Leader Bank was recognized for the second year in a row as the Lender of the Year to Minorities by the Massachusetts office of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Leader Bank has been active during the COVID-19 pandemic, lending more than $1.836 million to small businesses, 56% of which were minority-owned businesses. These loans provided aid for businesses such as restaurants, medical research offices, convenience stores and accounting firms.

“We are very proud of the work we have done in 2020 to support small businesses,” Sushil K. Tuli, CEO of Leader Bank, said. “To be recognized by the Massachusetts office of the SBA for our dedication to minority-owned businesses in particular is a great honor and we look forward to continuing to help small businesses recover and grow in the coming year.”

Leader Bank was also a participant of the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program in 2020, assisting more than 1,500 small businesses by lending more than $129 million, with an average PPP loan size of $89,000.