Loans backed by the Small Business Administration in Maine increased 301% for the first quarter of the fiscal year, according to the SBA's regional office.

For the quarter that ended Dec. 31, 2009, the total loan amount was just over $36 million, compared with last year's first-quarter figure of nearly $9 million, according to a press release from the SBA's Maine District Office. The number of businesses with loans guaranteed by the SBA totaled 187 for the quarter, compared with 70 in the same quarter the year before, a 167% increase.

SBA District Director Maurice Dube attributed the jump in SBA-backed loans to funding for small businesses through the federal Recovery Act and the strength of Maine's lenders, according to the release.