By Kirk Kern
When the coronavirus pandemic shut down businesses across the country, the federal government took quick action to help small businesses by enacting the Paycheck Protection Program.
The problem was, initially, that no one knew any of the details about how to actually get these loans or any of the other details about how they could be forgiven.
That’s where Nevada State Bank stepped in. Curt Chambers, branch manager of the NSB branch at The Lakes, said the bank took a cautious approach at first. Once they figured out all the details behind the program, though, they were very helpful in guiding their clients through the process.
“It was seamless for the customer,” Chambers said. “We were able to let our customers know what docs they needed and have them email them through a portal. Once we found out through the SBA what was needed, it was easy.”
Through June, Nevada State Bank processed 5,137 loans with more than $647 million approved throughout Nevada. The average loan processed was for $126,038. The loans saved 56,000 jobs and 72 percent went to businesses with less than 10 employees.
Chambers helped businessman Mark Craven receive three loans that totaled about $150,000 to help keep three local hotels open during the initial portion of the COVID-19 pandemic. Craven’s business is an investment group that owns hotels, primarily from the Hilton chain, in Clark County.
These non-gaming hotels primarily cater to the convention and business category, which became practically nonexistent.
“I heard about the PPP through the internet and I wasn’t even sure I would qualify,” Craven said. “I checked with Curt and NSB here and he said he would take care of it.”
The other issue, Chambers said, was the deadline to apply. NSB put together a portal that made it easy to determine what was needed and once all the documents were submitted, the process went quick.
“From a customer standpoint, it’s amazing how cooperative they were,” Chambers said. “Whenever we needed a document, they were more than willing to help us out. I worked like 28 straight days to process these loans and even my wife said, ‘Look how much good you’re doing for small businesses in Las Vegas.’
“We had conference calls almost daily to give us on the frontlines what we needed to know to help our customers.”
Craven said it’s this type of service that led him to bank at NSB in the first place.
“I always felt NSB seemed to be more like a community bank, more personal,” he said. “I’ve been with them forever. I would not want to bank anywhere else. I’ve been with The Lakes when they were in a trailer just starting up.”