Behind-the-scenes with our clients and team
April 2021: Providence helped Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana keep 14,000 jobs on payroll in 2020 by making more than 800 PPP loans. 30% of these were for new customers to the bank, like local realtor Carmen Carter and nonprofit executive director Anne Statton, both of whom talked with mightydeposits.com about finding Providence. Ron Milsap, VP of Mission Deposits and Community Relationships at Providence, talks about diversity, inclusion, press the bank has received, and the higher purpose he sees in banking.
Interviews have been edited for clarity.
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“I started from nothing.”
Carmen Carter, who founded Carter Realty Group, talks about reaching out to Providence after a colleague mentioned that Providence is really interested in helping small Black businesses.
Carmen Carter
Did you know?
I typically bank with one of the largest banks, but I didn’t think they’d be able to make me a PPP loan. It’s a big brand. I just didn’t even consider it. My colleague told me Providence is really interested in helping small black businesses, and introduced me via email to Ron Milsap, a VP at the bank. Ron called me right away and talked to me a little about my business.
Then what happened?
Ron got off the phone and sent me the list of the requirements. I sent him nearly everything requested, except one thing I didn’t have. He said not to worry about that, because he could order it from the state for me. It was very smooth and easy. I think got my PPP loan in a week, maybe two. It was very quick...
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… He also introduced me to a colleague of his who oversees commercial lending. I own a real estate company and am in the process of developing 90 homes in low census tract areas, so I’ll be looking for some commercial lending soon.
Overall, how would you say the Providence experience compared with your experience with other banks?
My current bank has been good to me, but they didn’t reach out to me about PPP. On one hand, as I said earlier, I didn’t expect them to, because they’re big, and I’m a small business. But on the other hand, I’m am a small business owner that they see a lot, so I guess I was expecting maybe a call…
It was a good experience with Providence.
What’s something unique about your business that others may not know but would find special?
I’m a Black, disabled veteran and am the first in my family to be a real estate business owner. I started from nothing and now have 17 agents that work with me, and many independent contractors.
What was your initial draw to real estate?
When I got out of the military in my early 20s, I worked as a manager at a little clothing store. This young Black girl used to come in during the day and it used to trip me out because she was buying so many clothes -- during the day – and I thought man, what does she do that she can do this? And one day I worked up the nerve to ask her. She was like, ‘Oh, I’m in real estate.’
What impact do you want your business to make on Chicago?
Our goal is to help our employees and clients realize the American dream. I get really excited about helping my agents and contractors build their businesses, and my clients get their first home or dream home. It’s just awesome to help people.
2
The Board Got On Board to Move Banks
Anne Statton, Executive Director of Mother & Child Alliance, said that once she and her Board saw how Providence was working with nonprofits in the community, they were sold.
Anne Statton, pictured at right
Did you know?
What were you doing when you decided to reach out to Providence?
I had been a customer with one of Chicago’s largest banks for a long time. I reached out to my banker to inquire about a PPP loan for our nonprofit. They said they weren’t allowed to talk to customers about PPP. I just wanted to ask about what sorts of things could be covered. For weeks, I just couldn’t find anyone who would take my call. Which was frustrating, to say the least. We have a pretty substantial balance there for a small nonprofit -- $1 million is regularly in our account.
I then tried another large bank, since we have an online account there. I tried to talk to someone knowledgeable about PPP. Instead, I just got menus, never a banker. I don’t think they even have bankers there you can talk too.
A connection of mine suggested I give this guy Ron Milsap a call to see if he could help me sort it out. So I called Ron.
Then what happened?
I asked Ron if my nonprofit would be eligible for support, and what sort of things we could get support for. Even though I wasn’t a customer with them, Ron couldn’t have been more accommodating. Our PPP loan came through shortly after…
Overall, how would you say the Providence experience compared with your experiences elsewhere?
When we started our nonprofit account at our current bank we had an appointment at the big office downtown with someone in their nonprofit banking department. We had a nonprofit banker assigned to us. We seemed to get good service. There was a branch right downstairs from our Loop office at the time.
At some point, our banker left the bank, but we were never told. Later when I was trying to track down help, I was told there wasn’t anyone assigned to me. After some pushing, I was assigned to a nonprofit banker in Arizona. 50% of the time when I’d call her, she’d say “just go to a local branch, they can help you.” It didn’t feel like we were getting a level of service I’d expect.
