"Credit unions are always seeking ways to better serve their members and communities," NCUA Board Chairman Debbie Matz said during a small business webinar earlier this year that drew more than 400 participants. "By expanding small business lending through SBA, credit unions will develop loyal members, enrich their communities and create jobs that further stimulate our nation's economy. For all of these reasons, there has never been a better time to consider making SBA-guaranteed loans."

According to the SBA, there is an emerging opportunity for credit unions to expand the accessibility of small dollar loans to small business owners in their communities, including baby boomers, who are one of the fastest growing groups of entrepreneurs in the nation.

"A unique aspect of the SBA and NCUA partnership is that SBA small dollar loans do not count against credit unions' business loan cap, so they are well suited to expanding access to these loans," SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet said. "This provides flexibility to credit unions to distribute small dollar loans, increasing access to capital to local economies and enriching the entrepreneurial communities that credit unions serve."

Since 2011, the outstanding balance of SBA loans by credit unions has seen nearly a 50% increase, from $810 million to $1.2 billion, which Contreras-Sweet said signals there is a growing demand for SBA loans.

Indeed, in addition to the improving economy that is encouraging more people to open or expand their small businesses, one of the fastest growing groups of entrepreneurs in the U.S. is the baby boomers, according to Gallup research released in January. Among adults who don't currently own a business, 12% of boomers said they plan to open a new business, while only 5% of millennials plan to open a shop over the next year.

More importantly, boomers often outpace their younger counterparts in building successful businesses because of their years of professional and trade experience. However, only 9% of baby boomers agree or strongly agree that it's easy for anyone to obtain a loan to start a business in their city or area, according to Gallup. This means that serving baby boomer entrepreneurs could equal a growth opportunity or niche market for credit unions.

"It's a good time to get into small business lending, but you have to do it carefully and you have to be committed to it and dedicate the appropriate amount of resources," Kari Anne Arnosk, director of debit consulting for the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Advisors Plus, the consulting arm of PSCU, said.

Part of Arnosk's job is to help credit unions develop or improve their small business services. She also gained small business expertise while working at super regional banks such as National City, which is now PNC.

"The biggest challenge that I see [among credit unions] is there is not someone managing the [MBL] program," she said. "There usually is a vice president of lending who has been on the consumer lending side for forever and a day, and now they are doing business loans."

The problem, Arnosk said, is that there is no separation between consumer and business lending when there should be, because business lending is much different from consumer lending. In addition, credit unions need to hire experienced small business experts who understand how to operate a small business lending shop.

When credit unions hire small business experts, both their business loan portfolios and profitability will grow because they understand the small business market, know where to focus and know which products and services small business owners need, Arnosk said.

In the case of SAFE CU, the cooperative eased into MBL services in 2001 by first hiring a consultant who helped them underwrite participation loans.

"That gave us kind of a learning experience by sort of being the junior partner of the credit union that was originating the participation loan," Wirz said. "And once we seasoned ourselves on that and felt fairly comfortable with it, then we started doing it on our own."

In 2006, SAFE CU began offering small business services. During the first few years, the credit union leveraged back-office operations support provided by the West Jordan, Utah-based CUSO Members Business Lending LLC, for commercial loan processing, loan support services and other business services.

Over the years, as SAFE CU developed its expertise, increased its loan portfolio and expanded its MBL staff, the business services initially provided by the CUSO were moved into the credit union's internal operations department.

SAFE CU also provides SBA loans and today ranks as the No. 5 SBA lender out of approximately 60 SBA lenders in the Sacramento area. Plus, earlier this year, SBA honored SAFE CU as the Sacramento District Lender of the Year, and SAFE CU is the top credit union lender in business loans funded and total loan volume.

Currently, SAFE CU manages a portfolio of 600 business loans, which include $70 million in MBLs and $53 million in participation loans.

"Our profitability on the commercial loans is significantly higher than we see on most other [consumer] loans other than credit cards," Ken Getz, vice president of business banking for SAFE CU, said. "And your average deposit size would be about double on a business account over what you would see on a consumer side."

Another important part of a successful small business shop at a credit union is finding a niche within their local market. One of those niches for SAFE CU is smaller and micro businesses.

"We have banks in the market who feel it is not worth their time to do smaller loans," Getz said. "We actually get about 25% of our loan volume from other banks in the area that cast these folks aside and don't give them the time that they deserve. That's really our future in this market. The growth of those small and micro businesses is the driver of our economy and it's important that we are doing that."

What has also contributed to SAFE CU's success in small business lending is its partnership with the SBA to help people develop the knowledge they need to start and run a business. The credit union hosts free small business workshops at SAFE CU's corporate headquarters.

"We take financial literacy very seriously for consumers, and we have extended that into the business side as well," Wirz explained. "We see ourselves as a classroom for small business owners and for people who want to become small business owners. We want them to be successful because when they grow their business, we grow as well."