LaToya Ashé
AVP, Internal Audit
Above are a few members of our PPP team who tirelessly balanced their primary responsibilities while helping navigate our small business customers through the PPP relief process.
Clockwise, from top left: John Bykowski, Application Services Manager, IT, Chelsie Hatoway, Business Solutions Manager, IT, Phil Kryder, First Vice President, Special Projects, Administration, LaToya Ashé, AVP, Internal Audit, Deepu Sondhe, AVP, Commercial Deposits and Treasury Management, Heather Whitaker, Executive Assistant, Cynthia Jones, Loan Operations Specialist, Retail Banking Operations, Tom Smith, Regional Vice President, Commercial Banking
For over 20 years, First Internet Bank has built its reputation on understanding the needs of small business owners. So when government-implemented measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 began to adversely affect our small business customers across the country, we established a cross-functional team of more than 30 associates to collaboratively strategize, plan and roll out the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to provide much-needed financial relief to those who needed it most. “Even as the program was still evolving, we knew we needed to offer support to our customers,” said Chelsie Hatoway, First Internet Bank’s Business Solutions Manager, IT. “So we dove in head first with a full understanding of what was at stake.”
Those round-the-clock efforts helped customers across a wide range of industries, including food service, not-for-profit organizations, construction and retail maintain their operations and payroll when the economic outlook was often uncertain. Before the PPP funds had been exhausted, our lending teams had essentially worked around the clock to successfully enroll 456 small business clients in the program, infusing $58 million in capital and liquidity into our local economies.
We always approach new challenges with an entrepreneurial spirit, and that notion provided the foundation for our PPP team. From applying e-signature technology that ensured all transactions were conducted remotely, to educating our customer-facing employees who were guiding our clients through a new process, we seamlessly delivered an effective digital experience under extraordinary time constraints and conditions. “There was so much anxiety across the country that business owners were rightfully concerned about their operations and the well-being of their families and their employees,” said Tom Smith, First Internet Bank, Regional Vice President Commercial Banking. “To hear from our customers the gratitude and sense of relief we helped provide made the focus on securing PPP loans well worth the effort.” While challenges endure at many small businesses, we are proud of our collective efforts to help fellow entrepreneurs return to more normal conditions.
