Community Bank to Open Satellite Office
The Los Angeles Community Development Bank, established in 1993 to create jobs and spur economic growth in impoverished areas, will open its first satellite office in the city Monday in Pacoima.
City Councilman Richard Alarcon, who had pushed bank officials to open the satellite office in his district, will be on hand Monday to welcome the bank to the neighborhood. He will be joined by bank president Robert Kemp and other public officials.
“The problem is that Pacoima is so far from downtown. They needed a base of operations to market the program,” said Alarcon, who added that he was concerned the bank has not been making as many loans as it could.
The community bank is a partnership among the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, the city and county of Los Angeles, and commercial and community lenders.
Prospective borrowers must be located within the city’s federally designated Empowerment Zones, which were established by the Clinton administration after the 1992 civil disturbances to help alleviate conditions of poverty. Borrowers also must have been rejected for a loan with a commercial bank, said Martin Madrigal, a spokesman for the bank.
Since its inception, the bank has made 47 loans valued at more than $38 million, Madrigal said. In addition to the Pacoima office, satellite offices are planned for South-Central and East Los Angeles.
The public is invited to Monday’s event, and local businesses are especially encouraged to come, bank officials said.
The ceremony will begin at 9 a.m. in the parking lot of the satellite office, 12502 Van Nuys Blvd.
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