Banking leaders tackle PPP loans, look ahead to uncertain future

Area banking executives faced a challenge like never before when COVID-19 shut down the economy. Many made herculean efforts to help their business banking clients survive, but much work remains.

By Brian Hartz and Grier Ferguson
| 4:00 p.m. June 17, 2020
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Courtesy. Neil McCurry Jr., president and CEO of Sarasota-based Sabal Palm Bank, says now virtual conversations with customers are the norm, and the bank has partially convertedÂ an office to a virtual conference room.

Finance

The past three months have been a wild ride for the Gulf Coast economy, particularly the banks that feed it capital. In response to the pandemic, banks quickly adjusted their operations, closing down branches, restricting them to drive-thru service or limiting in-person service.

Then came the Paycheck Protection Program, a $511.3 billion, to date, federal effort to help small businesses avoid layoffs during the COVID-19 crisis. With about 48% of the U.S. workforce employed by small businesses, nothing less than the national economy was at stake, and banks were thrust into the role of middlemen between their clients and the U.S. Small Business Administration, the agency responsible for the disbursement of PPP loans.