With the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program set to re-opening for applications tomorrow, a Maryland bank CEO this weekend recounted his bank’s experience getting up and running during the early days of the program. In an interview with NPR, Edward Barry, CEO of Capital Bank in Rockville, Maryland, noted that his employees—most of whom are currently working remotely—worked quickly to prepare for the influx of applications, even before the SBA had issued much of the guidance on the program.
“We started to kind of lay out end to end, what do we think needs to happen?—knowing there was a lot of empty boxes and said, well, what do we think the answers are?—and write them in pencil or in chalk. And we’ll just write them in ink when the government gives us answers,” Barry said.
An experienced SBA lender, Capital Bank has a history of working with local businesses to meet their credit needs, Barry added. “They’re people you know, your neighbors, your friends, family members. It’s your local restaurant, your local coffee shop, your pizza parlor. And that’s what keeps people working so hard.”
