Will Local Community Banks Get Federal Cash?

A day after Eagle Rock Chamber of Commerce President Michael Nogueira expressed disappointment about Wednesday’s $19.3-million award by the federal governent to two community banks in California—neither of which are in the L.A. region—there’s some potentially good news for small-business entrepreneurs:

The U.S. Department of the Treasury will make hundreds of similar cash infusions to community banks in the coming weeks and months, including many more in the state—possibly including Southern California.

“Significant funding for banks, including banks in California, will be awarded soon,” Matt Anderson, a spokesperson in the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Public Affairs told Eagle Rock Patch.

As the pdf file to your right highlights, of the $590.5 million awarded to a total of 46 banks across the nation until Aug. 3, five are in California, including two in Southern California (in Westlake Village and San Diego). The in-state banks received a combined $57.3 million in federal cash.

Numerous banks across the nation have applied for more than $10 billion that the federal government has set aside for the awards through the Small Business Lending Fund, which President Obama wrote into law 11 months ago to encourage community bank lending.

“Until the awards are made, we can’t provide details of the banks,” Anderson said, emphasizing that “significant additional funding is expected to go out in coming weeks.”