Despite an overall business lending drop in Massachusetts, local community banks actually stepped up their loan activity in the past several years – even while their peer banks across the country were drawing back, according to an independent study commissioned by the Massachusetts Bankers Association.

The study, conducted by PolEcon Research, culled data from FDIC regulatory filings as well as data from Community Reinvestment Act documents. New Hampshire-based PolEcon found Massachusetts has indeed been sheltered from the worst of the nation’s lending woes, with a 7 percent drop in commercial credit in 2009 compared to 2008, while nationwide numbers dropped by 22 percent. That loan figure includes all lending sources, including all banks, credit unions and credit card companies.

But community banks moved in the opposite direction: In 2009, the last period for which full-year data is available, Massachusetts community institutions increased commercial credit by $622 million, or 6.7 percent, compared to 2008. In the first nine months of 2010, community banks increased commercial lending by 1.2 percent over 2009. In the study, the term "community bank" includes all banks of less than $10 billion in assets, and the trend here differs from the pool of U.S. community banks in total, which lent 2.4 percent less.

"To a great degree this study contradicts the perception that banks have not been lending to businesses," said Daniel J. Forte, president of the Massachusetts Bankers Association. "That clearly has not been the case. There has been and continues to be plenty of money to lend to credit-worthy small businesses if only they can become comfortable enough about their own business prospects to take the plunge."

A Mass Bankers’ statement on the study touted local banks’ strong presence in the overall lending market. Brian Gottlo, principle for PolEcon, said that overall declining loan volumes mask the strong supply of credit from some lenders, such as community banks. That reflects, in part, that businesses often returned to smaller banks after credit market disruptions caused larger lenders to pull back from the market.

Said Forte: "We sometimes forget that small businesses can be quite creative in accessing credit. When those sources dried up, many businesses turned to local community banks on Main Street."

The complete study "Funding Economic Recovery: Trends in Small Business Lending in Massachusetts is available on the Massachusetts Bankers Association website.