If you’re looking for a small business loan in Pennsylvania, we’ve gone through the data to identify the top lenders in the state.
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Biglaw Investor connects you with small business lenders who can help you expand your business, whether through working capital or via acquisition. A small business loan loan is a great way to grow your business—but it can be hard to know where to start. Our small business lenders offer an experience specially tailored to your goals.
Offered exclusively through Biglaw Investor, we make it incredibly simple to find the best loan for your business needs.
I’m an associate at a firm in Houston and used JD Mortgage thanks to your advice! The experience was great—they were super fast and responsive.” —Mary Kate Raffetto Beck Redden LLP
For a JD Mortgage, I had good luck with IBERIABank. [They] made this process very smooth.” —Clint Cowan Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann
For small business owners, Pennsylvania has much to offer. This Mid-Atlantic state sits in the Great Lake region of the country on Lake Erie. It is one of the largest states by population, with over 13 million people calling it home, though about 4 million of those people are located in the Delaware Valley metro area near Philadelphia. Other cities, including Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Scranton, Reading, and Bethlehem, provide their own diverse economies and lifestyles. Whether from the mountainous areas to the densely forested regions, Pennsylvania has a lot of natural beauty. Each city is unique, offering its own lifestyle benefits, local economy, and schools. For a small business, there are a lot of reasons, then, to get started here.
Pennsylvania’s economy is quite diverse. Its larger businesses and industries include industrialization, especially along the Great Lakes regions, where steel production was critical to the formation of the area. Today, there are many other companies including in areas such as banking, agriculture, and manufacturing. The Hershey Company, H.J. Heinz, and U.S. Steel still call this state home. Yet, it is a strong small business state as well. The U.S. Small Business Administration shares that there are 1.1 million small businesses operating in the state as of 2022. Those businesses have created 2.6 million jobs for the people of the Keystone State, generating $115,777,358 in payroll to help support households. These businesses are in many industries.
To grow, most companies need capital, and to obtain that capital, they often need to borrow. Small Business Administration data for the last three years shows there are 4,603 small business loans in place in the country. Those loans have a value of $2,653,104,599. In PA, the average loan size is $576,386. Companies use those funds for a variety of purposes, often growing, staying competitive, and driving the success of their businesses. Lenders are readily available to help meet those capital needs, offering competitively priced loans to fit the needs of most lenders.
Pennsylvania small businesses often need to tap into the capital from lenders to fund the growth and development of their businesses. Numerous opportunities exist to do that in PA. Small business lenders often include banks and credit unions, private lenders, and specialized lending institutions. Many of these loans are backed by the Small Business Administration, providing lenders with a bit more confidence that their money is safe while helping small businesses to obtain lower interest rates and better funding availability.
Small business loans are a type of investment made by lenders into companies. The company receives the capital infusion it needs and then agrees to repay the amount borrowed along with interest over a period of 5, 10, or more years. These monthly payments tend to be affordable for the company, and the capital enables businesses to invest in a wide range of needs, such as new equipment, more employees, new products or services, marketing, and even product research. PA small business lenders offer a range of loans to meet these needs, including:
To obtain a PA small business loan, companies typically need to meet specific requirements. This often includes having a company that has fewer than 100 employees. Most lenders want to see the financials of the company, such as the balance sheet, bank statements, profit and loss statements, and other data that shows the amount of earnings the company has and the amount of revenue they can dedicate towards loan repayment.
Most lenders also want to see data about the company itself, such as information about its industry, services or products, competition, and overall market analysis. A business plan is a good way to showcase this information. Lenders may also want to consider the overall credit history of the company and the owner as a way to judge the amount of risk the lender is taking on.
At the startup or new business phase, most entrepreneurs use their own funds to bootstrap and launch. A local economic development office might be able to share with you more information about grants or alternative business financing for new companies. Plenty of business resources, including details about assistance programs, small business grants, and resources for nonprofits, may be shared as part of your regional small business development center.
Business financing for established companies, though, usually means a direct loan, working capital loan, or other loan. Financing options will depend on the financial institution you work with, as each lender has their own repayment terms, interest rates, credit score requirements, loan application, and other eligibility rules.
Once you intend to expand, look into all financial assistance from the state government or federal government such as tax credits, in addition to local economic development organizations. If you’ve exhausted these resources, however, Pennsylvanians with established businesses should look into microloans and other small business loans.
