If you are shopping an SBA 7(a) or conventional commercial loan in Vermont, the bank you call first matters more than most borrowers think. A lender that already writes a lot of commercial credit and sits in your state is structurally likelier to say yes than a national name passing through. This page ranks the Vermont-headquartered banks doing the most commercial lending right now, using public Q2 2026 FFIEC call-report data. It is the open-book version of what the paid report does with far more inputs.
Vermont's lending market is small and personal, a short list of community banks still underwriting a farm-and-tourism economy largely by hand.
The 7 most active commercial lenders in Vermont
Ranked by commercial and industrial (C&I) loans outstanding, Q2 2026. Bank names link to the live BankingLens scorecard.
| # | Bank | City | Assets | C&I share | ROA | Fit notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Community National Bank | Derby | $1.2B | 11.7% | 1.58% | Community bank, a modest C&I share. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. Top sectors funded in VT: Retail Trade (17 loans), Accommodation/Food Service (14 loans) |
| 2 | Northfield Savings Bank | Northfield | $1.6B | 8.1% | 0.71% | Local commercial lender, a modest C&I share. Top sectors funded in VT: Construction (1 loan), Management of Companies (1 loan) |
| 3 | Ledyard National Bank | Norwich | $1.1B | 12.6% | 0.71% | Community bank, a steady commercial book. Loan book up 17% YoY. Top sectors funded in VT: Retail Trade (2 loans), Construction (1 loan) |
| 4 | National Bank of Middlebury | Middlebury | $554M | 9.6% | 1.01% | Small local lender, a modest C&I share. Top sectors funded in VT: Other Services (1 loan), Manufacturing (1 loan) |
| 5 | Union Bank | Morrisville | $1.6B | 2.7% | 0.81% | Community bank, a modest C&I share. CRE-heavy book. Top sectors funded in VT: Accommodation/Food Service (1 loan), Professional Services (1 loan) |
| 6 | Passumpsic Savings Bank | Saint Johnsbury | $934M | 4.4% | 1.35% | Small local lender, a modest C&I share. |
| 7 | The Bank of Bennington | Bennington | $662M | 3.7% | 0.86% | Small community bank, a modest C&I share. |
Assets and ratios are Q2 2026 FFIEC call-report figures. ROA is annualized return on assets. A bank's headquarters city is shown; many lend statewide and beyond.
C&I lending muscle, ranked
Commercial and industrial loans outstanding for the top 7 Vermont-HQ lenders, Q2 2026. This is the single number our ranking leans on hardest.
How we ranked these
Four steps, all of them transparent. First, we took every bank headquartered in Vermont. Second, a capacity floor: we dropped every Vermont-headquartered bank under $500M in total assets, because a smaller balance sheet rarely anchors a primary SBA 7(a) relationship. Third, an active-originator floor: Vermont has so few dedicated commercial banks that we dropped the C&I threshold entirely and ranked every qualifying bank with any C&I lending on its books (a bank that is 90 percent home mortgages is not your SBA lender, regardless of size). Of the banks clearing both floors, 7 made the active list. Fourth, we ranked them by C&I loan dollars outstanding, which already blends balance-sheet size with how committed a bank is to commercial credit, and kept the top 7. Where the call report reports it, the fit notes also flag year-over-year loan-book growth as a rough read on whether a bank is leaning into lending or pulling back; the FFIEC filing does not break out SBA or C&I growth on its own, so treat that as directional, not precise.
Smaller banks may also fund your loan but rank below the active list.
The SBA section below ranks separately: it counts the SBA 7(a) and 504 loans each lender actually made in Vermont, from SBA's own loan data, whatever state the lender is based in.
This table is an honest, simplified proxy. The call report does not show a bank's SBA volume or its appetite for your industry; the SBA section shows volume, but not which lender fits your deal. The $49 Borrower Assist report folds all of that in and ranks against your specific deal, not just your state. That is the part worth paying for.
Most active SBA lenders in Vermont
The lenders that made the most SBA 7(a) and 504 loans to Vermont businesses, federal fiscal year 2023 through June 30, 2026, counted from SBA's own loan-level data. National SBA platforms appear next to Vermont's own banks because they lend here too.
115 SBA loans in Vermont, $16.3M in total. Most often: Construction, Accommodation/Food Service.
100 SBA loans in Vermont, $22.6M in total. Most often: Retail Trade, Accommodation/Food Service.
84 SBA loans in Vermont, $5.6M in total. Most often: Construction, Retail Trade.
36 SBA loans in Vermont, $4.1M in total. Most often: Accommodation/Food Service, Construction.
27 SBA loans in Vermont, $2.8M in total. Most often: Health Care, Manufacturing.
16 SBA loans in Vermont, $2.7M in total. Most often: Construction, Retail Trade.
15 SBA loans in Vermont, $7.6M in total. Most often: Retail Trade, Professional Services.
15 SBA loans in Vermont, $2.4M in total. Most often: Retail Trade, Other Services.
15 SBA loans in Vermont, $1.2M in total. Most often: Retail Trade, Other Services.
14 SBA loans in Vermont, $741K in total. Most often: Transportation & Warehousing, Administrative & Support.
Source: U.S. Small Business Administration 7(a) and 504 loan data, refreshed monthly. Ranked by number of loans. Lenders that have since merged count toward the bank that acquired them.
What Vermont looks like for a borrower
Vermont's lending market is small and personal, a short list of community banks still underwriting a farm-and-tourism economy largely by hand.
On the numbers: Vermont's 12 headquartered banks carry $8.9B in assets between them, the largest being Northfield Savings Bank of Northfield at $1.6B. The median bank keeps 6.3% of its loan book in C&I credit, which is the pool the table below ranks.
None of that tells you which of these banks will fund your specific deal. A $400,000 restaurant acquisition and a $4M owner-occupied warehouse purchase have different optimal lender lists even in the same state, and the ranking above does not split by loan size, industry, or collateral. Treat it as your starting shortlist, not your final answer.
How to use this list
- Start with the bank near you that has the strongest commercial profile, not just the closest branch. A lender with a real C&I book understands your deal faster.
- Ask for the SBA or commercial lending group directly. The general line routes business deals slowly.
- Have a one-page summary ready: use of funds, cash flow, collateral, owner credit, timeline. Banks decide whether to engage in the first ninety seconds.
- Run two banks in parallel, not five. Two real conversations close a loan; five waste everyone's time.
Hero photo: Boston over the harbor at dusk by Venti Views on Unsplash, used here as a regional editorial image for Vermont.