Huntington Bank said early today that it had exceeded its
2010 commitment to lend $4 billion to small businesses in six sates.
More than 24,000 small businesses, including 800 in West
Virginia, obtained loans over the three-year period, helping to jump start
hiring in Huntington's markets, which stretch from West Virginia to Michigan.
"Huntington was
one of the first banks during the economic downtown to commit to increased
small business lending," said Huntington's President, Chairman and CEO Steve
Steinour in a news release. "We made the commitment after listening to business
owners who needed loans to navigate the weak economy, while investing in their
businesses' future growth. We also hired more than 150 additional business
bankers to work with businesses and take a second-look at loan applications to
make certain nothing was missed in determining their qualifications for a
loan."
The bank also offered turnaround lending for small businesses.
With this portion of the program, a business that had a long history of
success, but suffered losses during the recession, could obtain a turnaround
loan if they had several quarters of profitability and reasonable projections
for future growth.
One West Virginia company that received help from
Huntington's goal to lend to small businesses was Charleston Brewing Company, a
microbrewery that is expected to open in downtown Charleston next month.
"I developed a business plan for the brew pub. Everywhere I
went, all the banks thought my business plan was great and they wished they
could finance it," said Ann Saville, owner of the new microbrewery at the
corner of Quarrier and Summers streets.
"I thought, well, Huntington took a risk on me. Huntington
decided I had a good track record with Taylor Books. They did a little
research, too, and decided they could do it through a Small Business
Administration loan, which is a bit tedious."
Saville said she borrowed $600,000 from Huntington and
invested some of her own retirement money to get Charleston Brewing off the
ground.
"It's almost ready," she said Monday. "We brewed the first
one today. It will be three weeks before it's drinkable. That's when we'll open."
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