NEWS RELEASE
PRESS OFFICE                         
                                                                  
Release Date:  June 6, 2012                Contact: Michele Arends
Release Number:  2092                               (605) 330-4243, ext. 11

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
SOUTH DAKOTA DISTRICT OFFICE ANNOUNCES
2011 LENDER AWARD WINNERS

Sioux Falls – The South Dakota Small Business Administration District Office has announced their 2011 Lender Award recipients in recognition of the performance, commitment and support to small businesses in South Dakota.  One credit union and three banks were honored for their outstanding achievements in helping small businesses with their financing needs.

Great Western Bank was the recipient of the District Director’s Leadership Award.  This award is presented to the number one volume SBA 7(a) lender in South Dakota.  With its head office in Watertown and branch offices in Aberdeen, Chamberlain, Garden City, Gettysburg, Madison, McIntosh, Milbank, Mobridge, Morristown, Rapid City, Redfield, Rosholt and Sioux Falls, Great Western Bank originated 17 loans totaling $2.9 million in Fiscal Year 2011.

“Great Western Bank has won this award two of the last three years – small businesses in South Dakota are being well served,” said John L. Brown, District Director of the South Dakota District Office.

South Dakota’s top tier SBA lenders receiving Leadership Circle Awards for 2011 included Black Hills Federal Credit Union, First Interstate Bank, and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. 

For more information about all of the SBA’s programs for small businesses, visit the SBA’s extensive website at www.sba.gov.