BETHALTO, Ill. – To beef up its current business member services program, Olin Community Credit Union has received approval to offer SBA 7(a) loans. The $306 million CU said the demand for business lending here allows it to serve a niche with emerging and growing small business owners. "As we see the River Bend area (here) expanding, we also see the need to provide loans to our business members to help them continue to serve our new neighbors and members as well," said Carl DiMaria, commercial services manager at Olin Community CU. The CU launched its business member services program in 2004 with commercial real estate loans, machinery and equipment financing, revolving lines of credit, credit cards, business checking accounts and merchant card processing. "With SBA we feel we are enabling members in our field of membership to establish small businesses, which create jobs and help realize a positive economic impact in our local communities," said Don Reedy, president/CEO of Olin Community CU, which serves nearly 45,000 members. There are more than 250 CUs that are SBA 7(a) lenders, according to the agency.