SBA Today

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126

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Aug 2026

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About the show

There's a lot going on in the world of SBA lending these days. We mean, a LOT! So let's have a conversation about it. Join co-anchors Tonya Mazurek and Paul T Long weekly as they break down what's happening in SBA TODAY Brought to you by Art of SBA

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August 26, 202636 min

Major SOP Changes Every SBA Lender Needs to Know | August 26, 2026 | SBA Today

The new SBA SOP just dropped — and it changes everything for acquisitions. In this episode of SBA Today, Paul Long and Tonya Mazurek dive deep into the 400+ page update to unpack the critical changes going into effect on October 1st. 00:45 – Meet ICAP: The Next-Gen E-Tran & Secondary Market System 02:00 – New SOP Overview: 416 Pages & October 1st Effective Date 04:20 – Eligible Expenses, Franchises & MARC Working Capital Updates 08:15 – Debt Refinancing: 36-Month Ownership Rule & MCA Term-Loan Restrictions 10:55 – Business Acquisitions: Mandatory Quality of Earnings ($3M+) & Buyer Rebates 14:05 – Extended Seller Transitions & Co-Borrower vs. Guarantor Liability 16:35 – The 4 Change-of-Ownership Categories & NAICS Code Rules 21:55 – Commercial Real Estate: Ending the 25-Year Loophole & Blended Rate s 25:00 – Equity Injection, External Capital & Minority Equity Investor Guidelines 31:40 – Underwriting Mandates: 1.25x Historical DSCR, Add-Backs & System Reporting 🛠This episode is sponsored by SBA Collective — empowering community banks and credit unions to compete and win in SBA lending. Disclaimer: The views expressed on this show are our own and not necessarily the views of our employer.

August 12, 202620 min

Senate CR Surprises, Capacity Threats, & Secondary Market Secrets | August 11, 2026 | SBA Today

This week on SBA Today, Paul and Tonya are pulling apart a few lines buried inside Washington legislation that could have a very real impact on SBA lending. 🏛️ The Senate CR — The Senate passed a Continuing Resolution Saturday morning. But there are a few words tucked inside it that caught our attention. 🚦 An "Apportionment Anomaly" — Sounds riveting, right? 😂 Turns out, if you're an SBA lender, borrower, broker, or anyone waiting for a loan to close…you may want to know what this means. 💰 Can SBA actually "run out" of lending authority? — There's more than one way capacity can become an issue, and the distinction matters. 🎭 Behind the Curtain — What does the secondary market have to do with any of this…and why should a borrower care about something they may never even see? Sometimes the biggest SBA news isn't the headline. It's the few lines buried underneath it. 🛠This episode is sponsored by SBA Collective — empowering community banks and credit unions to compete and win in SBA lending. Disclaimer: The views expressed on this show are our own and not necessarily the views of our employer.

July 29, 202622 min

Quadrupled Defaults, System Overhauls, & a New SOP | July 28, 2026 | SBA Today

Paul and Tonya are back on SBA Today to break down: 📉 The Default Surge: Small loan default ratios have skyrocketed, sparking massive friction over relaxed underwriting rules. 💻 Workflow Disruption: Will this fix the guardrails or completely choke up deal turn times? 🏛️ Green Card Lending Battle: Could we see an immediate reversal on borrower eligibility? 📋 The Next-Gen SOP: With acquisitions already under tight scrutiny, what structural curveballs are you expecting? With default numbers climbing so aggressively, do you think a more restrictive, technology-driven front end will restore bank confidence, or will it simply make it harder for legitimate small businesses to secure funding? 🛠 This episode is sponsored by SBA Collective — empowering community banks and credit unions to compete and win in SBA lending. Disclaimer: The views expressed on this show are our own and not necessarily those of our employer.

July 8, 202617 min

SBA & NASA Team Up, Foreclosure Failures & Rural Deregulation | July 7, 2026 | SBA Today

This week on SBA Today, Paul and Tonya unpack: 🔍 OIG Foreclosure Audit—how will this impact lender oversight? 🚀 The NASA Supply Chain Alliance—what kinds of specialized deal structures will this bring to your desk? 🌾 The SBA-USDA Deregulation Push—will this regulatory relief successfully unleash trapped capital? 🛠This episode is sponsored by SBA Collective — empowering community banks and credit unions to compete and win in SBA lending. Disclaimer: The views expressed on this show are our own and not necessarily the views of our employer.

July 1, 202623 min

Siemens Shifts the Market & SOP Warning Signs | SBA Today | June 30, 2026

This week on SBA Today, Paul and Tonya are back to dissect: ⚙️ Siemens Secures SBLC Status—how fast will this industrial tech giant reshape competition in manufacturing and equipment deals? 🚨 SBA Brain Drain? Are we about to see a massive loss of institutional underwriting knowledge? 📉 Conservative Acquisition Pivot—what the latest whispers about the upcoming SOP revision may mean for business acquisitions. 🔍 Cross-Agency Crackdown—why the Senate is flagging 7(a) lenders. How is your institution adjusting its portfolio risk strategy to withstand this dual wave of tightening regulations and new non-bank competition? 🛠 This episode is sponsored by SBA Collective — empowering community banks and credit unions to compete and win in SBA lending. Disclaimer: The views expressed on this show are our own and not necessarily those of our employer.

