Provident and Susquehanna banks have just joined Howard County’s Route 1 Revitalization Loan Program that encourages businesses to improve building and site conditions along Route 1.
“As a member bank, it gives businesses one additional lending source to finance their projects along the corridor,” said Arlene Sullivan, Provident Bank’s vice president and commercial banking relationship manager for Howard County, which has four branches.
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The Route 1 corridor, originally a heavily used trucking route, has deteriorated gradually over the years, leaving officials with the task of facilitating improvements.
“The Route 1 corridor in Howard County is a vital economic link between Baltimore and Washington, D.C.,” said Christopher Holt, regional president for Susquehanna Bank in an e-mail for The Examiner.
“When businesses take advantage of this community investment program, they are not only securing and growing the economic foundation of this important corridor, but they are also growing the pride of all the local business owners and citizens of our community.”
The revitalization program’s discounted loans, offered through the banks, target the projects of businesses, typically small ones, that seek new construction, expansion or site improvements, officials said.
The loan program, established by the Howard County Economic Development Authority, offers at or below market rate financing based on the particular bank’s lending criteria, officials said.
Since the program began in 2002, 24 projects, totaling more than $25 million, have been approved with BB&T, Howard Bank, M&T Bank, PNC Bank and the Columbia Bank, county officials said. OBA Bank joined earlier this year.
Provident is the largest independent bank headquartered in Maryland. Susquehanna Bank operates more than 230 branches in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and West Virginia.
“The program is part of the broad Route 1 revitalization effort. We’re trying to reinvigorate this particular program,” said Dick Story, chief executive officer of the county’s Economic Development Authority.
“We had no loans in calendar year 2008.”
In the program, Provident will offer businesses loans with no set minimum or maximum loan amount, Sullivan said. Susquehanna will offer loans from $5,000 to $5 million.
At Susquehanna, funds for the program come directly through the bank’s strong capital base. At Provident, funding comes from its normal lending budget, officials said.
In November, Provident Bankshares Corp., the parent company of Provident Bank, received a $151 million investment from the U.S. Treasury as part of the federal government’s Troubled Assets Relief Program Capital Purchase Program.
