A Coleman Conversation: Barry Sloane of Newtek
May 21, 2025
Bob Coleman
Founder & Publisher
A Coleman Conversation: Barry Sloane of Newtek
In the first episode of A Coleman Conversation, Bob Coleman sits down with Barry Sloane, CEO of NewtekOne — the nation’s #1 SBA 7(a) lender. They discuss the evolution of SBA lending, the transition from nonbank to bank status, Newtek’s $2 billion milestone, and the outlook for small business lending in 2025.
Bob Coleman: I’m pleased to have as our guest in the Coleman Conversation: Barry Sloane, president and CEO of Newtek, the nation’s number one SBA 7(a) lender. Congratulations on reaching two billion dollars, Barry.
Barry Sloane: Thanks, Bob. Appreciate it. It’s an overnight success – it just took over twenty-two years to get here. That’s all.
Bob: You and I go way back, and I’ve followed your career. I guess my first question is: now that you have a bank, how much easier is it compared to when you were a nonbank lender?
Barry: Yeah, I want to be careful with ‘easier’ because maybe it’s easier. I know it’s a loaded question. Listen, I would tell you that the opportunity to originate out of a bank is easier than as a non-bank lender. The complications of the nonbank lender with the multiparty agreement, securitization exits – it just made things a lot more difficult. The banking rules and regs are black and white. Follow banking rules and regs that are black and white, you’re golden. So it’s been a good situation for us. But given sort of the banking regs, we still have the nonbank lender in a rundown mode. So we’re still dealing with a lot of the older issues, but we’re very pleased that Newtek One is now a technology-enabled business that provides solutions, both business and financial, and is a depository. Notice I did not position ourselves as a bank or a bank holding company…
