Business & Tech

Berkley Could Benefit as Flagstar Adds Small Business Lending

City manager discovers option to assist entrepreneurs.

Small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs who have struggled to secure loans have a new option that one official is optimistic could lead to more investment in Berkley.

, which traditionally has been mortgage lender, has expanded its services to include small business loans.

"We're trying to become more of a community banking operation," executive vice president Alessandro DiNello said of the Troy-based bank, which has 162 locations in Michigan, Indiana and Georgia. One of those branches is located in Berkley.

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Flagstar provides daily banking services to Berkley, which is why City Manager Jane Bais-DiSessa said she reached out to the institution to inquire about options for small business assistance.

"I realize that not everybody can qualify, but when you read and you hear businesses can't get off the ground because banks aren't lending, it raises concern," Bais-DiSessa said. "That's why I decided to pick up the phone and say, 'Are there any programs? Can you help?' "

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She was in luck.

When DiNello received Bais-DiSessa's call, he filled her in on the bank's new lending program.

Through the fourth quarter of last year, Flagstar built up a small business group catering to companies with annual revenues less than $500,000, typically with five to 10 employees and with lending needs of $250,000 or less, DiNello said.

"We've targeted for 2011 $100 million in loans in this category" across all 162 branches, he said. "... We're calling on local businesses."

To qualify, DiNello said applicants need to:

  • show the ability to repay the money,
  • show a "positive trend in operations" and
  • have a credit score in at least the high 600s (oftentimes small businesses are underwritten like an individual is, he said).

"I'm excited," Bais-DiSessa said. "I'm very pleased to learn they're willing to work with qualified businesses.

"The new ones that have come to our city have made some major improvements to the buildings and the products that they provide."

Bais-DiSessa said she also has met with The Woodward 5 – city managers from Berkley, Ferndale, Huntington Woods, Pleasant Ridge and Royal Oak working to promote the area – to inform them about the program.

"The way I view it is if something good happens in our region, it's good for all of us," she said.

Bais-DiSessa said she plans to reach out to other banks and credit unions in the community, as well.

For more information on the small business loan program, visit any Flagstar branch and speak with the manager.


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