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During the "credit crunch" of 2009 - 2011 when the largest financial institutions closed the spigot on small business lending, approval rates sunk to single digit percentages at many big banks. During this dry period, credit unions and alternative lenders filled some of the void and small banks, in particular, were the most willing to lend.

However, the budget deal forged at the end of the year provided confidence that there would not be another hurtful showdown in the near future. As the year progressed, we saw record gains by the stock market and a rebound in the real estate market across the nation. The unemployment rate has been dropping steadily and is hovering around 7 percent, far from the nearly10 percent unemployment rates during 2009 and 2010. Further, interest rates for small business borrowers are still low, and banks are beginning to lend again, although not yet at pre-recession levels.