January 2016 -- README.TXT RECORD COUNT FOR 1990 - 2015: 1,357,810 ***************************************************** * SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (SBA) 7a LOANS DATA * ***************************************************** This is a database of loans backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration under its main lending program, known as 7a. The program provides loans to small-business borrowers who can't obtain financing through traditional channels. The program operates through private-sector lenders who provide loans that are, in turn, guaranteed by the SBA. The SBA7a program itself has no funds for direct lending or grants. The SBA keeps loan record data going back to 1953, when Congress created the agency to help entrepreneurs form small enterprises. This download contains records on every company that received a SBA-backed loan under the 7a program from 1990 to November 30, 2015. Journalists can use 7a data to explore repayment of SBA loans by businesses in their communities, to find out which financial institutions are major SBA lenders in their area, and to find out what types of businesses are getting the loans. In addition, the data can help you investigate how the SBA works with state and local agencies to lend money to small businesses. ** Note about the data ** In the past, the SBA provided the full data going back to 1953. Now they will only release data going back to 1990. They have also added some new fields and dropped others. Refer to the sba7a_layout.xls file for the current list of fields. The most current iteration of the data is completely contained within one table. Sba7a15.txt, a TAB-DELIMITED file. This data goes back to 1990. In previous years, the SBA provided the data going back to 1953 in four tables: the main SBA7a table, and the NAICS, SIC and FRANCH lookup tables. In the current data, the NAICS and FRANCH descriptions are included in the main table, and the SIC code is no longer used. We will provide the previous version of the data upon request. There will be overlap, since the nature of this data makes it impossible to join old data with new. Words of caution: In many ways, the most current version of the data is much cleaner than older versions (perhaps because the dirtiest data was entered prior to 1990). Still, here are a few things to look out for in this version. For the older version of the data, please refer to that Readme.txt. There are some dirty data in the main table, particularly the older data. For instance, city names can be misspelled. Also, there are companies listed as getting loan guarantees that exceed their gross loan amounts. There are duplicate entries on some loans, even with newer data. In some cases, however, this may not reflect a data-entry mistake. You will need to call your local SBA office or the SBA office in Washington to determine if two loans of equal size were approved for a single business on the same day. This DOES happen. Meanwhile, there are some older records that contain almost no data. For additional information, you may want to request paper records from the SBA office that approved the loan. Also, the SBA may be inconsistent in city names, or misspell them across entries, so you may want to use the ZIP code table included with this set to standardize those names. (However, you might want to get more up-to-date ZIP codes -- from your city phone book, for example -- so that you can be sure the city boundaries include what you want.) Other files included in this download: sba7a_layout.xls -- record layout for the included data. SBA7a15.txt -- main data file (tab-delimited with optional double-quote text qualifier) (contact the database library if you'd like data including loans given prior to 1990). More information about SBA 7a data is available on the SBA Web site at http://www.sba.gov/financing/sbaloan/7a.html. If you have questions about the information in the download, please call NICAR at (573) 884-7711. Questions specifically about the data or methodology in gathering it should be directed to: Mary Frias, Loan Specialist U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Financial Assistance 409 Third St, SW Washington, DC 20416 Mary.Frias@sba.gov 202-401-8234 ************************************************************** * RELATED STORIES AND TIPSHEETS FROM THE IRE RESOURCE CENTER * ************************************************************** To order copies of one or more of the following stories or tipsheets, call the IRE RESOURCE CENTER at (573) 882-3364 and give a staff member the story or tipsheet number. STORY NUMBER: 22547 In 2005 the Associated Press reported the government's $5 billion effort to help small businesses recover from the Sept. 11 attacks was so loosely managed that it gave low-interest loans to companies that didn't need terrorism relief - or even know they were getting it. STORY NUMBER: 20429 In 2003 Larry Margasak of the Associated Press discovered that some of America's largest companies -- including Verizon Communications, AT&T Wireless, Barnes & Noble and Dole Food -- were mistakenly designated "small business" in the government's contractor database. This means "the government has overstated the contract dollars going to small business at a time when the administration of President George W. Bush has been pressing to give smaller firms as much federal work as possible." STORY NUMBER: 16986 In 2000, The Kansas City Star found that the Small Business Administration struggles to give more government-guaranteed loans to low-income neighborhoods and minority-owned businesses. The Star analyzed SBA data and discovered that from fiscal 1995 to 1999, businesses in poor areas received only 6 percent of the nearly 1,700 loans in the Kansas City area through the SBA's biggest loan program. Businesses owned by minorities received less than 15 percent of the loans. In the second part of the two-day series, The Star reported that Subway Sandwich shops receive more SBA 7aloans than any other business in Kansas City or the U.S. TIPSHEET NUMBER: 2856 Chris Roush offers very comprehensive, detailed advice about covering private companies. He discusses some places to find informaton, including the Small Business Administration. From 2007 Better Watchdog training. TIPSHEET NUMBER: 1982 A how-to guide about investigating businesses. This tipsheet offers starting points, primary source ideas, human sources and market data. A must have for any reporter working on a story with a business slant. By Tony Palazzo of the LA Business Journal and James Grimaldi of The Washington Post. From the 2004 Better Watchdog Workshop Fullerton, Calif. TIPSHEET NUMBER: 1743 Chris Roberts of The State in Columbia, S.C., lists places and Web sites to start learning about businesses. Also includes sources for general business and economic information. From the 2002 Savannah regional IRE conference. TIPSHEET NUMBER: 1713 "From Main Street to Wall Street: Finding Business Gold for Your Computer," from Ronald Campbell of The Orange County Register. Lists nine "gold mines" of business data, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Food and Drug Administration and the Census Bureau. From the 2002 IRE National Conference. TIPSHEET NUMBER: 1497 Richard Drezen of The Washington Post gives five tips for researching a company, using Enron as an example. Also lists free and fee-based online sources. From the 2002 NICAR Conference. TIPSHEET NUMBER: 1406: "Hey, is that company headed for trouble?" is the name of this tipsheet, which contains 10 trouble signs and a list of useful Web sites. From Mark Tatge of Forbes for the 2001 IRE National Conference.