Region gets new SBA leadership as Parker heads to D.C.
Victor Parker, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Los Angeles District Office, is taking a new post at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. The LA District, which includes Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, is the largest in the nation in terms of dollar volume of SBA loans. During nine years as district director, Read More →
Our view: Union Bank puts money into social equity effort
There is no doubt that the killing of George Floyd and subsequent events have prompted the biggest discussion in decades about social equity and justice in America. One of the biggest debates in Corporate America today is how far the current discussion will lead. And one of the biggest problems in getting some perspective on Read More →
Reopening will not be easy, but it can be done
The pain from the COVID-19 pandemic will be here for a while, but we can learn from it. That was a theme of a UC Santa Barbara economic webinar examining the effects of COVID-19 on Santa Barbara County and what that means going forward. The May 7 webinar featured four local experts on subjects ranging Read More →
PPP problems persist as tri-county banks try to make more loans
The Payroll Protection Program’s second round of funding started on April 27, but some of the issues from the first round are vexing Central Coast bankers and borrowers. Among technical problems, the Small Business Administration’s website has crashed, limiting the number of applications banks can process at one time. Additionally, financial regulations meant to guard Read More →
Banks ramp up loans to tri-county small businesses
It’s not too late for tri-county small businesses to get financial aid from the government to help offset COVID-19 losses. President Donald Trump signed a $484 billion relief package bill April 24 containing the awaited second wave of Payroll Protection Program funding. The program originally had $349 billion for small businesses but ran out of Read More →
Garufis: Bankers want to fund small business loans
By Janet Garufis Last week, Henry Dubroff stepped out of his usual pundit role to share his impression of the Paycheck Protection Program rollout. I echo his sentiments and agree that it has been “a nightmare for many small business owners.” It has also been a challenging experience for many of your local bankers. I Read More →
More questions than answers as PPP runs out of loan funds
Questions remain as the Small Business Administration ran out of funding for the Payroll Protection Program on April 16. The fund started with $349 billion, which was quickly loaned out to businesses across the nation — but not to everyone at the same time. Independent contractors and self-employed people were able to apply for the Read More →
