COLUMBUS — Loans to small businesses in Dayton dropped by 28 percent from 2006-2009, part of a statewide trend that hobbled the economy’s best engine for producing jobs, according to a study prepared by Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher’s U.S. Senate campaign and released on Wednesday, Feb. 10.

In Dayton, the loans dropped by about $5.1 million, from about $17.9 million to about $12.8 million, according to the study.

Statewide, small business loans decreased from $604 million to $400 million, a drop of about 34 percent, the study said. The study looked at Small Business Administration loans made to start up and expand businesses. The SBA guarantees loans.

In a conference call, Fisher, a Democrat, blamed the drop on the economic policies of former Republican George W. Bush and labeled Rob Portman a “chief architect” of those policies. Bush, with Portman’s backing, cut SBA funding and increased fees for small businesses, said Fisher.

Portman, budget director and U.S. trade representative under Bush, is seeking the Republican U.S. Senate nomination. Portman also is a former Cincinnati-area congressman.

“It was eight years of misguided economic and trade policies,” Fisher said of the Bush presidency.

Jessica Towhey, Portman’s campaign spokeswoman, fired back in an e-mail:

“We have to wonder about the authenticity of data coming from a campaign that is desperate to convince Ohioans that Job Czar Lee Fisher spent three years focused on creating jobs while more than 300,000 Ohioans have lost their jobs and the unemployment rate has more than doubled.”

Fisher said small businesses are not able to get needed credit as banks have increased loan requirements.

Michael Adelman, vice president for state government relations for the Ohio Bankers League, said many businesses are “hunkered down” and banks “have seen our loan demand drop sharply.”

Fisher advocated a new job creation tax credit aimed at creating five million jobs nationwide over two years.

Fisher is running for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination against Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner while Portman and Cleveland-area auto dealer Tom Ganley are vying for the GOP nomination.