The Little Big Bank Win

MIAMI’S AMERANT BANK WINS A PRESTIGIOUS AWARD FOR FINANCING SMALL BUSINESS EXPORTS

BY JOSEPH A. MANN JR.

In 2022, Inc. Magazine rated Totalynk as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. The firm, a B2B distributor of mobile phones, computers, and other electronic equipment to Latin America and the Caribbean, is based in the Miami suburb of Doral – and could not have grown as rapidly without help from local bank Amerant.

Andres Rodriguez, co-founder and CEO of Totalynk, says that Amerant’s trade financing last year was “essential” for the company’s expansion. “Since we were growing very fast, we needed access to more capital to buy inventory that customers were requesting, and to finance invoices for network operators and big retail chains in the Latin market,” says Rodriguez, whose 10-employee firm supplies more than 500 companies in the region.

Totalynk is just one of dozens of small exporters that Amerant helped finance, earning the community bank the prestigious 2023 Export Lender of the Year Award from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The award honors lenders who excel in promoting international finance programs to small businesses, helping them develop new markets and finance exports.

Amerant extended over $20 million in financing support to small business exporters under SBA’s Export Working Capital Program during SBA’s fiscal year 2022, representing a major share of its small business lending. The SBA provides government guarantees for approved loans made by private banks, lowering the bank’s credit risk.

During the SBA’s FY2022, Amerant was the third-largest lender in the country under the program that provides working capital for exports. “Export loans originated by Amerant supported more the $131 million in export sales,” says Daniel J. Pische, national director of trade finance at the SBA’s Office of International Trade.

Headed by chairman and CEO Jerry Plush, Amerant is Florida’s largest community bank and has steadily built its small business credit portfolio. Community banks focus on serving people and businesses living in their geographical area, obtain most deposits from these communities, provide loans to local businesses, and have less than $10 billion in assets. Amerant is based in the Miami suburb of Coral Cables.

Yvonne Boucugnani, first vice president at Amerant and head of the bank’s SBA lending program, says that Amerant has been working on export loans with small businesses for more than 10 years. “We are committed to helping provide access to capital to small businesses exporters in our markets,” she says. “Our team members are experts at understanding local exporters’ needs, including purchase order financing, asset-based facilities, and international trade.”

In addition to its loans to Totalynk, for example, Amerant also finances small businesses that export wholesale chemicals and are manufacturers of high-quality animal by-products and animal proteins, among others.

As of year-end 2022, Amerant Bank had over 690 employees, assets of almost $9.13 billion, loans of $6.92 billion, and deposits of $7 billion. It is the main subsidiary of Amerant Bancorp Inc., also headquartered in Coral Gables. The bank has 16 banking centers in South Florida, seven in Houston, Texas, and a loan production office in Tampa. Amerant Bancorp is traded on the NASDAQ under AMTB.

The SBA offers three export loan programs for small businesses: the Export Working Capital Program (EWCP); a credit line covering purchase orders and receivable financing; and an International Trade Loan that finances the building of export capacity and production reshoring. Amerant worked with Totalynk to find the right SBA financing plan, explained the procedures, and secured the credit they needed. “Without access to that SBA program with Amerant, we would not be where we are now,” says Totalynk’s Rodriguez. l

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