PROVIDENCE – Retail stores, engineering firms, dentists, restaurants and a liquor store were among the Rhode Island small businesses receiving loans approved by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) during the month of July.

The Providence office of the SBA reported that 34 small business loans worth more than $6 million were made last month by 19 banks and three credit unions. The SBA provides federal government guarantees on the loans of between 50 and 85 percent.

“The SBA is pleased to work with our lending partners to provide the access to capital that is so critical to small businesses, especially during the current economic slowdown,” said Mark S. Hayward, director of the SBA Rhode Island District Office. “The 34 loans represent a significant contribution to the Rhode Island economy.”

In July, 25 loans were approved to existing businesses and nine to startup companies. Sixteen of the loans went to minority-owned and women-owned enterprises, and one was made to a veteran-owned business under the SBA’s Patriot Express Loan Initiative.

The largest loan approved in July was $1.5 million for a restaurant in Providence Place by CIT Small Business Lending. Another loan for $1.08 million from The Washington Trust Co. went to a liquor store in Middletown.

Since Oct. 1, 2007, the top five SBA lenders in the state are: Citizens Bank with 69 loans totaling $2,596,700; The Washington Trust Co. with 44 loans, $9,173,300; Coastway Credit Union, 44 loans at $7,494,500; Bank Rhode Island, 39 loans at $4,796,500; and Sovereign Bank, 25 loans worth $3,131,000.

The full loan report is on the SBA Web site, www.sba.gov/ri.