Rockland, not Westchester, led Hudson Valley SBA lending in FY2025
- $97.1M Rockland: the FY2025 dollar leader 280 loans; edges Westchester for first
- $92.9M Westchester: second in dollars 271 loans; deepest lender bench at 52
- $89.7M Orange: the third pillar 209 loans; $429,249 average approval
- Rockland $97.1M county dollar leader, 280 loans
- Westchester $92.9M 52 active lenders, the region's deepest bench
- Orange $89.7M
- Dutchess $29.0M
- Ulster $20.1M
- Sullivan $17.4M
- Columbia $4.1M
- Greene $2.2M
- Putnam $1.7M
Ask which Hudson Valley county leads SBA lending and the reflex answer is Westchester, the region's largest economy. In fiscal 2025 the answer was Rockland. Lenders approved $97.1 million of 7(a) loans in Rockland County on 280 loans, against Westchester's $92.9 million on 271. Westchester's share of the region's $354.3 million came to 26.2 percent: a plurality, not a center of gravity.
What Westchester does hold is depth. Fifty-two distinct lenders made at least one 7(a) approval there in FY2025, the region's deepest bench, ahead of Orange's 43 and Rockland's 31. More institutions compete for Westchester borrowers than anywhere else in the valley, even in a year when the dollars landed next door.
The full county table
| County | 7(a) loans | Dollars approved | Average approval | Lenders |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rockland | 280 | $97.1M | $346,806 | 31 |
| Westchester | 271 | $92.9M | $342,769 | 52 |
| Orange | 209 | $89.7M | $429,249 | 43 |
| Dutchess | 75 | $29.0M | $386,497 | 27 |
| Ulster | 48 | $20.1M | $419,360 | 19 |
| Sullivan | 29 | $17.4M | $601,372 | 15 |
| Columbia | 15 | $4.1M | $275,080 | 10 |
| Greene | 11 | $2.2M | $200,145 | 7 |
| Putnam | 18 | $1.7M | $93,228 | 7 |
| Region | 956 | $354.3M | $370,577 | 79 |
Lender counts do not sum to the regional 79 because most lenders are active in more than one county.
Three pillars, then a step down
Rockland, Westchester, and Orange together account for just under 79 percent of regional dollars. Orange is the quiet story of the three: $89.7 million on 209 loans puts it within striking distance of the two downstate counties, and its $429,249 average approval is the highest of the big three, meaning fewer, larger credits per approval than either Rockland or Westchester.
The mid-valley sits a full tier below. Dutchess recorded $29.0 million on 75 loans and Ulster $20.1 million on 48, roughly a quarter to a third of a big-three county's dollar volume, with average tickets in the same general range.
Sullivan breaks the pattern. Its $17.4 million came on just 29 loans, an average approval of $601,372, the highest in the region. That is a market of few but large credits, not broad small-ticket activity.
The eastern and northern tail
Columbia ($4.1 million on 15 loans) and Greene ($2.2 million on 11) round out the region's thin northern edge. Putnam is the more interesting outlier: its 18 loans came to only $1.7 million, an average of $93,228, the lowest in the valley by a wide margin. Putnam's SBA market in FY2025 was almost entirely a small-ticket market, which shapes which lenders bother to serve it.
Who those lenders are, and how sharply they segment by ticket size across the whole region, is the subject of our regional FY2025 lender landscape.
About the data
Figures come from the county-level project data in the SBA's FY2025 7(a) lender activity report, as of September 30, 2025, covering nine counties: Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester. County dollar figures in the table are rounded to the nearest $0.1 million; averages are computed from exact approval totals. All numbers are approvals, not disbursements. Lender counts are institutions with at least one approval in the county.