WASHINGTON -- The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
(OCC) today published the Community Developments newsletter focusing on
bank support for small businesses through innovative investments, loans, and
technical assistance.
“Small businesses are the bedrock of the nation’s economy,
employing more than half of all private-sector workers and generating as much
as 80 percent of all new net jobs each year.
To do so, they must be able to obtain financing,” Comptroller of the
Currency John D. Hawke, Jr. said in an article introducing the winter edition
of the OCC’s Community Developments newsletter.
The newsletter describes bank strategies to invest in and
support minority- and women-owned small businesses, a focus that supplements
the OCC’s recently-released advisory letter on financing minority business. The
newsletter includes numerous success stories illustrating how bank investments
in small businesses have been structured, and why they have succeeded.
“Women- and minority-owned small businesses are among the
nation’s fastest-growing economic sectors,” notes Anna Alvarez Boyd, Deputy
Comptroller for Community Affairs. She added, “banks that build strong
relationships with such businesses will be well-positioned to benefit from
their growth — and from gaining access to the customers and communities they
serve.”
The new issue of Community
Developments offers a road map for banks seeking to better assist the
small-business sector. The newsletter also offers insights on Community
Reinvestment Act compliance, news-you-can-use from OCC’s district offices, and
useful Web links.
The newsletter can be accessed quickly by selecting
“Community Affairs” on the OCC Internet home page, www.occ.treas.gov, and choosing
“Publications and Resource Materials.”
Two additional resources — the OCC’s advisory letter, Financing
Minority-Owned Businesses, and the OCC’s Small Business Resource Guide — are available at www.occ.treas.gov/cdd/commfoc.htm.