Business lending seminar to kick off NACCU annual conference

SANTA FE, N.M. – Attendees at the National Association of Community Credit Unions’ Fourth Annual Conference will have the opportunity to hear from two business lending experts at a seminar on the issue that’s scheduled to open the four day conference, Oct. 20-23 at the Eldorado Hotel. Jean Faenza, executive vice president of Telesis Community CU, Northridge, Calif. and Steve Von Rajcs, president, Business Banking Group of Arrowhead CU, San Bernardino, Calif. will headline the seminar on The Art of Business Lending. Telesis CCU, which got involved with business lending 10 years ago before most CUs ever considered offering the service offering, has had 0% delinquencies and no charge-offs in its business lending program. Von Rajcs, like Faenza, believes community credit unions have an advantage in business lending because their geographic charters gives them a broader base to market business loans to. CCUs, he said, need to form alliances with other community groups at the state and national levels. These alliances can prove to be CCU’s best tool to remove obstacles blocking credit unions from getting involved in business lending. Among the topics that von Rajcs and Faenza will cover in The Art of Business Lending are how to start a business lending program; the benefits and risks of business lending; MBL rules and regulations; underwriting business loans; documentation; finding experienced business lenders; offering deposit services. “We’re going to cover the topic from A to Z,” said Faenza.