A study by National City Bank on why women-owned businesses seem to get fewer loans indicates that many women believe they won't qualify for a conventional bank loan, so they don't try.

Lack of financing that can stymie their enterprises was one of the strong messages that about 200 women heard at the Greater Cincinnati Women's Chamber of Commerce's Women's Business Development Summit at the Marriott Kingsgate Conference Center on Thursday.

Government and business leaders said there are many resources that allow women-owned business to get more access to bank loans and other sources of funding and get past barriers that stop them from growing.

Rhoda Thompson, the chamber's president, said many women fall short on expanding or starting a business because they have trouble finding capital or don't know where to get help.

"Lack of knowledge is what has kept a lot of women back," she said. "We have opportunities here with women who are mentoring and showing them how to get to the next level."

Ron Carlson, branch manager in Cincinnati for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), said more women need to apply for loans.

He said women-owned businesses are just as qualified as any other business and have resources through such groups as SCORE and SBDC to help them be better prepared and more confident in approaching a lender.

Yet the SBA in Ohio made only 270 loans worth $36.3 million to women businesses out of a total of 1,269 loans his office made for $249 million through Sept 24.

"We'd like to double that number (of loans to women-owned businesses) during the next year," said Thomas Mueller, district director of the SBA in Columbus.

Linda Stevenson, vice president and director of women's business initiative at National City Bank and SBA program manager, said National City is committed to lending $3.5 billion to women-owned businesses in their markets through 2006.

Cleveland-based National City entered this market in July when it closed on its $2.1 billion purchase of the parent of Provident Bank, Greater Cincinnati's second-largest bank.

Kathleen Fischer, president of Craftsman Electric, an electrical contracting business in Silverton, said she finds it challenging to get financing.

But she said the event helped her learn more about financing and also to make connections that might help her do business with the U.S. Postal Service.

E-mail jmckinney@enquirer.com