Page 22 - BusinessWest October 27, 2021

Lending
Continued from page 20
served clients everywhere within a 100-mile radius, and we’ve seen more activity here,” he went on. “We have clients in Springfield and the greater area of Western Mass., so the impetus to build that office was to be closer to those customers. Part of that is growing our C&I [commercial and industrial lending] business — we see a growth market here. It’s an opportunity to grow.”
The C&I lenders who work in the Springfield office have experi- ence in niches like manufacturing, distribution, and equipment- heavy companies, Leonard explained. “That’s kind of what the team knows, and that’s a big part of why Springfield and Worcester are appealing markets for the bank to expand in, because those kinds of businesses are what’s here.”
Those are also the kinds of businesses that maintained opera- tions at a more or less steady level during the pandemic, and now they’re ready to grow — and borrow, he said, adding that the real- estate market is active as well.
“Certainly there’s a need for affordable housing, and we’re see- ing a lot of turnover in real-estate properties, some repurposing, and some interesting dynamics with real-estate valuations being as
“f there’s a hindrance to
businesses growing, it’s labor.
It’s not being able to buy the
machine, it’s hiring someone
to run the machine.” JEFF SULLIVAN
high as they are. We’re also seeing situations where the dynamics have changed, where an office building is half-empty now, and it needs to change hands.”
In short, commercial lenders are busy, which marks a change from a year ago. More accurately, they were just as busy last year, but often dealing with some very pandemic-specific activities, from PPP loan processing to commercial-loan deferments, particularly for hard-hit industries like hospitality. These days, however, busi- nesses (not all, but many) are moving past the treading-water stage and calling on banks to help them expand, not just survive.
“People are spending money,” said Jeff Sullivan, president of New Valley Bank, which is based in downtown Springfield, noting that some business owners are looking to buy property rather than continue to pay a landlord, while others are mak-
ing speculative investments in real estate, rather
than sitting on cash they may have accumulated
during the pandemic, when spending was sup-
pressed for both individuals and businesses.
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“We’ll see two or three buddies get together and pool some money to use for a down payment on a two-family or three-family house, thinking, ‘I can make 10 to 15% on my money investing in real estate rather than have it make zero percent in my savings account,’” Sullivan said.
Many are first-time real-estate investors, he added, including young people and people of color aiming to build wealth, while established business- es are anxious to invest in their own operations.
strong activity
“
across all sectors;
it hasn’t been one
pocket more than
”
We’ve seen
others.
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22 OCTOBER 27, 2021
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“A lot of people have squirreled away cash from the govern- ment programs during the pandemic, and have been hanging onto that cash for a rainy day, and now they’re in a situation where they can use some of that — and banks are lending,” he said. “If there’s a hindrance to businesses growing, it’s labor. It’s not being able to buy the machine, it’s hiring someone to run the machine.”
Mike Lynch, senior lender at Florence Bank, said his institution is looking at commercial-loan numbers that are at least equal to pre-pandemic activity — and that’s on top of PPP loans.
“We do all kinds of loans, commercial real estate and C&I loans. We’ve seen strong activity across all sectors; it hasn’t been one pocket more than others,” Lynch said.
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