By ALLISSA KLINE
akline@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1612

For the second consecutive year, M&T Bank is the sixth-largest lender of U.S. Small Business Administration loans in the nation. It issued 1,227 of the SBA's flagship 7(a) loans totaling $174.5 million during fiscal 2011, the bank announced this week.

It also retained its position as the top SBA lender in several of its existing markets. This year, M&T is the leading lender in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

The bank's 2011 7(a) loan dollar figure is up 46.6 year percent, compared with fiscal 2010 when it totaled $119 million. Last year's amount was enough to boost M&T up three spaces nationally, from the ninth-largest lender to its current position.

"We were able to pump $55 million of additional financing to small business in our markets this year by working with our partners at the SBA, helping those businesses finance their operations and create jobs," Janet Coletti, senior vice president for business banking, said in a release. "Small business is the heart of the economy in most small cities and towns served by M&T and we will continue to look for more ways to lend responsibly to these vital customers."

In the Buffalo-Rochester area, M&T approved 273 loans totaling $46.2 million in fiscal 2011, according to data from the SBA's Buffalo District Office. In the Buffalo region only, it OK'd 150 loans totaling $29 million. M&T has been the leading SBA lender to small businesses here for 17 years in a row.