Silicon Valley Bank helps promote business incorporation

C alifornia-based Silicon Valley Bank says that its small business lending programs have helped fuel small business formation and promoted job growth.

The company says that it added 1000 clients over the last year. A significant portion of those customers – roughly 40 percent – were borrowers. SVB says its "pipeline of new potential borrowers" has increased 25 percent in the first quarter of this year, and has reached its highest level since before the credit crunch.

"We’ve made it our mission in the last few years to maintain a strong position that would allow us to continue lending and supporting small business growth and economic recovery," said Ken Wilcox, president and CEO of SVB Financial Group and Silicon Valley Bank.

Last year, the company created its SVB Accelerator program, which helps early-stage businesses take the next step. The program gives entrepreneurs leadership seminars, financing tools, networking events and introductions to potential investors.

The bank also recently surveyed its technology startup clients and found that 74 percent of them planned to create new jobs in 2010.

Both President Barack Obama and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke have emphasized the central role that small businesses will have in the economy. Bernanke called increased small business lending "vital" to recovery efforts in the near future.