For those businesses ready to expand, the investment in Pennsylvania small business loans is often ideal. It takes some careful consideration and comparison of lenders to determine which can offer the best amount of capital for needs but also keep costs affordable overall.
| Rank | Bank Name | # of Pennsylvania Loans | Avergage Interest Rate | Average Loan Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington National Bank | 214 | 5.59% | $207,942 |
| 2 | M&T Bank | 137 | 6.59% | $199,668 |
| 3 | KeyBank | 80 | 5.83% | $267,400 |
| 4 | TD Bank | 80 | 7.45% | $169,829 |
| 5 | Meridian Bank | 79 | 5.23% | $1,064,354 |
| 6 | WSFB Bank | 79 | 5.23% | $829,181 |
| 7 | Northwest Bank | 52 | 4.88% | $287,581 |
| 8 | First Commonwealth Bank | 45 | 5.50% | $1,137,253 |
| 9 | First National Bank of Pennsylvania | 44 | 5.79% | $702,632 |
| 10 | Live Oak Banking Company | 44 | 5.25% | $1,241,552 |
Founded in 1866 and based out of Columbus, Ohio, with branches in 11 states and $179 billion in assets to meet its customers’ needs, Huntington National Bank has much to offer. Huntington National Bank has a number of products and services to meet personal and business banking needs.
We reached out to Huntington National Bank to see if there were any advantages to working with them during the SBA loan process. Here is what they told us:
When you’re ready to connect with an experienced SBA loan officer, use our form to quickly match with SBA loan programs based on your specific circumstances.
Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company has been in business for 165 years and is also known as M&T Bank operating in 8 states and Washington, DC, with 780 branches. Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company provide a number of banking services through loans, grants, and personal banking.
We reached out to M&T Bank to see if there were any advantages to working with them during the SBA loan process. Here is what they told us:
When you’re ready to connect with an experienced SBA loan officer, use our form to quickly match with SBA loan programs based on your specific circumstances.
KeyBank is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, and offers a wide range of banking and investment products to meet the needs of its members. KeyBank provides services for businesses and individuals with products such as small business loans and personal and business checking and savings to meet all of its customers’ needs.
We reached out to KeyBank to see if there were any advantages to working with them during the SBA loan process. Here is what they told us:
When you’re ready to connect with an experienced SBA loan officer, use our form to quickly match with SBA loan programs based on your specific circumstances.
TD Bank was founded in 1852 in Portland, Maine, as a bank to help the community. Since that time, TD Bank has grown to be able to provide all types of services and products to meet the needs of its customers on a broad level all across the country.
We reached out to TD Bank to see if there were any advantages to working with them during the SBA loan process. Here is what they told us:
When you’re ready to connect with an experienced SBA loan officer, use our form to quickly match with SBA loan programs based on your specific circumstances.
Meridian Bank was founded in 2004 to meet the needs of the people and businesses in the community. Starting in Maryland, Meridian Bank now has locations to serve customers in Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania for both business and personal banking customers with products, including business loans and checking accounts.
We reached out to Meridian Bank to see if there were any advantages to working with them during the SBA loan process. Here is what they told us:
When you’re ready to connect with an experienced SBA loan officer, use our form to quickly match with SBA loan programs based on your specific circumstances.
To help support the growth of companies, Pennsylvania businesses may wish to tap into some of the best free resources available today.
The Small Business Administration in Pennsylvania offers a lot of support for smaller companies. That includes helping them to borrow funds, but also tools to establish the company, marketing, hiring employees, government legal requirements, and taxation help. Local businesses are able to meet with SBA team members or use the educational programs and resources on the organization’s website. The key here is that there is no cost for this type of support.
Gathering hands-on support to help learn to start up, grow, and overcome competition is a bit more difficult to obtain. That is why SCORE is such a valuable local tool. This organization connects newer companies with successful business professionals through mentorship programs. The online tools and resources, as well as workshops, seminars, and video conferences, also help to encourage better support for smaller companies.
If you want to find the best small business loans in other states, click on your state below.
Joshua Holt is a lawyer and founder of Biglaw Investor. He spent 10 years practicing private equity mergers & acquisition law for one of the largest law firms in the country. As part of his practice, he advised small and medium sized businesses on matters ranging from business loans to the acquisitions and divestitures of stocks and assets.
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