Gladys Calvin, branch manager of Great American...

Gladys Calvin, branch manager of Great American Bank’s Southeast office, has been selected to head the eight-member board of directors of a new San Diego branch of the California Southern Small Business Development Corp., a nonprofit organization.

The board, overseen by the state’s Office of Small Business, will begin operations Oct. 1 and will be based in the Great American Building, at 6th Avenue and B Street downtown.

Calvin was chosen from 40 candidates for the volunteer post and is the first woman to chair a board in the organization’s 12-year history. San Diego joins six other offices in the state--in Fresno, Salinas, Oakland, Sacramento and two in Los Angeles--in providing financial assistance to small businesses.

The program’s loans are designed primarily to help businesses that otherwise can’t obtain a loan because they are new or have inadequate collateral. Calvin says the program can guarantee up to $350,000, with loan guarantees of up to seven years.

At 47, Calvin has lived and worked her entire life in Southeast San Diego. She also is on the board of directors of the Urban League, the Interfaith Shelter Network and Delta Sigma Theta sorority.

Calvin is also a co-chairman of Head Start’s 25th anniversary program and the United Negro College Fund’s annual telethon.

Calvin began her banking career 10 years ago as a management intern at Great American. Since then, she has received a degree in business administration from National University and has been on the governor’s advisory board for small businesses for the last four years.