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Kevin Day says last year’s loan deferments were a “lifesaver” for many businesses.
Day said. “As we’ve come into 2021, a lot of the deferment periods have ended, customers are emerging from pandemic lockdown activity, and things are becoming more normal.”
“We have a lot of capital to lend and the ability to lend
it, but where we’re going to
be most successful is really understanding our businesses, so that we can bank them through cycles.”
In the business world, “almost all com- mercial customers are out of deferments, back on normal schedules, and it feels like their business is gaining traction, getting back to to pre-pandemic levels,” he added. “In the hos- pitality areas — hotels, restaurants, and such — the pandemic hurt them, but even they’re coming back out of the malaise, and business is starting to pick up. The deferments gave people time, and as everything is starting to come back online, those businesses will get their customers back and should come out of it fine.”
Leonard said Country Bank handled close to 1,000 PPP loans totaling around $75 million.
“I’m happy to say we deployed a lot of that,
Florence Bank President Kevin Day agreed. “It’s kind of across the board — not every sec- tor, necessarily; we’re not seeing many new hotels and restaurants opening up. But invest- ment properties are creating new borrowers, and they need help with financing.”
The combination of low interest rates and high prices were driving the commercial-loan market a year ago, the last time BusinessWest tackled this story, and that has remained true. “In the real-estate market, everyone understands residential properties are hot,”
Day said. “But in commercial real estate, it’s similar.”
Back to Normal?
One thing that has changed is the reliance on loan deferments, which was one of the leading stories in commercial lending (and retail lending as well, for mortgages, car loans, and credit cards) last year.
“We were very active in the deferment pro- gram. It was a lifesaver for a lot of businesses,”
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