Bank of America Corp. announced Tuesday that it has hired 45 small-business bankers in North and South Carolina, part of the Charlotte banks broader push to increase services and lending for small companies.
Twelve of the new small-business bankers are in the Charlotte area, part of a total of 32 hires in North Carolina. Eight are in the Triangle, and five in the Triad.
Thirteen small-business bankers were hired in South Carolina, four in the Charleston area, and three each in Columbia and Greenville-Spartanburg.
In late 2010, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan pledged to the White House to increase lending to small businesses, and later announced that the bank would hire 1,000 small-business bankers by mid-2012. As of last week, the bank had hired more than 700.
Though small-business lending remains a relatively small piece of the bank, Bank of America reported recently that new loans to businesses with less than $20 million in revenue increased 20 percent in 2011, to $6.4 billion. Among businesses with less than $5 million in revenue, lending increased 63 percent in the fourth quarter from the quarter before.
The bank also has rolled out a number of new banking products to small businesses, including payroll software and 401(k) plans.
The Charlotte bank also said Tuesday that it has hired 45 bankers in Georgia, including 35 in the Atlanta area.
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