Spotlight: Leading SBA lenders 2012

EGNECKOW

May 14, 2012

(Listed alphabetically by institution.)James HoffmanBank of America, N.A.

1000 Fourth St., San Rafael, 94901

www.bankofamerica.com, 415-451-2770

James Hoffman is a small business banker for Bank of America in the North Bay, responsible for consulting with small business owners concerning their capital needs and working with existing small business clients. With more than 30 years of experience in business development across San Francisco, Marin and Sonoma counties, Mr. Hoffman has worked with companies from small size to the Fortune 500 level.

Helping a business owner to use an SBA 504 loan to finance transition from renter to owner in his property is a source of pride for Mr. Hoffman, who noted that the loan helped the 30 employees remain in their home community.

Mr. Hoffman has a Bachelor of Arts degree in business from San Francisco State University. He is active in several organizations that provide education and health services to the disabled, including the Elpida House in Mill Valley, Marin Ventures and Naturebridge.Robert ThompsonBay Area Development Company

1801 Oakland Blvd., #100, Walnut Creek, 94596

www.baydevco.com, 925-472-5603

As vice president and loan officer at Bay Area Development Co., Robert Thompson is in charge of business development for the North Bay. His career began in 1985 with First Capital CALBIDCO, which later became First Capital, where he was a credit officer focused on underwriting SBA 7(a) requests. Mr. Thompson rose to senior credit officer and senior development roles before joining Bay Area Development Company in 1995. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, with a bachelor’s degree in business and an emphasis in marketing.

Mr. Thompson said that he enjoys helping small businesses achieve their financing needs, even sometimes finding solutions other than the SBA 504 loans that are the focus of Certified Development Companies. Yet activity is picking up in the 504 world, partially due to the temporary 504 refinance program. Kelly RyanCDC Small Business Finance

1012 Torney Ave., San Francisco, 94129

www.cdcloans.com, 415-531-9313

As the Bay Area loan officer for CDC Small Business Finance, Kelly Ryan is responsible for facilitating SBA 504 loans for small and growing businesses in the region. She has specialized in the field for the past decade, and is a graduate of Vanderbilt University.

Ms. Ryan said that she is most proud when she drives by properties that she has helped finance. “It’s the satisfaction knowing I have provided long-term value in putting small businesses on the road to future prosperity.” Michael RiceCircle Bank

1400 Grant Ave., Novato, 94945

www.circlebank.com, 415-493-3104

As a senior vice president and small business lending manager at Circle Bank, Michael Rice draws on nearly three decades of experience as he manages origination efforts for the SBA 504, 7(a), commercial and industrial loans and owner-user properties.

Mr. Rice said that he most proud of helping small Bay Area businesses grow to major employers over the past 25 years, as well as having the opportunity to mentor young commercial lenders and bankers over the years. Recently, the increased loan size on SBA 504 and 7(a) to $5 million has allowed larger firms to qualify and driven job growth, he said, and the refinancing programs currently available for both programs has been highly popular.

Mr. Rice has a degree in business economics and accounting from the University of California, Santa Barbara. A resident of San Anselmo and Marin County native, he has served on the board of the San Rafael Rotary and Chamber of Commerce, and is currently on the Board of Directors and is the treasurer of Whistlestop.James BattagliaCommunity West Bank

3001 Douglas Blvd., Roseville, 95648

www.communitywestbank.com, 916-780-3102

James Battaglia is the Division Manager for SBA lending throughout California for Community West Bank. His SBA career began in 1985, and he has been with Community West Bank since 2003. Mr. Battaglia has a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Oregon.

Sherrill StocktonExchange Bank

545 Fourth St., Santa Rosa, 95401

www.exchangebank.com, 707-524-3102

A 20-year veteran of the SBA world, Sherrill Stockton is a senior vice president and SBA administrator at Exchange Bank. In that role, she is responsible for the management of the SBA department and the sourcing, underwriting, funding and selling of SBA loans.

