Gonzalez: City National already funding $2B in PPP loans. That’s likely to grow
Measures to contain the spread of coronavirus are still shifting by the day — and so are responses by investors, developers, builders, banks and buyers. To track the impact in real-time, RE|source Miami is asking area real estate professionals in various sectors for on-the-ground reports.
Today we hear from Jorge Gonzalez, vice chairman and CEO of City National Bank. With $16 billion in assets, 900 employees and more than 30 locations across Florida, City National Bank is among the three largest banks based in Florida.
Gonzalez joined the bank in 2009, while the country was reeling from a recession. He and his team have since grown CNB from a $2.7 billion bank focused on South Florida into a $16 billion bank with a statewide presence.
Q: To what extent has the Covid-19 outbreak impacted CNB’s statewide operations?
City National Bank has a continuity plan in place which outlines the steps we are to take in the event of a pandemic or other crisis. You never want these types of things to happen, but now it’s happening, and we were ready for it. We set our plan into motion early, back in February. By April, just about everyone was working from home, except for a reduced number of people in our banking centers.
There’s the logistical element of continuity and most important is making sure we continue to deliver the service our clients depend on. Fortunately, our team has put systems in place that help our business run no matter the crisis at hand. At the same time, we are keeping in regular contact with our clients, making sure we are understanding their changing needs and helping them sustain their own businesses.
Our clients see CNB as a big bank alternative. We are large enough to deliver the products and services our clients need, while offering local decision-making and personal service. Our size and community roots give us a built-in advantage during a crisis, because we can keep in direct contact with clients and address their evolving needs. We serve businesses in just about every industry that drives Florida, so when the economy experiences volatility, our clients turn to us for support. That’s our role as a community bank.
Q: How is CNB using technology to keep up with this fast-changing business climate?
Technology is allowing us to continue serving our clients and running our business, even as the vast majority of our team members work remotely from home. All the investment and time that we have poured into technology and security in past few years is delivering significant value amidst this crisis.
We are using Webex for video conferencing internally and externally, and encouraging clients to take advantage of the online and mobile banking tools that we offer. Because so many people are using our systems every day, we have significantly increased our digital capabilities and bandwidth.
This pandemic is proving that technology can be an invaluable tool for banks and our clients, but there is no substitute for picking up the phone, calling a client, and reinforcing that relationship.
Q: Rollout of the Paycheck Protection Program has confounded many struggling business owners. How did CNB respond, and how have clients responded to the program?
The federal government’s decision to launch the PPP program was a monumental undertaking in a short amount of time. Everyone is working toward the same goal of trying to save millions of jobs by mobilizing in the span of a few weeks.
While banks across the U.S. lacked detailed information early on, CNB acted fast to ensure our clients had the information and materials needed to apply for the program once the application window opened. CNB was able to start funding loans last week, and we’ll end up funding loans totaling about $2 billion. For CNB, that amounts to about a full year’s worth of lending in three weeks.
To put the magnitude of this program into context, under normal circumstances, it would take the SBA 14 years to fund loans totaling $350 billion, which is the size of the PPP program to date.
Our team has been working around-the-clock, from home and in the midst of a pandemic and economic crisis, to process more than 6,000 applications on behalf of businesses seeking relief — clients and non-clients alike. I’m proud of how our entire company has come together to put a program in place that ensures we are able to help our clients and the broader community during a very difficult time.
Q: The federal government is set to approve additional funding for small businesses. Will that have an appreciable impact?
The program is putting much-needed funds into the hands of small and mid-sized businesses so that they can keep payrolls intact and cover short-term expenses as the pandemic plays out and we take steps to flatten the curve of infection.
The hope is that the program will sustain businesses while we prioritize public health, putting us in position to jump start the economy as quickly and as safely as possible when the time comes. The sheer number of applications we have seen over the past two weeks gives you a sense of how critically these funds are needed.
Q: Looking ahead, how do you envision the local economy getting back up and running, and how will community banks play a role?
Public health should remain our Number One priority until we can safely open up businesses and get people back to work. Without a healthy community, we can’t have a healthy economy. The two go hand in hand. I expect we will begin to see some aspects of society come back online gradually over the next month or two.
For instance, we may see small businesses with a limited number of employees open first, followed by larger ones. Public events that draw crowds will come later. It will be a phased process, led by our local and state officials in consultation with public health experts. In the meantime, we need to maintain social distancing and implement steps to keep doing business safely.
CNB, like most community banks, is a critical source of capital for small and mid-size businesses. We have been filling that role for decades, and we are doing it now through the PPP program. The capital we lend over the coming weeks and months is going to help fuel an economic recovery.In the end, the most valuable service we can deliver is taking care of our clients, which is a commitment that guides everything we do and grows stronger during a time of crisis. This is one of those moments where the value of personal relationships and local decision-making is crystal clear.
This story was originally published April 23, 2020 at 8:04 AM.
