The U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) debenture program provided $2.95 billion to small businesses in fiscal year 2012, according  to an SBA release.

That was a 14 percent increase in financing over last year’s $2.59 billion, according to the agency.

The fiscal year 2012 volume is the highest single-year volume in the program’s 54-year history.

SBA Administrator Karen Mills said the increase in financing comes from the agency’s efforts to streamline and simplify the lending process, which has made it easier for small businesses to have access to capital.  

Since 1958, the SBIC program has provided financing to small businesses looking for long-term capital, investing approximately $63 billion in more than 110,000 small businesses, according to the release.

The SBIC program was created to stimulate the growth of America’s small businesses by supplementing the long-term debt and private-equity capital available to them.  

SBICs are privately owned and managed investment firms that are licensed and regulated by the SBA. SBICs use a combination of funds raised from private sources and money raised through the use of SBA guarantees to make equity and mezzanine capital investments in small businesses.