Dear Colleague,

In today’s uncertain economic and banking climate, we are all looking for ways to mitigate our credit risk and open new avenues for loan growth. With that in mind, I would like to personally invite you to participate in the premier event offered to small business lenders in this region. As in our previous conferences, we anticipate the active participation of nearly 250 lenders and resource partners. This year, we also look forward to enjoying newly renovated facilities and guest accommodations and we know that the food and hospitality will be as inviting and satisfying as past years.

We are excited about this year’s training offerings, and thrilled this year to include training offered by multiple partners including Starfield & Smith www.starfieldsmith.com , our own WPASGL board members www.wpasgl.org , Hergenroeder, Rega, Scotti, Ewing & Kennedy www.hrslaw.com , River’s Edge Alliance www.riversedgealliance.com , Franchise Network of Pittsburgh www.frannet.com , Grossman, Yanak & Ford www.gyf.com , Dernar & Associates , ARMS Insurance Group www.armsinc.com , and many others.

We are also very excited to be cosponsoring with the Risk Management Association (RMA) a Friday morning general session this year entitled “How to Identify the Best C&I Lending Opportunities in Challenging Times” which is being presented by a panel of experts led by Rick Buczynski, Ph. D & Chief Economist at IBIS World www.ibisworld.com , leading banking industry risk specialists, along with Pamela Martin, Senior Supervisory Financial Analyst with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System www.frb.gov , Dev Strischek, Senior Credit Policy Officer with SunTrust Banks, Inc. www.suntrust.com , and a local Bank President. You won’t want to miss this one!

The Resource Fair will provide an opportunity for you to meet many of those service providers who can elevate your lending and banking performance to new levels. The resources will include Certified Development Companies, insurance company representatives, law firms, national SBA lenders, Secondary Market participants and other vendors and resources supporting the SBA and small business lending industry. This year, all conference participants will have the opportunity to kickoff the conference and mingle with these resources in our opening reception on the evening of Weds, March 14^th, which will again this year be held in our vendor exhibit area.

Finally, at this year’s event, the WPASGL will again host the now famous lenders’ party in the Matterhorn Lounge with live entertainment on Thursday evening. And as this year’s party falls just before St. Patrick’s Day, please be sure to wear you green as we celebrate Irish style in the Matterhorn Lounge!

Won’t you please join us? Skiing is optional, but good times and fellowship are not!

Warmest regards,

Rebecca MacBlane

Chair, Western Pennsylvania Association of SBA-Guaranteed Lenders

The Pittsburgh District office invites you to the CAPLine Lenders Roundtable

Join us along with Steve Smits, the SBA’s Associate Administrator for Capital Access to discuss SBA’s new CAPLine program. This is your chance to speak directly with the people involved in writing SBA policy and let them know what you think of our programs.

When:  Monday, Nov. 14.  Registration @ 9:30am.  Event from 10am-11:30am.

Where: SMC Business Council, George Westinghouse Research & Tech Park (Churchill), 1382 Beulah Road, Pittsburgh PA

Click here to download the event flyer »