Emerging Backlog Crisis
Now that the government has reopened, the SBA faces a massive backlog of applications requiring rapid
processing. Lenders are under immense pressure to close loans quickly for borrowers who have been
waiting weeks or months for funding. According to industry observers, this backlog represents “huge”
challenges as the agency works to sort through accumulated applications while simultaneously
processing new submissions.
For business borrowers, these delays have translated into postponed hiring decisions, deferred equipment purchases, and in some cases, layoffs and operational cutbacks. The urgency to close these
loans has never been greater.
Why Borrowers Delayed Life Insurance During the Shutdown
The Wait-and-See Mentality
During the 43-day shutdown, many business borrowers adopted a wait-and-see approach to completing
loan requirements, including life insurance. With no certainty about when the government would reopen
or when their loans would be approved, borrowers were hesitant to incur insurance premiums for
policies they might not immediately need.
This caution was understandable given the unprecedented length of the shutdown and the uncertainty
surrounding its resolution. Business owners facing cash flow constraints were reluctant to commit to
monthly insurance premiums when loan funding timelines remained completely unknown…
Learn more about LifeEase here.
104 Items Underwriters “Must” Include in the SBA 7(a) Credit Memo, For Loans Over $350K According to the SOP 5010 8 — Webinar 11/25
The new SOP 50 10 8 doesn’t offer suggestions — it gives mandates. “Do what you do” has become “What you must do,” with the word “must” appearing 104 times in the 7(a) underwriting section alone. Each one represents a required underwriting duty, not a best practice. Any 7(a) loan over $350,000 must prove cash flow, verify equity injection, document collateral, and support every key assumption. Miss even one requirement, and the lender risks a guaranty repair or denial.
To help lenders meet these stricter standards, Coleman is presenting a focused webinar led by Bob Coleman and Michael Bland. The training explains each critical “must,” why SBA requires it, and how to document it efficiently. Attendees will learn the most commonly missed requirements, how to structure memos for SBA review, and how to protect the guaranty by aligning every credit memo with SOP expectations.
Coleman AI SBA Underwriter Membership
The Coleman AI SBA Underwriter Membership teaches experienced SBA underwriters how to use AI one simple step at a time. Instead of trying to generate a full credit memo in one shot, you’ll learn to build it section by section—Use of Proceeds, eligibility, collateral, cash flow, narrative, and final recommendation—while staying in full control of every number and statement. AI acts like a skilled assistant: it drafts; you review, adjust, and approve.
As a member, you get clear, structured training modules, live Teams sessions, ongoing prompt updates, and access to a growing library of SBA-focused prompts that turn borrower data and uploads into SBA-ready memo sections in minutes. The system is designed with bank security and compliance in mind and fits into your existing underwriting process. The result: faster memos, higher-quality files, and the career advantage of being the AI-capable underwriter on your team.
Call for Nominations: Coleman’s 2026 SBA Lender Professional Awards
Nominations are now open for Coleman’s 2026 SBA Lender Professional Awards! These prestigious awards recognize outstanding SBA lending professionals and companies that have made significant contributions to the small business lending community.
Nominate a colleague or yourself to be honored for your exceptional work in SBA lending, and help celebrate the positive impact you or your nominee has had on small businesses across the nation.
Coleman’s SBA Franchise Risk Grade Report — $295 Per Report
The Coleman Franchise Report is the only franchise intelligence tool built specifically for SBA loan underwriters. Packed with up-to-date SBA loan data, FDD analysis, and impartial Coleman Franchise Risk Grades, it delivers the transparency and confidence underwriters need to make better lending decisions.
This report is tailored to your specific needs and evaluates franchises using key SBA criteria, saving you countless hours of research. Empower your underwriters with precise, reliable data and our simple Grading Scale (AAA to F), helping you determine the viability of a franchise with confidence!
