We at OneCalifornia Bank are excited to announce that we are leaders in providing SBA loans to Bay Area small businesses, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. Thanks to our SBA team, led by Robert Gebauer, the amount of lending for our small size and young age is amazing.
In the first nine months of the fiscal year 2010, out of the 80 banks in the San Francisco SBA District Office, OneCalifornia Bank was 6th in terms of number of loans and 10th in number of dollars lent for the nine month period between October 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010*. We generated a total of $5.75 million in loans during this time. In fact, we lent more dollars than Citibank, Bank of America, Bank of the West, and JPMorgan Chase in this district. Pretty impressive considering we’ve only been around for 3 years and their assets are on substantially larger than ours! We look forward to having them join us in increasing the amount of loans being made to our local small businesses.
We are proud to be able to help many businesses in stay in operation (and grow!) during hard times, and in turn help retain and create jobs in our local community. This is what our work is all about - strengthening our local economy to benefit community members of all income levels, races and walks of life. You support our clients every day without knowing it, from a Hispanic bakery in San Pablo to a recycling retail business in Oakland, to a restaurant in San Francisco. Thank you for supporting us in this work!
For enlightening facts about how small banks across the country are helping our communities, see this article in last month’s newsletter.
The results are in: OneCalifornia Bank was voted Best of the East Bay for Best Community Bank! Thank you to all our fans and supporters who voted for us.
And don’t forget to come to the Best of the East Bay party on August 6th at Jack London Square! This year’s party will be at Jack London Square waterfront from 5-11PM. The event is free and open for all ages, and features multiple bands, a kid’s zone, and a Blues Pavilion, paying tribute to the blues history of Russeel City in Hayward and 7th Street in Oakland. For more details and ongoing updates, including updates of the band lineup for the evening, please visit www.EastBayExpress.com/BOEBParty
OneCalifornia Foundation will be running the bar, so make sure to stop by and say hi! If you’re interested in volunteering with us at the bar, make sure to let us know–details are posted here.
UPDATED: for more information on the Best of the East Bay Party, check out the article in this week’s edition of the East Bay Express.
Last December, Ariana Huffington and a few friends around the dinner table came up with a way for We the People to take back our economy: Move our Money. They decided to start a campaign to encourage people to move their money out of the “too big to fail” banks, and into community banks and credit unions that are investing in our local neighborhoods and creating real economic activity.
They launched a website, created a video based on It’s A Wonderful Life, and provided social media and other tools to spread the word. In 6 months, the campaign has spread like wildfire, with articles in The Economist, the Nation, the New York Times, and CBS Monday Morning, as well as membership in Facebook (36,000 fans), Ning, and Twitter, and endorsements from Russell Simmons to members of congress. Community organizations such as Democracy for America and local independent business groups are mobilizing around the campaign, cities and states have moved their money. One recent survey indicates that 1 in 10 Americans have moved their money in protest of the big banks.
The Huffington Post has started a national conversation about moving your money to local bank. Hear
OneCal’s founder, Kat Taylor talk with Holly Kernan from KALW’s Crosscurrents about community banks and OneCal, how community banks are actually still lending money to small businesses, and how they are committed to actually recirculating money back into communities, instead of extracting money from them. Listen to the interview on the Crosscurrents website.
(For more about the Move Your Money movement, check out MoveYourMoney.info)
OneCalifornia Bank’s ATM network, Allpoint ATMs, has had an application for both iPhone and Andriod for awhile now. But now BlackBerry users can join in the fun–Allpoint has just developed an app for BlackBerry users, too!
In addition, Allpoint has created an easy-to-use download page for cardholders to add the Allpoint moblie application specific to your device and carrier. For more information, check out Allpoint’s website.
OneCalifornia Bank was just approved by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for Preferred Lenders Program (PLP) and for Certified Lenders Program (CLP) Status. This recognition by the SBA confirms the excellent lending OneCalifornia Bank is doing in the realm of SBA loans and will bolster the loans their clients receive.
Designation as a Preferred Lender is the most prestigious designation granted by the SBA. As part of the Preferred Lenders Program, the SBA designates to the lenders the origination, approval, documentation, closing, and most servicing and liquidation authority and responsibility for SBA guaranteed loans. With this authority, loans get approved and funded more quickly by the SBA, which benefits both lenders such as OneCalifornia and their clients.
This award also ties in nicely with the bank’s mission. The bank makes a conscious effort to lend to small businesses and make the process as easy and understandable as possible. PLP status is one step in the SBA’s process of “streamlining” the procedures necessary to provide financial assistance to the small business community.
Lenders qualify for PLP status by maintaining an exceptional performance record coupled with strong loan volume and low default rates, meaning that PLP lenders such as OneCalifornia Bank are more experienced and better equipped to manage SBA loans than other lenders.
OneCalifornia Founder Kat Taylor was featured in last month’s San Francisco Examiner article about the Commonwealth Club’s forum “Philanthropic Response to the Economy.” Check out the Examiner piece here.
About a year ago, the bank and foundation decided that they wanted to officially “go green.” Both had already been practicing many sustainable behaviors since day one, like recycling all paper and plastics, but both wanted to do more to show their commitment to environmental sustainability–and, as recognition for their green practices, to be certified as Bay Area Green Businesses. The bank and foundation submitted their applications to the Bay Area Green Business Program and started on the road to certification. Now, both entities are just a few steps away from receiving the official Green Business certification. While the process hasn’t been very difficult, it has been enlightening. So we thought we would share with you some of the interesting things we have learned along the way.