Ms. Stockton, a graduate of Stanford University, joined Exchange Bank to help launch their SBA department in 2009, achieving “preferred lender” status in two months. She is on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders, and the chair of the group’s Technical Issues Committee. She is also the board president of Community and Family Services Agency and a board member of the American Heart Association.

Small business lending has continued to increase during the economic recovery, with banks improving their economic positions and the affordability of commercial real estate, she said.

Ms. Stockton said she considers her three young adult children to be her life’s best work. Bryan BordersFirst Community Bank

438 First St. #100, Santa Rosa, 95401

www.fcbconnect.com, 707-636-9000

Bryan Borders is the small business lending manager at First Community Bank, where he coordinates the bank’s activities in small business lending including owner-occupied, SBA 7(a), SBA 504 and the U.S. Department of Agriculture loan programs for small businesses throughout Northern California.

With 30 years of banking experience, and 20 years in small business lending, Mr. Borders said, “I’ve enjoyed contributing to a very successful SBA loan program at Sonoma National Bank through the 1990s, and look forward to building an even more successful operation here at First Community Bank.”

Mr. Borders is a graduate of San Francisco State University, with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He said that growing demand from small business borrowers in the North Bay reflects “the resilient and improving business climate.”Randall BehrensHeritage Bank of Commerce

740 Fourth St. #114, Santa Rosa 95404

www.heritagebankofcommerce.com, 707-528-8685

Randall Behrens has been with Heritage Bank of Commerce for five years and doing SBA loans for 12.

Prior to Heritage, he worked for Wells Fargo and Greater Bay Bank.

Mr. Behrens grew up in Healdsburg. He studied economics at Sacramento State University and was a stock broker at Morgan Stanley in Sacramento prior to his career in banking.

Heritage Bank of Commerce, a more than $1.3 billion bank, is a top lender in the Bay Area.

Mr. Behrens is the local lender for the North Bay.Jeremy WestJ.P. Morgan Chase Bank N.A.

835 Fourth St., Santa Rosa, 95404

www.chase.com, 888-536-3722

Jeremy West is the business banking area manager for J.P. Morgan Chase for its North Bay, San Francisco and Peninsula markets. He and his team are responsible for assisting small business clients with their day-to-day financing needs.

Mr. West has been with the bank for eight years, transferred to the Bay Area from Colorado in early 2009 after the acquisition of Washington Mutual. Since that time, the commercial banking team has more than doubled in size, employing hundreds of bankers around the state. Small business lending has also increased by 70 percent in the last year at the bank.

With a degree in finance form the University of Colorado at Boulder, Mr. West began his banking career in 2005.Keith MerklinLive Oak Banking Co.

336 Bon Air Center #224, Greenbrae 94904

www.liveoakbank.com, 877-790-1678

With 14 years of experience as a commercial lending officer focusing primarily on small health care practices, Keith Merklin joined Live Oak Bank in early 2010. He is the senior loan officer at the bank, following positions for Wells Fargo’s Matsco division where he originated more than $300 million in loans for veterinarians and dentists.

Jason Ehn Redwood Credit Union

3033 Cleveland Ave., #100, Santa Rosa, 95403

www.redwoodcu.org, 877-545-4100

With 14 years of experience in SBA and commercial lending, Jason Ehn is the Senior SBA loan officer for Redwood Credit Union. In addition to facilitating programs like the 7(a) and 504 programs, he also advises the institution concerning various regulatory changes.

Mr. Ehn graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a degree in American literature and culture and a specialization in business & administration. He is in his second year of the Western Credit Union National Association Management School.

Redwood Credit Union was awarded “preferred lender” status last year, an achievement that Mr. Ehn cited with pride. Providing access to capital for small businesses is an important measure to help them “prosper, grow and create more jobs in our communities,” he said.

Mr. Ehn is also a member of the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce’s steering committee for Leadership Santa Rosa.Sheila Cargill SAFE-BIDCO

1377 Corporate Center Parkway, #A, Santa Rosa, 95407

www.safe-bidco.com, 707-577-8621

Sheila Cargill is a vice president and senior loan officer at SAFE-BIDCO, where she is responsible for underwriting loan applications, packaging SBA, closing and otherwise what she calls “taking a loan from start to finish.”

