FirstBank, one of the nation’s largest privately held banks with a focus on “banking for good,” has closed more than 7,700 SBA Paycheck Protection loans, totaling roughly $1 billion. Out of these 7,700-plus loans, approximately 5,000 were funded in amounts of $50,000 or less – with the median loan amount around $38,000, and the smallest loan at $200.
After receiving final guidance from the Treasury Department and the SBA, FirstBank started accepting loan applications on April 6. Within 72 hours, the bank had received several thousand applications. FirstBank began funding the economic relief loans the following Monday, April 13.
In Arizona, over 300 businesses received SBA PPP loans from FirstBank, totaling more than $35 million. Among the hundreds of businesses that received this funding was Desert Sun Embroidery located in Sun City West, which specializes in custom and contract embroidery, screen printing, and supply a variety of promotional products.
“We have so many amazing business customers here in Arizona, and we’re grateful to be able to provide assistance during these tough times,” said Bryce Lloyd, Phoenix Market President for FirstBank. “Our customers remain our number one priority throughout this process, and we’ll be here as this community continues to recover.”
“Countless businesses, and their employees, across the nation have dealt with immeasurable hardships in the past month, which is why we are ecstatic to see these loan applications come to fruition and deliver the necessary funding to help business customers,” said Ron Tilton, President of FirstBank. “We are proud of the efforts by the FirstBank team and appreciative of the patience shown by our business customers as we work to get applications processed as quickly as possible.”
FirstBank business customers who have yet to apply for an SBA PPP loan can visit efirstbankblog.com/sba-ppp-information for information on the application process. FirstBank will leave the application link accessible, provided funding for the PPP continues to be available.
The bank is also committed to providing financial flexibility to its customers. In addition to working with customers on individual solutions, FirstBank has created a customer relief program that includes loan payment deferrals, zero percent interest rates on credit cards and cash reserves, as well as waived fees. More information can be found at efirstbankblog.com/coronavirus.
