Brock Blake

Utah

Contributing Writer at Forbes

Founder / CEO Lendio (largest small biz loan marketplace in U.S.), Husband, Father of 4, Member of Church of Jesus Christ of LDS, & avid BYU | Utah Jazz fan.

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Articles

How SMBs Should Navigate The SBA’s 2025 Ownership Changes

1 week ago | forbes.com | Brock Blake

In early March, the Small Business Administration (SBA) made one of the most significant policy changes in recent years by revising the eligibility criteria for 7(a) and 504 loans, shifting the eligibility requirement for small businesses from 51% to 100% U.S. citizen-owned. In line with the Administration's broader immigration reform efforts, this change means that federal funding will now be available only to U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents.
What’s DOGE Doing To Small Businesses?

2 weeks ago | forbes.com | Brock Blake

In the first few months of the Trump Presidency, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has slashed billions in purported savings from the federal budget.
Turn Down The Application, Not The Applicant

3 weeks ago | forbes.com | Brock Blake

Banks across the country operate with similar values: to be good, strong community partners that support the everyday financing needs of their fellow neighbors. However, small business owners often need more assistance. Whether they can find what they seek from their everyday bank isn’t always guaranteed. Banks that manually fund small business loans often have more difficulty doing so, and new data shows that small businesses aren’t always loyal to them in return.
Meeting CRA Goals Is Now A Growth Opportunity, Not A Compliance Burden

1 month ago | forbes.com | Brock Blake

The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), established nearly 50 years ago, requires financial institutions to address the needs of the communities in which they operate, particularly in low- and moderate-income (LMI) neighborhoods. This includes providing loans to small businesses with annual revenues under $1 million. This initiative is undoubtedly commendable. However, fulfilling CRA requirements places considerable pressure on banks that operate manually to meet these needs.
Banks Can Leverage Auto Financial Spreading To Supercharge SBA Lending

1 month ago | forbes.com | Brock Blake

While small business sentiment reached a 3.5-year high in November, a January report from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) indicated that uncertainty is rising. There are several reasons for this. Entrepreneurs are closely watching how potential tariffs and inflation play out as they consider what they can afford to do this year and how they will finance it.
How Banking Leaders Can Analyze Key Tech Investments To Boost Revenue

Feb 11, 2025 | forbes.com | Brock Blake

Financial technology is plentiful – recent put the total number of SaaS companies at 17,000 across the United States as demand for cloud-based services continues and the pace of technology continues to expand. These companies significantly outnumber the total number of 4,577 FDIC-insured banks in the country. It makes sense that financial institution decision-makers are inundated with trends, tools, and emerging tech.
Perfect Credit Scores? Don’t Need ‘Em. Why And How Loan Origination Practices Are Changing.

Feb 4, 2025 | forbes.com | Brock Blake

Bob Dylan certainly wasn’t referencing lender financing when he wrote “The Times They Are A-Changin',” but the parallels between the 1960s generational gap in politics and today’s technology gap in financing are curious. Many banks in the United States continue to manually underwrite small business loans. This slow and expensive process, often riddled with inherent human bias, results in frequent rejection of loans based on one data point: the credit score.
To Stay Competitive, Small Financial Institutions Must Court SMBs

Jan 28, 2025 | forbes.com | Brock Blake

Small business owners aren’t loyal to their bank. Perhaps it’s no surprise. As inherent problem solvers, it’s safe to say that they’ll move their company’s money to the institution most willing to work with them. It makes sense: to survive, these companies need both capital and resources. When faced with unfavorable conditions, they are right to quickly make a move. Over the last few years, this hasn’t posed a problem for banks.
Three Key Predictions For How SMBs Should Prepare For Growth In 2025

Dec 23, 2024 | forbes.com | Brock Blake

There’s a lot to be optimistic about in 2025. Small business owners have navigated an unprecedented last few years of bank collapses, a tepid funding landscape, and sky-high interest rates to pressure test their business plans. Yet, a new analysis from the U.S. Treasury Department affirms that “more than 70 percent of small business leaders expect revenues to grow over the next year, the most since the pandemic,” as they remain a key driver of net new jobs domestically.
Small Business Owners Depend on Access to Financing But Struggle to Find Ideal Solution, Study Finds

Jul 26, 2024 | ffnews.com | Lauren Hinton |Brock Blake |Philip Taliaferro

Lendio has released its inaugural State of SMB Lending report. In the survey of over 1000 small business owners, 68% of small businesses say access to financing is the most important factor in the growth of their businesses. While respondents expressed confidence in their ability to access capital, they said the loan amount and term often fall below their expectations.