Monroe Capital LLC announced that the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) has selected an investment fund managed by Monroe Capital as the Small Business Investment Company (“SBIC”) of the Year.

The SBIC program was created by Congress in 1958 to help small U.S. businesses meet their requirements for growth and operating capital not otherwise available through banks or other traditional private capital sources. Since its inception through 2014, the SBIC program has provided a total of $73.3 billion of long-term debt and equity capital to more than 118,000 small U.S. businesses, with $5.46 billion invested in 1,085 small U.S. businesses in fiscal year 2014 alone. Many well-known U.S. companies received early financing and support from SBICs including Intel, Apple Computer, Callaway Golf, Whole Foods Market, Staples, Quiznos, Federal Express, Outback Steakhouse, Costco, and Build-A-Bear Workshop.

The SBIC of the Year award recognizes the overall superior performance of Monroe Capital’s SBIC fund. Selection criteria included, but are not limited to, demonstrated commitment to supporting growth and expansion of small businesses, including job creation; penetration in underserved markets; community involvement; commitment to financial return on investment; public focus; and the overall wellbeing of small businesses.

Monroe’s SBIC investment fund which is being recognized by the SBA for this award has made investments in 33 separate companies, 84% of which qualify as “smaller enterprises” as defined by the SBA, and over 35% of those investments are in minority-owned or minority-managed companies. In the aggregate, the portfolio of 33 companies represent over 11,000 employees (of which approximately 3,000 are minority employees) and revenues of over $2.2 billion. This Monroe SBIC fund has invested in companies across 14 states, including Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Jersey, New
York, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas.

"Monroe Capital has an excellent record of creating value for small businesses throughout the U.S., including in underserved segments of the small business economy which include woman and minority owned and managed businesses. We are very proud to count Monroe Capital among our SBIC of the Year family," added Javier Saade, Associate Administrator for Investment and Innovation of the SBA.

Ted Koenig, President and CEO of Monroe Capital LLC, said “We are extremely honored that the SBA has recognized Monroe Capital and our SBIC fund as the SBIC of the Year. This award exemplifies our experience and dedication to helping growing small businesses in the middle market throughout the U.S. We greatly value our partnership with the SBA and believe that our firm demonstrates what a successful SBIC fund should aspire to be.”

Monroe Capital has invested over $2.5 billion in over 500 middle market transactions in the U.S. involving over 240 different private equity sponsor firms. Monroe Capital is headquartered in Chicago, with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco.

Ted Koenig, President and CEO of Monroe, and Zia Uddin, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager of Monroe, will accept the SBIC of the Year Award on May 8, 2015 at a ceremony at the White House during National Small Business Week (“NSBW”). This year’s theme at NSBW is “Dream Big, Start Small.”