Pacific Mercantile Bank Provides Critical Support to Southern California Businesses With Over $290 Million in Paycheck Protection Program Loans

COSTA MESA, Calif., June 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pacific Mercantile Bank (“the Bank”), the wholly owned subsidiary of Pacific Mercantile Bancorp (NASDAQ: PMBC), today announced that it has originated over $290 million in Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans through June 15th for almost 700 businesses in Southern California.  The businesses assisted by Pacific Mercantile Bank in accessing the PPP funding represent an aggregate workforce of more than 36,000 employees. 

Following the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES” Act) on March 27, 2020 that created the PPP, Pacific Mercantile Bank was able to quickly establish its PPP loan application process and begin processing applications on April 3, 2020, the first day of the program’s implementation by the Small Business Administration. 

In step with their consultative approach to their clients, Pacific Mercantile Bank created a full suite of resources to help them fully understand and prepare for the loan forgiveness process of the PPP, including:

• A video providing guidance on how to maximize loan forgiveness
• A loan forgiveness calculation tool to help companies track eligible expenses and determine loan forgiveness amount
• A video tutorial on how to utilize the loan forgiveness calculation tool
• A downloadable checklist of eligible expenses and a loan forgiveness resource guide

The PPP web page created by Pacific Mercantile Bank has been a valuable tool for keeping their clients updated on changes made by Congress and the SBA, as the program has evolved.  In the coming weeks, an online application for requesting loan forgiveness will be launched to make the process as quick and efficient as possible for Pacific Mercantile Bank clients.

As with all of its commercial clients, Pacific Mercantile Bank’s PPP borrowers are able to utilize the Bank’s proprietary Horizon Analytics tool at no charge.  Horizon Analytics is a customized financial modeling tool that helps companies plan for long term success by building cash flow forecasts, assess profitability under various scenarios, and identify optimal capital structures.

“The role of community banks in supporting local economies and businesses has never been more important than it is now as we deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Brad R. Dinsmore, President & CEO of Pacific Mercantile Bank.  “I’m incredibly proud of the hard work our team did in just a few days to set up our PPP application process, begin proactively reaching out to clients to determine if they wanted to utilize the PPP funding, and then quickly getting applications processed and funded so that businesses could maintain operations and continue paying employees on time.  Our process was so efficient that we were able to open it up to new clients that weren’t being helped by their previous bank.  To date, we have added close to 300 new clients as a result of our assistance in helping them apply for a PPP loan.  After funding PPP loans for our clients, we have stayed in close contact to help them understand how to successfully qualify for loan forgiveness, keep them apprised of changes to the criteria, and guide them through the forgiveness process.