James Akin, America’s Credit Unions’ head of regulatory advocacy, said the SBA has not indicated it planned to reduce SBA loan amounts. “It’s possible the program would perform as normal with the reducing staffing levels,” he said.

Akin said AmCU is monitoring developments, but he noted recent AmCU meetings with Loeffler and other SBA officials. “We have had a great relationship with the SBA.”

Justin Conrey, president/CEO of CU Business Group in Portland, Ore., said they are still gathering information regarding specifics of the SBA announcement and what it may mean for credit unions. "Staff reductions of any kind could compromise service and create inefficiencies that may impact lenders, especially those attempting to navigate the SBA process on their own," Conrey said.

A CU Times analysis of NCUA data drawn from the Callahan Peer Suite shows 592 credit unions held 11,734 in SBA loans worth $4.2 billion on Dec. 31, or 0.4% of the group’s total loan balance. The group holds 61% of the movement’s loans.

The $4.2 billion in SBA loans at the end of 2024 was up 13.6% from a year earlier, compared with 3.2% growth for the $1.67 trillion in total loans held by all 4,550 credit unions.

Commercial and non-commercial SBA loans grew at the same pace, but commercial SBA loans were nearly $4 billion, or 95% of the SBA total.

The average commercial SBA loan was 453,009 in December 2024, up 6% from a year earlier. The average non-commercial loan rose 28% to $68,906.

The 10 largest holders of SBA loans Dec. 31 were:

1. Mountain America Federal Credit Union of Salt Lake City ($20.2 billion in assets, 1.3 million members) held 966 SBA loans worth $516.1 million on Dec. 31, or 3.1% of its total loan balance.
2. America First Federal Credit Union of Riverdale, Utah ($21.7 billion in assets, 1.5 million members) held 363 SBA loans worth $300.2 million on Dec. 31, or 1.9% of loans.
3. Redwood Credit Union of Santa Rosa, Calif. ($9.1 billion in assets, 384,778 members) held 352 SBA loans worth $232.6 million on Dec. 31, or 3.4% of loans.
4. DFCU Financial Credit Union of Dearborn, Mich. ($6.7 billion in assets, 241,139 members) held 218 SBA loans worth $163.2 million on Dec. 31, or 7.6% of loans.
5. Everwise Credit Union of South Bend, Ind. ($5.2 billion in assets, 296,844 members) held 112 SBA loans worth $145.1 million on Dec. 31, or 3.5% of loans.
6. Summit Credit Union of Cottage Grove, Wis. ($7.5 billion in assets, 266,382 members) held 289 SBA loans worth $122.3 million on Dec. 31, or 2.1% of loans.
7. Idaho Central Credit Union of Chubbuck, Idaho ($12.1 billion in assets, 671,689 members) held 178 SBA loans worth $107.7 million on Dec. 31, or 1% of loans.
8. Arizona Financial Credit Union of Phoenix, Ariz. ($3.4 billion in assets, 170,495 members) held 216 SBA loans worth $107.1 million on Dec. 31, or 5.8% of loans.
9. Apple Federal Credit Union of Fairfax, Va. ($4.6 billion in assets, 252,683 members) held 70 SBA loans worth $97.6 million on Dec. 31, or 3.3% of loans.
10. Lake Michigan Credit Union of Caledonia, Mich. ($14.5 billion in assets, 499,044 members) held 233 SBA loans worth $96.9 million on Dec. 31, or 0.8% of loans.