Commencement Bank (CBWA) Announces New Government Guaranteed Lending Department

TACOMA, WA / ACCESSWIRE / May 28, 2020 / Commencement Bank (OTCQX:CBWA), announced they have launched a new Government Guaranteed Lending Division to better serve the needs of small businesses and other government-backed loan recipients. Although the Bank has always offered these services, creating a specialized team with in-depth knowledge of the process will provide existing and new clients a greater advantage by helping them select the options best suited to their needs.

Jeff Mizukami, Senior Vice President of Government Guaranteed Lending, possesses more than 20 years of experience in building government guaranteed lending portfolios for community banks, and will lead the new arm of Commencement. Mizukami brings over 32 years of commercial lending experience to Commencement Bank and has worked extensively with the loan programs offered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and various state and local commercial lending guarantee programs to facilitate eligibility, structure and underwrite credit, coordinate loan funding, manage the secondary market positioning of portfolios for sale, and provide superior customer service and insights to clients.

The department will also include Wyndie Dwyer AVP, Loan Administrator. Dwyer is a 30-year banking veteran and has been with the Bank since 2018. She recently supported the Bank's efforts through the application process for the SBA's Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and has been invaluable to the Bank and its clients throughout this process.

Shortly after launching this department, the COVID-19 economic shutdown began. Mizukami, Dwyer, the commercial lending team, and many more Bank employees, hit the ground running with the PPP loan program for small businesses. Over the course of two months, more than 475 applications were processed totaling almost $113 million in relief for small businesses. This supported close to 9,000 employees who were out of work or on reduced hours. The Commencement team worked through the night on several occasions to make sure that each client received the assistance they needed for their business.

"Expanding service lines has been an initiative for the Bank for some time now. We were lucky to find a seasoned lender like Jeff to help us bring our Government Guaranteed Lending Division to fruition at such a critical time for our small business clients and community. With small businesses making up much of our local economy, we believe clients need access to knowledgeable bankers who specialize in these funding programs. Working with someone who focuses solely on these types of loans improves the process on all sides and enhances the experience of our clients," said John Manolides, President & CEO.

The new department, based in the Tacoma headquarters, is operational and available to assist existing and new clients. The Bank plans to create resources for those interested in these programs and will have more information available on their website in the coming weeks.

About Commencement Bank

Commencement Bank, headquartered in Tacoma, Washington, was formed in 2006 to provide traditional, reliable, and sustainable banking in Pierce, South King, Thurston counties and the surrounding areas. Their team of banking experts focuses on personal attention, flexible service, and building strong relationships with customers through state-of-the-art technology as well as traditional delivery systems. As a local bank, Commencement Bank is deeply committed to the community. For more information, please visit www.commencementbank.com. For information related to the trading of CBWA, please visit www.otcmarkets.com.

Contact Information: John E. Manolides, President & CEO | 253-284-1802

Forward-Looking Statement Safe Harbor: This news release contains comments or information that constitutes forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) that are based on current expectations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements describe Commencement Bank's projections, estimates, plans and expectations of future results and can be identified by words such as "believe," "intend," "estimate," "likely," "anticipate," "expect," "looking forward," and other similar expressions. They are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from the results expressed in these forward-looking statements, which because of their forward-looking nature, are difficult to predict. Investors should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statement, and should consider factors that might cause differences including but not limited to the degree of competition by traditional and nontraditional competitors, declines in real estate markets, an increase in unemployment or sustained high levels of unemployment; changes in interest rates; greater than expected costs to integrate acquisitions, adverse changes in local, national and international economies; changes in the Federal Reserve's actions that affect monetary and fiscal policies; changes in legislative or regulatory actions or reform, including without limitation, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; demand for products and services; changes to the quality of the loan portfolio and our ability to succeed in our problem-asset resolution efforts; the impact of technological advances; changes in tax laws; and other risk factors. Commencement Bank undertakes no obligation to publicly update or clarify any forward-looking statement to reflect the impact of events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.

SOURCE: Commencement Bank (WA)

ReleaseID: 591841