Celebrate National Small Business Week May 2-8

Each year since 1963, National Small Business Week (NSBW) is celebrated in America. And while the dates may change, its important purpose stays the same. This year, NSBW is taking place May 2-May 8. At Academy Bank, we are proud to support local businesses and have strong partnerships with many local businesses within our communities.

We invite you to learn more about National Small Business Week, how you can do your part to support them -- especially during uncertain times -- and to take a deeper look into a few of our relationships with local businesses.

National Small Business Week has been around for more than 60 years, and it was pioneered by the U.S. Small Business Administration. According to the SBA, more than 50% of Americans either own or work for a small business. And small businesses create nearly two-thirds of new jobs in the U.S. every year.

The idea of National Small Business Week is to “recognize the critical contributions of America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners.”

This year in particular -- a year in which COVID-19 has turned so many lives and businesses upside down -- it’s a celebration of the small and local businesses who have navigated the pandemic while supporting their employees and communities.

It’s no secret that the pandemic hasn’t been easy on small and local businesses. To celebrate NSBW 2021, here are a few actions you can take to help support your favorite local companies -- whether you’re in a position to contribute financially or not.

At Academy Bank, we’re proud to have a diverse set of clients with a diverse set of needs. In addition to providing individual banking services, we also work with local businesses, both big and small, with any of their banking and lending needs.

Learn more about some of our valued relationships with our local business clients.

Ogilvie Properties President Stuart Ogilvie values relationships in his approach to the commercial real estate market. It shows in nearly every facet of how Ogilvie Properties conducts business.

So, when Academy Bank had the opportunity to work with Stuart Ogilvie and the selective group at Ogilvie Properties on an office building project in Central Park, CO, the personal touch from SVP and Commercial Banker Richard Morgan and the Academy Bank executive team stood out to Ogilvie.

“You need a bank that has confidence in you. They need to be confident you know what you’re doing. And they’re flexible, with a personal advocate, someone like Richard,” Ogilvie said. “He helped steward the plan because portions of the value-add items were not clear at the onset of the project.”

“Academy Bank did a complicated deal for us, and our patients and their babies are going to benefit from that in the future.”

-- Charlie Shields, President, Truman Medical Center

As president of a high-volume teaching hospital with four academic programs, Charlie Shields is familiar with complexity. Truman Medical Center’s “safety-net hospital” status also creates unique financing challenges. So, when the need to replace their mother-baby unit called for working with new market tax credits on top of traditional financing, Shields called on us at Academy Bank.

Our team at Academy Bank used creativity and problem-solving to provide an essential community need -- we worked beyond typical bank underwriting to get a difficult, but important, deal done.

The story of Academy Bank’s Done Deal for Catalyst Campus for Technology and Innovation is one of collaboration, development, flexibility and ultimately, trust. Projects and partnerships developed at Catalyst Campus advance and accelerate technologies related to aerospace, communication, cybersecurity, data analytics and manufacturing, essential to America’s economy and national security.

In the words of Academy Bank Senior Vice President, Steve Ingham, “When Kevin [O’Neil] decided to refinance, he knew he needed an innovative lender with the vision to see the true worth of this project. He knew he needed a flexible bank with higher loan limits, the latitude to make things happen, and people he could trust to get a complex deal done right.”

Founder Kevin O’Neil was also seeking a line of credit to finish renovations and improvements to campus facilities and infrastructure. Academy Bank came through with a term loan that locked in a very favorable rate, as well as a line of credit for the remaining work on the renovation. The flexible terms were just what Mr. O’Neil was looking for, and Academy Bank and Catalyst Campus built a strong relationship on trust.

Find out more about the Catalyst Campus project.

In his history as a successful entrepreneur, and in his role as CEO of AFC Urgent Care Denver, Darius Kerman has learned the importance of moving quickly to address issues and opportunities. When he needed a responsive lender, he wasted no time in connecting with Academy Bank.

With the right financing and the right lender, Mr. Kerman was able to bring his third clinic to life with a quick approval, continuity of service, flexibility to cover unknowns, and operational peace of mind with room to grow.

At Academy Bank, we’re here for our clients -- whatever their needs. With quick answers, access to key decision-makers, and no indecision or hassle, we’re working hard to Make it a Done Deal.

Learn more about our Commercial Lending Solutions.

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