Three years ago, hoteliers Mark and Cindi Ladd needed a $1 million loan package to buy the Mayor’s Mansion Inn in the historic Fort Wood district. The Nashville-based couple chose a Chattanooga lender, Cornerstone Community Bank. “You have so many questions about business relationships and connections when you come into a town,” says Cindi Ladd. “You want somebody in your backyard.”
Charles Millirons and Frank HughesIn economic downturns and upswings, Cornerstone’s philosophy makes lending an ear as important as loaning money, says Charles Millirons, Cornerstone’s vice president and relationship manager. “Entrepreneurs try to do it all. They need to vent and for you to be a sounding board. You’ve got to be a guide and a good listener.”
The Ladds listened, too.
When Millirons recommended a U.S. Small Business Administration CDC/504 economic development program, they agreed. Federally guaranteed loans have been a critical community-building tool for local banks for many years, says Cornerstone President and CEO Frank Hughes.
But during the recent recession, they became a lifeline. “We’re always going to make loans,” says Hughes. “The SBA’s guarantees enabled us to provide credit to areas that we may have been cautious in, or avoided lending to, during the recession.”