On Tuesday, July 18th, Justine PETERSEN's Central Illinois team attended the SBA Illinois 2023 Lender Awards Luncheon in Chicago. The SBA Lender Awards Luncheon celebrates lenders and small business advocates throughout Illinois. JP received the unique distinction of SBA Microloan Program of the Year. The award comes four months after JP officially launched the Champaign County Loan Fund in partnership with Champaign County and the Champaign County Economic Development Corporation. JP's Central Illinois Operations Manager Tristan Brown accepted the award on behalf of the organization. Also representing JP with Tristan was Asset Building Counselor Kristen Willis. While Kristen and Tristan do spend a great deal of time serving clients in the communities they're based in, they also work hard to grow relationships and service small business needs for clients in Decatur, Peoria, and other parts of Illinois. JP considers it a wonderful honor to be recognized alongside partners and peers, such as Peoples National Bank and Bank of Springfield and looks forward to continuing to be accessible to Illinois small business entrepreneurs.