Independent Banker - June 2020 - 53

the community bank had received 462 loan applications
totaling $49 million, of which the SBA approved.
Other banks participating in the program have
experienced a similar deluge. As of April 14, Investors
Community Bank had 337 SBA PPP loans with a total
funding of $57.8 million. Since the program started, the
bank has processed 611 applications for $92.6 million.
" We have tried to be as prepared as possible, " Schneider
says. The community bank set up automated systems for
people to download applications and added software to
expedite the process.
Investors Community Bank had teams of credit
underwriters and loan operations people working overtime
to get systems in place to service applicants quickly,
Schneider says. " It has really been like drinking from a
firehose for a lot of people at the bank, " he adds.
Some community banks were frustrated early on with the
launch of the SBA program's system administration. Three
Community banks put disaster plans to work
The COVID-19 outbreak has pushed
many community banks to put their
disaster plans to work. Marquette
Savings Bank in Erie, Pa., had a
pandemic plan in place to help
contain risk, which the community
bank was able to implement even
before the government issued stayat-home
orders.
" We were the first bank in our
market to adopt social distancing
among our employees and
customers by closing our lobbies
and serving customers through the
drive-thru, ATM, telephone, online
and mobile banking, " says CEO
Michael B. Edwards.
All 12 of Marquette Savings Bank's
branches closed their lobbies to
customers effective March 19, and
all support staff worked at home
or offsite to help minimize risk for
others and customers. " When we
did that, we also split our branch
staff into A and B teams to ensure
business continuity if a member
of either team became infected, "
Edwards says.
Frost Bank in San Antonio also
had a pandemic plan in place
and has been able to use its prior
experience helping customers
through natural disasters, including
Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Many of
independentbanker.org Q 53
the practices that the $32 billionasset
community bank has been
using to respond to the pandemic,
such as remote working for staff
and helping customers with
financial relief programs, are some
of the same things it has done in
the past, according to Bill Day,
senior vice president and corporate
communications manager at
Frost Bank.
One of the key differences with
the pandemic and an extreme
weather event is that when a
hurricane or tornado hits, it's
over in a fairly short window and
recovery begins. With the COVID-19
pandemic, it isn't clear how long it
will last and when the recovery will
start, Day says.
A second difference is that
disruption or damage to a business
due to weather is usually covered
by insurance. " That coverage is
an open question in this current
situation, " Day says. " We don't know
how many of our customers will be
covered by insurance. So, they are
more dependent on programs that
we can offer through the bank. "
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