NORWICH – The Obama administration’s proposal to recycle the $30 billion left in the Troubled Asset Relief Program into a new Small Business Lending Fund isn’t the answer to promoting economic growth, according to the president of one of the area’s largest community lenders.

“I don’t think it’s quite so simple,” explained Martin Dietrich, who sits at the helm of NBT Bancorp. The Norwich-based bank holding company operates two full-service community banks – PennStar Bank, which has 38 branches in Northeast Pennsylvania, and NBT Bank, which operates more than 85 branches in New York and neighboring Vermont.

The plan, unveiled last week by President Barack Obama, is aimed at encouraging community banks, like those operated by NBT, to increase their lending to small businesses. The hope is that better access to credit will enable the nation’s small businesses to expand and create new jobs.

But according to Dietrich, NBT is already doing its part to service this segment of the market.

“We’ve been incredibly active in providing loans to the business community,” he reported, explaining that NBT’s current lending is “at or near all-time high levels.”

As of year end 2009, the bank holding company’s loans and leases accounted for $3.6 billion of the company’s $5.5 billion in total assets. While this was down $6.5 million from the prior year, Dietrich said it included new business loans in excess of $350 million, and new car loans totalling $275 million.

“We’re a very active lender,” he stated.