NAFCU Journal May June 2021

18 THE NAFCU JOURNAL May–June 2021 business running,” says David Wright, assistant vice president of loan origina- tion for Hudson Valley. Initially, the credit union only offered PPP loans to existing members, but as processes were put in place to handle loans more efficiently, the loans were opened to non-members. “After the first week of the program, some other local financial institutions shut down the program, so we were getting calls from small business owners asking for help because their institutions wouldn’t take their loan applications,” says Hudson Valley’s Batten. “We set them up as members and took their applications.” True Sky also helped non-members. In fact, one new small business member appeared in a video for the credit union to describe his experience looking for a PPP loan when his financial institution would not help. “He describes how he also plans to move all of his business to the credit union by the end of the year,” says Skelly. Despite the late—and early—hours worked, challenges to overcome and con- fusion at the start of the program, there were some rewarding moments, recounts Wright. “When a phone call was made to let one business owner know that their PPP application was approved, we were still on the line when the owner called out to all employees to let them know about the approval,” she says. “Hearing all of the employees clapping and cheering is what kept us going.” We had all 12 people in our commercial lending department, our chief financial officer, the human resources department and front-line bankers contacting applicants—at one point 30 to 40 percent of our employees were working on PPP. KATHLEEN METZ, VICE PRESIDENT OF LENDING FOR AFFINITY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION After the first week of the program, some other local financial institutions shut down the program, so we were getting calls from small business owners asking for help because their institutions wouldn’t take their loan applications. We set them up as members and took their applications. VICKI BATTEN, ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT OF BUSINESS SERVICES FOR HUDSON VALLEY CREDIT UNION