The Basics
To be certified as a green business by the Bay Area Green Business Program, organizations must complete an application that enumerates the changes they will make to their daily operations to incorporate greener practices. There are four main categories in which the business must make these changes: Solid Waste Reduction & Recycling; Energy Conservation; Water Conservation; and Pollution Prevention. Within each of the categories, there are numerous ways to meet these changes. Some ways are mandatory to receive certification (for example, organizations are required to recycle certain materials, such as cardboard, newspapers, cans, and plastic bottles) and other times there is a list of ways and a given number must be met to comply.
Putting It in Writing
In addition, organizations must adopt an Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Policy, stating that the organization makes a conscious effort to “go green.” The Bay Area Green Business Program provides this checklist as part of the application, and can even provide a model Environmental Preferable Purchasing Policy to organizations to help facilitate the application process.
OneCalifornia Bank was awarded the Bank Enterprise Award (BEA) from the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund in Washington, DC. The maximum amount for the BEA grant this year was $700,000, and the Bank was awarded the full amount. The bank is honored by this recognition as it further validates the work that OneCalifornia Bank is doing in the areas of lending and community development in the Bay Area. The grant allows OneCalifornia Bank to continue to lend to those often overlooked by other institutions, such as minority-owned or women-owned small businesses.
The BEA Program, among other things, allows “FDIC-insured banks and thrifts to increase their provisions of loans, such as opening new savings accounts, providing mortgages or investing in local small business.” The BEA Award reflects growth in specific lending categories that are geared towards community development.
The bank was certified as a Community Development Financial Institution by the national CDFI Fund earlier this year. Soon after certification, the CDFI fund awarded the bank its first grant in the form of a Technical Assistance (TA) grant for $100,000. Gaining certification and two awards in less than a year’s time reflects on OneCalifornia Bank’s commitment to community development and its dedication to Oakland and the greater Bay Area.
OneCalifornia Bank continues to be a leading lender to local non-profit organizations with its recent loan to Lighthouse Community Charter School. This loan, by helping hundreds of Oakland students over the next several years, will have a long-term impact on the community of Oakland.
Founded as a charter school in 2002 with just 92 students in its K-12 school, Lighthouse started out with a goal of preparing a “diverse K-12 student population for college or a career of their choice by equipping each child with the knowledge, skills, and principles to be a self-motivated, lifelong learner.” Of its current student body of 650, 80% is low-income, 72% is ESL (English as a Second Language), and 90% is from families where no one has gone to college. But in just seven short years, both the school and its students have come a long way. Lighthouse Community Charter School is sending all 21 members of its first graduating class–which graduated this past June–off to college in the fall.
As Lighthouse’s student body continued to grow, so did its need for a larger space. Its K-6 and 7-12 campuses have become too cramped over the past few years. Moreover, the high rents for these spaces have drained valuable program dollars; Lighthouse is a charter school and a 501(c)(3) non-profit, and charges no tuition, meaning its source of revenue comes from donations.
Instead of continuing to rent a small place, Lighthouse took on an $11 million renovation of two existing warehouse and office buildings off of Hegenberger Road. OneCalifornia Bank is providing a $2 million loan to aid Lighthouse Community Charter School in its undertaking. This loan will help Lighthouse undertake its renovation project, which will provide ample classroom space, as well as science and media labs, art studios, a library, and outdoor recreation space.
We at OneCalifornia Bank are excited to announce that we are leaders in providing SBA loans to Bay Area small businesses, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. Thanks to our SBA team, led by Robert Gebauer, the amount of lending for our small size and young age is amazing.
The results are in: OneCalifornia Bank was voted Best of the East Bay for Best Community Bank! Thank you to all our fans and supporters who voted for us.
OneCalifornia Bank’s ATM network, Allpoint ATMs, has had an application for both iPhone and Andriod for awhile now. But now BlackBerry users can join in the fun–Allpoint has just developed an app for BlackBerry users, too!
About a year ago, the bank and foundation decided that they wanted to officially “go green.” Both had already been practicing many sustainable behaviors since day one, like recycling all paper and plastics, but both wanted to do more to show their commitment to environmental sustainability–and, as recognition for their green practices, to be certified as Bay Area Green Businesses. The bank and foundation submitted their applications to the Bay Area Green Business Program and started on the road to certification. Now, both entities are just a few steps away from receiving the official Green Business certification. While the process hasn’t been very difficult, it has been enlightening. So we thought we would share with you some of the interesting things we have learned along the way.
OneCalifornia Bank was awarded the Bank Enterprise Award (BEA) from the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund in Washington, DC. The maximum amount for the BEA grant this year was $700,000, and the Bank was awarded the full amount. The bank is honored by this recognition as it further validates the work that OneCalifornia Bank is doing in the areas of lending and community development in the Bay Area. The grant allows OneCalifornia Bank to continue to lend to those often overlooked by other institutions, such as minority-owned or women-owned small businesses.
OneCalifornia Bank continues to be a leading lender to local non-profit organizations with its recent loan to Lighthouse Community Charter School. This loan, by helping hundreds of Oakland students over the next several years, will have a long-term impact on the community of Oakland.