Independent Banker - February 2023 - 56

rate that they owe to the Treasury.
Notably, 65 ICBA member banks
have received nearly $5 billion in
ECIP funds, according to James Sills,
who chairs ICBA's Minority Bank
Advisory Council and is president and
CEO of $425 million-asset M&F Bank
in Durham, N.C.
" The goal of the program is to
leverage the funding 10 times, "
Sills says. " Over the next 10 years,
ICBA member banks will potentially
have a $50 billion lending impact
on communities served all across
the U.S. This is a game changer for
community banks. "
Supporting borrowers
As for his own bank, Sills
describes the ECIP funding as " a
transformational opportunity. " The
Treasury's $80 million investment
boosted the capital of the bank's
parent company, M&F Bancorp, to
more than $119 million.
Sills says that over the next 10
years, his bank, which is both an
MDI and an CDFI, plans to lend a
minimum of $31 million annually to
small businesses and underbanked
and underserved consumers across
North Carolina.
About 60% of those loans will go to
small and medium-size businesses,
Sills says. The remaining 40% will
be targeted at consumer lending,
mortgages and affordable housing
projects. " It's our goal to partner with
nonprofit housing developers to help
address a critical affordable housing
shortage in the markets that we
serve, " he says.
M&F, which currently serves five
cities in North Carolina, plans to
expand into new markets within the
state over the next year or two to
provide lending to more communities.
In the meantime, the community
bank is already leveraging the new
capital to help diversely owned
businesses expand and grow. In
October 2022, for example, M&F
Asian Bank delivers the right
recipe for a local restaurateur
Sagrario German Aguero, a native of the Dominican Republic who
recently became a U.S. citizen, dreamed of buying the building that
houses her Vivaldi Restaurant in Philadelphia. She was able to get
a loan from a community development financial institution (CDFI),
but she sought refinancing because the interest rate and payments
were too high.
After a traditional bank took two months to respond to her
refinancing inquiry, her financial advisor suggested she call Asian
Bank, which has a particular focus on the Asian and immigrant
communities in and around the City of Brotherly Love.
" They were just ready to work and were super accommodating, "
the native Spanish speaker says through a translator. She was able
to get a loan with better terms in June 2022, but that's not the only
reason she's grateful to Asian Bank.
German Aguero says as a woman, a Latina and someone
with limited English, she's long felt she wouldn't have the same
opportunities as others. However, the bankers at Asian Bank have
been supportive and professional, and they treat her with respect.
She says they've also accommodated her language barrier: She's in
constant communication with a Spanish-speaking employee.
closed on a business loan with Ken
Gibbs and Shawana Hudson Spann,
the owners of Durham-based Thomas
& Gibbs CPAs, PLLC.
Gibbs says the 14-person firm
has used the loan in part to buy out
a retired partner's interest in the
business. " We needed to do that to
move forward, " he says. The firm also
has plans to expand its workforce and
continues to improve its technology,
including the tools that allow
employees to work remotely.
Thomas & Gibbs, which opened in
2001 and works with businesses and
individuals, has a line of credit with
M&F. In addition, the bank processed
its Paycheck Protection Program
(PPP) loans.
Though the company works
with multiple banks, Gibbs says he
appreciates having access not only to
the people at M&F who are processing
the new loan, but also to those " who
are in charge. "
He adds, " It's still nice to be able
to know who your bankers are and
for them to know who you are, and I
definitely have that with M&F. "
The benefits of one loan
Ponce Financial Group, the holding
company of $2.2 billion-asset
Ponce Bank in Bronx, N.Y., received
$225 million in ECIP funding. The
investment is enabling the community
bank to write more mortgage loans for
consumers as well as housing-related
loans for small businesses, like those
that are building affordable housing.
independentbanker.org // 55
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