Ms. Cargill’s career in lending began when she was a teller in 1969. She held a number of positions in the following years and was among the first women to complete Wells Fargo Bank’s commercial, real estate and consumer lending management programs in the early 1970s. She calls her current role at SAFE-BIDCO very rewarding, helping to provide SBA loans or other forms of financing for businesses and helping to serve those who have failed to qualify for financing from other lenders.Joe Smith Sonoma Bank

3558 Round Barn Blvd. #300, Santa Rosa 95403

bankwithsonoma.com, 707-579-0610

Joe Smith has been with Sterling Bank, which does business as Sonoma Bank in California, for four and a half years. He is the senior vice president and manager for all SBA lending at Sonoma Bank. He graduated from the University of Tennessee with a degree in finance, and started his banking career in 1989.

Mr. Smith has been an SBA banker since 1993 and has managed SBA divisions since 1995. “In that time I have set up SBA lending teams for community banks from scratch and led one of the largest SBA teams on the East Coast for First Union Small Business Capital,” he said.

He has been the executive vice president and national sales manager for a top 20 non-bank lender as well as president of an SBA business industrial development company that specialized in SBA direct lending. In 1999 he was awarded the SBA Financial Advocate of the Year award for the state of Tennessee, and he is an active member of the National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders with years of service on numerous NAGGL committees. He has served as a board member of the Sonoma County YMCA since 2010.Bill FogartySummit State Bank

500 Bicentennial Way, Santa Rosa, 95403

www.summitstatebank.com, 707-568-6000

Involved in banking since 1988, Bill Fogarty has held a variety of roles before assuming the position of chief credit officer at Summit State Bank, ranging from commercial lender to CEO. A graduate of the University of Phoenix and the Pacific Coast Banking School, he oversees lending and credit administration at the Santa Rosa-based bank.

Mr. Fogarty counts the close relationships he has cultivated with clients among his greatest professional achievements, along with his work to help them achieve goals through required financing. Loans backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration help to provide that financing, encouraging entrepreneurship. Summit State Bank is a Preferred Lender with the SBA.Barbara MorrisonTMC

440 Pacific Ave., San Francisco, 94133

www.tmcfinancing.com, 888-989-8855

Barbara Morrison is the founder and president of TMC, a Certified Development Company that has provided over $6.4 billion in financing for more than 3,900 businesses throughout California and Nevada over the past 30 years.

She is also the founder and board president of Working Solutions, an innovative nonprofit organization that assists underserved micro-entrepreneurs with accessing capital to start and grow their businesses. Prior to founding TMC, Barbara served as deputy director of the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development in San Francisco and prior to that she worked for five years in investment banking.

Ole TustinU.S. Bank

101 California St. #130, San Francisco 94111

www.usbank.com, 415-357-1722

Ole Tustin is a vice president in the SBA division of U.S. Bank, having spent 15 years at the bank in the Bay Area and also with the former Bank of Commerce that joined with U.S. Bank in 2001. He graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in international relations.

Mr. Tustin said that he is proud of the ability to help the lending process run smoothly and the impact that the bank has had in helping “so many interesting and unique North Bay businesses grow through the years.Tracy Sheppard Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

200 B St., #205, Santa Rosa, 95401

www.wellsfargo.com, 707-584-3208

Tracy Sheppard is the business development officer managing Wells Fargo’s SBA lending business in Sonoma, Marin and Napa counties. His responsibilities include loan sourcing and generation, structuring loan proposals, initial underwriting and analysis and monitoring of loans through the funding process. In his role, he said that he is proud to have helped business owners to increase their net worth through real estate ownership. Mr. Sheppard said that he has seen more qualified businesses looking to grow and reinvest as the economy improves, and hopes to see that trend continue.

With a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of California, Davis, Mr. Sheppard has been in banking for 14 years and with Wells Fargo since 2008. He is a Santa Rosa resident.