Hoai-Luu Q. Nguyen of the University of California, Berkeley, has studied the effects on local businesses of the bank branch closest to a local business closing. She found that “closings [of bank branches] lead to a persistent decline in local small business lending. . . . Closings can have large effects, even in dense banking markets, if they disrupt lender-specific relationships that are difficult to replace.” 

a. What does Nguyen mean by “lender-specific relationships”? 

b. Why is it difficult for a small business to find another source of credit if the local bank branch closes? Can’t a small business just receive a loan from a different bank? Doesn’t it have other ways of obtaining credit besides taking out a loan from a bank?