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Charter One Bank ranked No. 1 small business lender in Michigan
Charter One ranked No. 1 throughout Midwest; Citizens Financial Group is No. 2 lender nationwide for the fifth consecutive yearDETROIT (October 3, 2006) - Charter One Bank today announced it ranks as the No. 1 SBA lender in Michigan for fiscal year 2006, which ended on Friday, September 29, 2006 for SBA lending. Citizens Financial Group, Inc., Charter One’s parent company, was also ranked the No. 2 lender in the country for the fifth consecutive year, reflecting its commitment to helping small businesses grow.
In Michigan, Charter One topped all SBA lenders in both number of loans and dollar amount for the second consecutive year. During the annual SBA fiscal year from October 1, 2005 to September 29, 2006, Charter One Bank provided over 930 loans, valued at more than $44.0 million, to small businesses in Michigan.
“Charter One is proud once again to be the No. 1 SBA lender in the state and throughout the Midwest. Small businesses are critical contributors to Michigan’s economy and we recognize their importance to our communities,” said Sandra Pierce, President and CEO of Charter One Bank, Michigan. “We are committed to making credit available to help small businesses grow and succeed.”
Anna Amato, President and CEO of Edtec Central LLC in Ferndale, Mich., secured an SBA loan from Charter One. Edtec Central provides innovative consultation and management services to public school academies in Detroit and surrounding communities. Amato, a former educator, wrote one of the first federal grant applications to establish a charter school in Michigan.
“I started this business 12 years ago with just one employee – myself. We are now a team of 7 who pride ourselves on our use of technology to operate efficiently. The SBA loan through Charter One allows us to gear up for new projects that include technology infrastructure, pre-hiring and training, and testing new systems and educational approaches for our clients,” said Amato.
Today Edtec Central’s client base includes 11 charter school sites, with plans to open their own public school academy next year and to expand to regional sites in the future.
Companywide, Citizens Financial Group’s Citizens Bank and Charter One Bank subsidiaries originated more than 6800 loans, totaling more than $320 million. Charter One enhanced its focus on small business solutions to better serve the needs of its customers following Citizens Financial Group’s acquisition of the bank in September 2004. In the Mid-Atlantic region, Citizens Bank is the No. 1 SBA lender again this year in every market it does business, including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, upstate New York and Delaware. In New England, fiscal year 2006 marks the 8th time Citizens is the No.1 SBA lender.
About Charter One Bank, N.A.
Charter One Bank, N.A., is a $46 billion bank operating in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. It has 474 branches and more than 800 ATMs. It has 120 branches and 135 ATMs in Michigan. Charter One is a subsidiary of Citizens Financial Group, Inc., a $164 billion commercial bank holding company headquartered in Providence, R.I. Citizens has more than 1,600 branches, approximately 3,200 ATMs and 26,000 employees in a 13-state retail branch network and has non-branch retail and commercial offices in about 40 states. Citizens is the eighth-largest commercial banking company in the United States ranked by deposits and ninth in assets as of March 31, 2006. Citizens is owned by RBS (The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc).
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