Despite a tough year, SBA's popularity with lenders endures

Key insight: After closing a $95 million SBA loan sale to Miami-based Banesco USA, BayFirst Financial is working to close a second, larger sale to Banesco by year-end.Forward look: Banesco USA CEO Calixto Garcia Velez is confident his bank can meet or exceed BayFirst's SBA origination levels, which approached $500 million annually prior to the onset of credit quality issues.Expert quote: "We're going to make a big effort to see if we can be successful in cross-selling these small business clients. We want t ...