01/13/2017 by Rachel Sapin – Albuquerque Business First
Los Alamos National Bank, which recently announced it raised $52 million to pay off outstanding debt, announced this week that it had awarded a zero percent interest loan of $500,000 to the Loan Fund of New Mexico.
The loan makes LANB the largest bank investor in the nonprofit organization.
Stan Sluder, chief lending officer at Los Alamos National Bank, said since 2011, LANB had offered a $200,000 zero-interest loan to the Loan Fund of New Mexico. The Loan Fund is the state’s oldest nonprofit community lending organization. Sluder said LANB is committed to helping the nonprofit because economic growth in New Mexico should come from sources other than government spending.
“This year, since we’ve made progress towards our goals, we increased it,” he said.
He said the Loan Fund helps businesses get to a level where they’re ready to be serviced by traditional banks. The Loan Fund is a nonprofit community lender providing lines of credit to small businesses, business startups and nonprofits throughout New Mexico that typically are unable to obtain financing through traditional lending sources.
The Loan Fund has $13.2 million in loans outstanding across New Mexico, with about 60 percent of those loans to small businesses and nonprofit organizations in the Albuquerque area. The Loan Fund’s services support over 1,200 New Mexican jobs, according to the organization.
“We are excited Los Alamos National Bank increased their investment to $500,000.00 in order to help New Mexico’s small businesses,” said Loan Fund President and CEO Leroy Pacheco in a statement. “On behalf of The Loan Fund’s Board and Staff, it is an honor to partner with one of New Mexico’s largest community banks.”
