Main Street Monday: How Lexicon Bank’s Broker–Lender Partnership Gets SBA Deals Done
April 27, 2026
Bob Coleman
Founder & Publisher
Main Street Monday: How Lexicon Bank’s Broker–Lender Partnership Gets SBA Deals Done
Las Vegas hosted more than 100 SBA lenders and loan brokers last Tuesday for the inaugural National Association of SBA Loan Brokers event.
In her opening keynote, Las Vegas-based Lexicon Bank President & CEO Stacy Watkins underscored how strong leadership—paired with disciplined execution and a culture of urgency—drives effective broker collaboration and brings SBA deals to close.
“At Lexicon Bank, we don’t see brokers as referral sources. We see you as partners,” Watkins said. That philosophy is embedded in how the bank operates, with one of the most broker-aligned SBA platforms in the country backing up her words.
That distinction matters. A referral implies a transaction. A partnership implies shared risk.
“Because we know that when you bring us a deal, you’re putting your reputation on the line.”
From there, Watkins broke down what that partnership looks like in practice.
First: speed.
“Time kills deals,” Watkins said, repeating what she calls a constant mantra inside her bank.
Clients get impatient. Sellers get nervous. Competing lenders step in. Deals die.
For brokers, speed is not a convenience. It is survival.
But Watkins was careful to define speed correctly.
“Speed is not rushing decisions or cutting corners … it’s about building an organization and a culture where responsiveness and urgency… are part of it throughout the entire organization.”
Second: service.
“You’re bringing in that relationship. You should expect more,” she said.
That means communication, accountability, and clarity.
“There’s no wondering where your deal stands… our focus is on quickly engaging the borrower and moving the deal forward with clarity and momentum.”
Every broker in the room has experienced the opposite—files disappearing into a black box.
Watkins addressed that directly.
“You should never feel like your deal has disappeared… you should always know where your deal stands.”
Third: execution.
Speed without execution is meaningless.
“You can go really fast… but do you actually make it to the finish line?” Watkins asked.
Stacy described a difficult SBA 7(a) deal—tight cash flow, weak collateral, not a clean file—a typical decline at many institutions.
Lexicon took a different approach.
“Instead of asking, why shouldn’t we do this deal, we asked, how do we make this happen reasonably?”
That is the core of the broker–lender relationship.
Brokers bring opportunity. The right lenders find a path to “yes.”
Finally, Watkins elevated the conversation beyond transactions.
“SBA is much bigger than that single deal. It’s about job creation, economic stability, shaping stronger communities.”
For a room full of brokers, that was the takeaway.
You are not just intermediaries. You are originators of economic impact.
And for SBA lenders, the message was just as clear:
If you want to win in SBA, respect the broker, move with urgency, communicate relentlessly, and most importantly—earn the trust that comes with every deal they put in your hands.
Because in this business, partnership is not a slogan.
It is the difference between closing and losing.
The more immediate signal of credit quality is short-term delinquencies. Loans 31 to 90 days past due came in at 1.65 percent, edging down both month-over-month and year-over-year.
Early-stage stress is easing, suggesting that small-business cash flow, while still tight, is not deteriorating further.
Longer-term delinquencies, those 91 to 180 days past due, are holding at 0.71%.
Put it together, and the message is clear, says Equifax. Credit performance is no longer worsening, but it is not snapping back either. Early-stage delinquencies are improving, which is encouraging, while later-stage delinquencies and defaults remain sticky at elevated levels.