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SBA Honors FFCFC for its Performance

May 2007

During the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2006, FFCFC produced 302 authorized 504 loan projects and finished the year as the #1 504 lender in Florida by all dollar measures. As a result of its performance, FFCFC recently received three awards from the SBA - Greatest Number of 504 Loans by the NFD, Gold Award for Producing More Than 100 504s and The Most Improved CDC by the SFD.

Following these awards, Todd Kocourek, President and CEO of FFCFC said, "Our staff works diligently to make this SBA loan product available to every one of the Florida's 67 counties and it is their efforts that have made these and all previous awards possible."

The SBA in Florida is represented by two District Offices - the North, which is responsible for 43 counties, and the South, which is responsible for 24 counties. Each district reports CDC and bank totals separately and each gives production performance awards to CDCs and banks at separate awards luncheons. In the North, FFCFC has won the award for Greatest Number of 504s for six years in a row. More than 400 lenders and economic development personnel attended the NFD awards luncheon and almost 200 attended the SFC awards luncheon.

FFCFC's Kocourek went on to say, "More vital to businesses and Florida's economic growth is the fact that FFCFC loan projects (SBA guaranteed second mortgage debenture plus third party first mortgage loans) totaled $388,344,600 for the year and resulted in the creation of more than 2,600 new jobs -- more than any other CDC in the State.

Willie Gonzales, District Director for SBA's NFDO, noted, "Certified Development Companies are one of the conduits through which the SBA provides economic development assistance throughout North Florida and Florida First Capital Finance Corporation has been our most aggressive provider of the program this year and for the five previous years."