Bank of America announced that it has hired more than 30 small business bankers across the greater Chicago area to provide guidance to local small business owners. The additions are part of the company’s previously announced plan to hire 1,000 small business bankers nationwide.

“We have heard from small business owners that they want more personalized guidance from their banking relationship,” said Jay Miller, the Chicago-based Small Business Banking executive for Bank of America’s central region. “Our bankers will be meeting with small business clients across Chicago to understand every aspect of their cash-flow needs better, which will enable them to provide small business owners with the products and services most appropriate for their business, when their business needs it.”

Findings from the recently released Bank of America Small Business Owner Report, a semi-annual study exploring the concerns, aspirations and perspectives of small business owners across the country, revealed that only 29% of Chicago small business owners consider themselves to be very financially savvy. The remaining respondents admitted to needing occasional or ongoing expert help.

According to a 2011 U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) report, there are more than one million small businesses in Illinois. These businesses represent 98.3% of all employers, and almost half of the private-sector workforce. Moreover, there are more than 171,000 small businesses in the Chicago area, with 3.6 million Chicago area residents working for businesses with fewer than 500 employees.

Bank of America has continued to actively lend to small businesses across the U.S. and Illinois. In the first half of 2012, Bank of America extended more than $292.1 million to small businesses across the state. This includes $115.2 million in new originations, which has helped enable Bank of America to meet its national small business lending pledge to the White House and the SBA.