Independent Banker - December 2021 - 74

CONNECTIONS COMMUNITY SPIRIT
able to provide loans that otherwise
wouldn't fit the risk appetite of a
bank, Curtis says.
" Our mission as a CDFI, obviously,
is serving low-income census tracts,
as well as [helping] the population
who haven't been historically included
in the banking world, " he says. " Our
nonprofit helps us to meet that goal. "
The majority of the FSWCF's loan
programs are dedicated to small
businesses in rural Colorado, New
Mexico and the Navajo Nation.
Many focus on providing capital
to underrepresented groups. In
2020 alone, it invested $6.9 million
in grants and loans to nearly 500
businesses across the state.
The nonprofit's programs cover a
wide variety of small business credit
needs. There's the Fortaleza Fund,
which provides loans, education
and more to local immigrant
entrepreneurs, and the Intermediary
Relending Program, which gives fixedrate
loans to rural businesses that
create jobs. FSWCF loans have also
supported agriculture and the arts.
" We have a very creative
environment [at First Southwest
Bank], which I know can sometimes
be unusual for a bank, but we have
programs that are concerned with
inclusiveness, with the environment,
with the arts, " Curtis says. " The sky's
the limit. "
Say hello to HelloBello
After the amount of success the
community bank had with these
alternative lending programs, the
team at First Southwest Bank and
FSWBCF wanted to increase the
number of people and organizations
they could help. They envisioned
creating a network of existing
community banks primarily in rural
Colorado and New Mexico that
accessed the same funding they had,
even if they weren't CDFIs.
" We can help make capital more available and
inclusive to all of rural Colorado. Then those
business owners can expand and then create more
jobs and elevate the wealth of all our communities. "
-KENT CURTIS, FIRST SOUTHWEST BANK
" They could have access to a lot
of these different funding sources
that allows them to play a bigger role
within their own community, " Curtis
says. " Part of how to monetize that
would be loan participation. "
For example, First Southwest
Bank received the U.S. Department
of the Treasury's CDFI Fund award
for the sixth year in a row in 2020.
Since 2015, the community bank has
been awarded more than $200,000
annually from the Treasury's Bank
Enterprise Award Program for its
increased CDFI financing.
To that end, the community
bank created HelloBello, an app
dedicated to assisting rural financial
institutions with providing funds
to local small businesses. If there's
a loan that a bank in the network
considers to be too risky, they can
sign on to HelloBello, answer a few
questions and get connected with
risk-mitigating funding sources-
such as those from FSWBCF or a
private foundation-that may not be
available to traditional banks. Those
banks then have a loan participation
agreement with First Southwest
Bank, whereby they can sell part of
the loan to them.
For a year prior to the pandemic,
First Southwest Bank worked
with a fintech to develop a portal
system for loans that could be
70 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q December 2021
used by HelloBello. The primary
purpose of it was to assist with Small
Business Administration (SBA) and
U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) loans.
When the Paycheck Protection
Program (PPP) began, the community
bank was in luck. It already had
HelloBello in place to process PPP
requests and make those loans.
" When [the PPP] came out, it was
actually just flipping a switch. We
were very early, " Curtis says. " We had
a technology that enabled us to take
on 1,550 PPP applications. " Of those
applicants, 500 had their applications
in the queue by the time the SBA
portal opened, he adds.
First Southwest Bank is currently
in the process of releasing the next
version of the app, which will allow
other community banks to join the
network. Curtis says this model,
where community banks can receive
access to CDFI or alternative capital,
could be replicated with other
community banks.
" We can help make capital more
available and inclusive to all of rural
Colorado, " Curtis says. " Then those
business owners can expand and
then create more jobs and elevate the
wealth of all our communities. "
Tiffany Lukk is associate editor of
Independent Banker.
Independent Banker - December 2021

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