Friday, February 27, 2009

Recovery Done Right: Chicago Bank Helps Business

WBBM-TV:
Hot tamales have turned into good business for Isidro Martinez.

"We started making in the house, in my basement," Martinez, of Isidro's Tamales, said. "I got two kids and I show all kids how to make tamales."

Last fall, as Washington approved billions in rescue funds, he went to a New York-based national bank for an expansion loan and was turned down.

"You have your dream you think go up and they tell you 'no' and they send you back again," Martinez said.

Chicago's smaller MB Financial Bank said yes, in part, according to managers, because local banks may have a better understanding of the area's economy.

"They may not have seen the heart of the leadership of this company," said MB Financial Bank Executive Vice President Thomas Fitzgibbon.

TARP funds didn't directly give MB more money to help Martinez, but they did make a difference.

"Basically it's a confidence factor, the confidence to continue to do what we've always done," Fitzgibbon said.
...
Park National, which received $100 million from the government, loaned out $248 million. Marquette Bank received $35 million, and extended $15 million in last-quarter credit. And MB Financial, which received $196 million, registered $132 million in increased business.

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