Perspectives: Snowbirds

( ) in Kissimmee. In contrast, HSBC Bank USA announced as early as March 2020 that it would close eight South Florida branches, including its Fort Lauderdale 1600 S.E. 17th St., which had $82 million in deposits.

A key role for banks throughout the past year has been in facilitating the Payment Protection Program (PPP). Bank of America significantly outperformed other banking institutions as it approved more than $1.4 billion in loans for about 202,000 businesses in MiamiDade, Broward and Palm Beach counties combined. The silver medal went to City National Bank with $1.2 billion in approved PPP loans. Hundreds of banks relied on their strength in numbers to collectively achieve the rollout of $12.4 billion for local businesses via PPP loans. Among the biggest winners were community and regional banks that demonstrated greater flexibility than their national counterparts and were rewarded with growth in their number of new client accounts.

PPP Loans The PPP was a part of the Coronavirus Aid, Response and Economic Security (CARES) Act designed by the federal government. It was rolled out as aid for the businesses most impacted by the pandemic and employing 500 people or less. The idea behind it was to provide a lifeline to businesses with depleted cash flows to avoid mass layoffs or furloughing of employees during the COVID-19 storm.

Under the auspices of the SBA, the first round of PPP loans by Feb. 16, 2020, totaled 1.66 million loans valued at $342 billion. The second PPP round amounted to 5.2 million loans for $525 billion and the third PPP round counted 7 million loans by February 2021 for $662 billion.

Despite the incontrovertible need for financial aid, by May 2021, “PPP fatigue” was becoming apparent between the three iterations of PPP rounds, constant changes in the requirements and the forgiveness process. As a result, fewer lenders were expected to participate in the next iteration of the program by endof-year 2020.

Moreover, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the American Bankers Association have highlighted chinks in the PPP in the shape of systemic issues, and significant operational and communication challenges — faulty validation checks, the use of 40 different error codes that foster confusion, the loan cap at $35,000 per employee for new applications, to name a few.

PPP loan data revealed in December 2020 that small community banks in South Florida were among the most active PPP lenders throughout last year. Comparing

Louis Rheaume

President – Desjardins Bank I think this will be a good year as soon as the border opens and people travel. For 18 months people have been in confinement and this will be a crazy year, with an influx of money. Now that the Canadian dollar is better against the US dollar, it will be a good time for Canadians to come and invest. The shortage of nice properties may be a problem because the industry is booming and people from the North are migrating South and exerting pressure on the market. However, people will be eager to come and spend time here.

Richard Helber

President & CEO – Tropical Financial Credit Union

Over the last several years, we’ve put a focus on building our digital capabilities and have seen lighter branch tra c, allowing us to reduce the branch network as a result. One of our strategic pillars is mobile first. While there has been strong adoption of online and mobile tools, we saw a spike in the usage of technology by people who would not typically manage their money in that way. We thought when we reopened the branch network there would be a stampede of people coming in, but this hasn’t been the case. There will always be those people who feel more comfortable looking after their finances at the branch but there has certainly been an uptick in digital platform usage.

their Miami-Dade deposit footprint with their total amount of PPP loans approved, American National Bank reached the top of the list with $1 of PPP loans for every $5.77 in deposits. To aid in the process, the SBA also started contacting small businesses directly in February 2021 to inform them they qualify for cash grants from the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Advance program launched in March 2020, which stipulated $10,000 cash grants. For 2021, these grants have morphed into the Targeted EIDL Advance program.

The Fort Lauderdale Village District also made available for local businesses the Emergency Business Investment Program, which offers forgivable loans of $10,000 for small businesses ranging from sole proprietors and partnerships to corporations, and limited liability companies. In parallel, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, in partnership with Axis South Florida, has deployed the South Florida Emergency Response Program. Its purpose is for businesses and nonprofits in Broward and Miami-Dade counties to sign up for free assistance and programs to weather the COVID storm.

Mortgages To support residents in these difficult times, the city of Fort Lauderdale launched the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF), aiming at providing assistance with rent, mortgage and utility payments within Fort Lauderdale city limits. First in line are those who did not receive assistance under the COVID-19 State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) program. Households may receive up to $7,000 in rent and utility assistance and $10,000 in mortgage and utility assistance.

Although construed as a negative metric, mortgage

About 1,000 people move to Florida each day, a trend that has been accelerated by the pandemic.