One of our former Board members had a personal contact with the bank who offered to help us with our nonprofit banking needs. But the experience wasn’t much better, as we were really missing someone local. Over the years, the bank had closed its nonprofit banking department in Chicago, and no longer has nonprofit bankers based here. How is it that Chicago is not a big enough nonprofit hub for this giant bank not to have a team in Chicago?
I had been thinking about changing banks for a while, given the lack of local nonprofit banking services. I found it frustrating but figured it was maybe just a time before they’d reorganize. Then we moved offices, and no longer had the convenience of a branch in my building. And then the PPP experience was the final straw.
We’re currently in the process of moving our nonprofit’s money over to Providence and I’m really excited about it. For the kind of work we do, it doesn’t make any sense for us to stay with a big bank. I saw a presentation that Ron did that was related to nonprofit banking, and once I saw how Providence was working with nonprofits in the community, I was sold. It took a minute to get our Board and finance person to understand the opportunity and confirm that all of our logistical needs could be handled by Providence, like that Providence could work with our fundraising software. But once this was confirmed, we started the process of moving our money.
If I need to keep other services because they are more competitive (i.e. credit card deals), I’ll keep them.
But I’m super happy that we’ll be moving our assets over to Providence.
What impact do you hope to make on Chicago, through your work?
The focus of our work has been to help pregnant women with HIV have babies without HIV.
We are not OBs and nurses, but social workers and admin people who break down barriers between vulnerable people and the specialty care designed to help them – particularly women of color.
The best impact we can make is for babies. To give babies a better chance with better health, and a healthy mom. Many of the women we support are the head of their households and working on the frontlines of many industries. They generally prioritize their own care last. We help them take better care of themselves, and in doing so, their babies.
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I want to do everything I can to be an Oracle of our community.
Ron Milsap, veteran Chicago banker and VP of Mission Deposits and Community Reinvestment at Providence Bank & Trust, talks about diversity, inclusion, and the higher purpose he sees in banking.
Did you know?
Describe what you do in your job, in one sentence.
I build relationships between our bank and the community we serve by making clear our bank’s focus on community lending and stewardship (by stewardship, I mean that Providence donates 10% of all of the bank’s profits to local community organizations… a larger percentage of profits donated to charitable causes than I’ve seen from any other bank – or business, frankly – ever).
You also are leading diversity and inclusion initiatives at the bank.
I am. Almost two-thirds of the managers at Providence are women, and nearly half of our total workforce is BIPOC. 30% of our bank’s Board Directors are Black. People are increasingly interested in knowing that the businesses they support reflect the diversity of the communities they serve, and in my role, I work to make stories and metrics known about how our team’s diversity shapes the bank and the services we provide. We’ve got some good press for our work as a community-focused bank, and we look forward to more of it.
What’s a metric you’re particularly proud of?
So many. The more than 800 PPP loans we did in 2020, for which 30% of total dollars landed in low and moderate-income areas, mainly Black and Brown communities on Chicago’s South and West Sides. Our donating 10% of bank profits each year to charitable local organizations. These metrics set us apart. But I may be most proud of…
… our regularly investing between 77% and 88% of total dollars in our bank into community projects — mainly loans for local businesses, new construction projects, and housing development. This is the bread and butter of our business as a bank, and well above the bank industry’s average of investing only 45% of bank assets for such community initiatives. We want to be known for our community impact and attract and grow client relationships also invested in the community, which is why we’ve made it easy for anyone to learn more about our bank and get in touch with us via mightydeposits.com, which shares our mission to increase customer understanding about the difference money in the bank can make.
Money’s going digital. What’s the last thing you used cash for?
Chips and candy at the local convenience store for my nephew, and a $2 lottery ticket for me. Before you judge me for the lottery ticket, just know I got struck by lightning once – seriously – so the odds aren’t totally out of my favor to win one day.
Tell us about a neighborhood that’s special to you, and why.
The greater Chatham area (Chatham, Avalon Park, Auburn Gresham, and Greater Grand Crossing) on Chicago’s South Side. It’s where I grew up, where I live and work today, and where I’m raising my family. It’s a place where I believe in its potential more than its plight. I want to do everything I can to be an Oracle of this place.
See the extended interview with Ron, here.
Get in touch with Ron at [email protected]
Thank you for being a valued client of Providence Bank & Trust!