No Limits Choosing a bank with fewer lending limitations will keep you from hitting a credit roadblock when you need financing most.

Entrepreneur Vince Cirrincione III had a natural affinity with his longtime bank, a locally based lender that had made several loans over the years to his family's Pittsburgh-based medical and industrial gas supply company. He liked the bank's personal service and quick loan decisions. And he didn't have to worry about getting lost in the shuffle of a large bank.

As it turns out, Cirrincione should have been worried about his bank's ability to keep pace with his company's growing borrowing needs. It's a lesson the 47-year-old entrepreneur would learn the hard way. Four years ago, when Cirrincione needed more than $2 million to buy a gas-filling facility in Akron, Ohio, the bank had to take a pass--not because it doubted Cirrincione's ability to repay the loan, but because of its own lending limitations. "We were dumbfounded," recalls Cirrincione, president of Sky Oxygen, the $10 million business he runs with his sister, Laurie Waller, 46.

Realizing its funding limitations, the bank urged Cirrincione to contact a bank more capable of supporting a capital-intensive business like his: Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services Group. Not only is it a significantly larger bank, but it also happens to be one of the biggest banks in the country.