June 17, 202629 min

SBA Reorg: What Lenders Need to Know & More | June 16, 2025 | SBA Today

This week on SBA Today, Paul and Tonya break down the major agency updates including: 🏢 Agency-Wide Reorganization: The SBA is centralizing core operational units into specialized "centers of excellence" to cut redundancies and lower overhead costs. 📩 Policy Inbox Tracking: While email addresses remain exactly the same, all future policy inquiries will now be assigned a unique Case Reference Number for standardized tracking. ⛪ New Specialized Outreach: The agency has officially launched a new Office of Rural Affairs and a Center for Faith to expand capital and counseling access to underserved communities. 🛒 $30M Grocery Milestone: The enhanced 90% Grocery Guarantee approved 19 loans totaling over $30 million in its very first month, averaging $1.57M per deal. How do you think this structural shift will impact your pipeline's turnaround times over the next few months? 🛠 This episode is sponsored by SBA Collective — empowering community banks and credit unions to compete and win in SBA lending. Disclaimer: The views expressed on this show are our own and not necessarily those of our employer.

June 10, 202623 min

The $10M Combined Cap Reminder + Myths That Kill Deals | June 9, 2026

This week on SBA Today, Paul and Tonya are tackling: ⏳ The Countdown to $10M: The historic $10M combined 7(a) and 504 loan limit officially takes effect on July 4, and lenders are actively structuring deals now. 🛑 The Sourcing Trap: Many borrowers assume creative deal structures or unverified assets satisfy equity rules, only to watch their deals freeze during final source-of-funds verification. ⚖️ Creative ≠ Compliant: There is a massive gap between what a lender finds acceptable and what the SBA will actually guarantee. 📜 What "Good" Equity Looks Like: Tonya maps out the clear boundaries between problematic funds and acceptable capital—proving that equity isn't just about money, it's about the paper trail. How are you and your team preparing your pipeline for the upcoming July 4th limit changes? 🛠 This episode is sponsored by SBA Collective — empowering community banks and credit unions to compete and win in SBA lending. Disclaimer: The views expressed on this show are our own and not necessarily those of our employer.

June 3, 202629 min

AI Value Myths, New Loss Waivers, & Live Co-Pilot Agents | June 2, 2026

This week on SBA Today, Paul T Long and Tonya Mazurek are tackling: 📊 The AI Valuation Reality: 67% of intermediaries report AI has no material impact on business valuations yet—fundamentals still carry the deal. 🔓 New Prior Loss Waivers: Effective June 1, 2026, the SBA can grant case-by-case waivers if the affected owner held a non-controlling stake under 20% and never guaranteed the defaulted loan. 🚫 The Waiver Exception: This new waiver authority completely excludes prior defaults on PPP, EIDL, or other non-SBA federal financing. 🛠️ Live AI Agent Build: Paul shares his framework for feeding the SBA SOP into enterprise AI tools to answer tricky underwriting questions. The Bottom Line: Shifting policy limits mean more deals can clear previous hurdles, but underwriting accuracy remains paramount. If you are still manually digging through hundreds of pages of text to verify small loan projection requirements, you are burning valuable deal time. 🛠 This episode is sponsored by SBA Collective — empowering community banks and credit unions to compete and win in SBA lending. Disclaimer: The views expressed on this show are our own and not necessarily those of our employer.

May 28, 202621 min

The "No-Skin" Searcher Trap & a $1M Prize Pool? | May 26, 2026 | SBA Today

This week on SBA Today, Paul is back for this jam-packed episode! He and Tonya breakdown: 🛑 The No-Skin Searcher Trap: Why credit teams are souring on search fund deals where the "CEO" brings zero direct industry experience and 100% investor-backed down payments. 📊 Demystifying Parris Scores: Why understanding your portfolio's Cumulative Net Yield is like analyzing an insurance drain. 🤖 AI in Underwriting: How smart shops are using custom agents to stress-test the SOP and audit PSAs or leases for compliance red flags. 🏆 The Patriot Pitch Competition: What a newly launched $1 million prize pool means for growth-stage businesses that have already utilized SBA financing. The Bottom Line: SBA credit departments are tightening the screws on low-equity business acquisitions, but the agency is simultaneously rolling out major capital and exposure incentives for growth-stage operators who execute cleanly. 🛠 This episode is sponsored by SBA Collective —empowering community banks and credit unions to compete and win in SBA lending. Disclaimer: The views expressed on this show are our own and not necessarily those of our employer.

May 20, 202613 min

Banished Lenders, a $10M Cap Raising & more! | May 19, 2025 | SBA Today

This week on SBA Today, Tonya is flying solo to breakdown: ❌ USDA Lenders Banished—household-name lenders over a $620 million delinquency issue. 📈 The $10M Combined Cap—are your capital-intensive borrowers eligible? ⚖️ $3M Fraud Indictment—signaling a sharp escalation from the new National Fraud Enforcement Division. 🏛️ Navigating the OHA— this independent SBA office might be your last line of defense. The Bottom Line: The regulatory floor is shifting fast. While the new $10M decoupling rule unlocks historic capital limits, federal agencies are simultaneously tightening compliance and purging non-compliant participants. 🛠 This episode is sponsored by SBA Collective — empowering community banks and credit unions to compete and win in SBA lending. Disclaimer: The views expressed on this show are our own and not necessarily those of our employer.