Image by Inside Tucson Business
TUCSON, AZ (April 26, 2018) excerpt via INSIDE TUCSON BUSINESS - Community banks are critically important in Arizona, providing half of all small business loans in the state despite holding only seven percent of deposits.
A recent Harris poll revealed that 70 percent of Arizona residents place the highest trust in community banks, and yet large banks are increasingly dominating the market. As large banks typically invest their money worldwide, there is less money flowing through local banks into the immediate community.
“Credit unions and community banks are critically important as providers of credit to small businesses as they serve thousands of communities that are underserved, or not served at all, by larger non-community banks across the nation,” Michael Peel of Local First Arizona writes. “They provide a traditional approach to banking with a focus on using local deposits to reinvest in the local community through lending and retaining more dollars in our community through locally-owned businesses.”
