grow the company and the local economy.
The commitment comes on the heels of a refocused mortgage lending program at Riverview, which the bank said has resulted in more than $100 million in new mortgage loans. The success of that program, coupled with the bank’s “right-sizing” of its portfolio over the past six months, led to the timing of this latest initiative, according to Riverview Executive Vice President
Kim Capeloto.
“The real driving force was the right-sizing of our portfolio because I don’t want to go out and say we’re looking to make loans and then post evaluation adjustments,” explained Capeloto.
As Riverview maneuvered to resize its portfolio, the bank reported losses totaling approximately $28 million during its previous two fiscal quarters.
Today, Capeloto said, the company is “very comfortable” with where their numbers are at.
“We’re not going anywhere,” he said. “We have a ton of liquidity and we are very well capitalized. We have done a very good job of cutting non-interest expenses and now we have right-sized our portfolio. We are really ready to springboard.”
Capeloto said he hopes his company’s $100 million commitment helps ease some of the tension for small businesses when it comes to obtaining bank loans. However, he added, this initiative should not be viewed simply as grant money.
“This is $100 million we are committing to good, solid loan opportunities. It doesn’t mean that we’re going to go out and fund all the startups,” said Capeloto. “It doesn’t mean that we’re going to go out and make loans that shouldn’t be made; that’s very important. What it does mean is that for those solid customers that have the ability to borrow and expand their businesses, or maybe in this rate environment look to own their own building as opposed to lease… we are aggressively pursuing those types of opportunities.”
In addition to unveiling its $100 million lending commitment to the community, Riverview announced that Richard “Dick” Michalek was named executive vice president and chief lending officer by the bank’s board of directors.
“We will listen, learn and let you know if we have a solution,” said Michalek in a press release. “If we don’t, we’ll provide advice on where to get one. We are in aggressive pursuit of solid lending opportunities in our community, specifically focusing on owner-occupied real estate as well as commercial and industrial loans. Now is the perfect time for businesses to take advantage of historically low interest rates to buy equipment, finance an expansion and support job growth.”
