Over the past year, we’ve thanked healthcare workers, first responders, and PPE manufacturers for their work in combating the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is one type of institution whose pandemic response has been overlooked—small and community banks in Maryland.

When the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in 2020, businesses jumped at the chance to apply in order to keep their workers employed. Local bank employees put in long hours to process PPP funding, with nearly 170,000 Maryland businesses receiving loans from the program. This resulted in billions of dollars in financial assistance to keep businesses afloat during uncertain times.

We recently sat down with Robert Goetz, president of Middletown Valley Bank and current chairman of the Maryland Bankers Association, to learn more about the role local banks have played during the pandemic.

Small and community banks have played a major part in distributing PPP loans over the past year. What is it like being chairman of the Maryland Bankers Association during this unprecedented event?

From the very beginning of the pandemic, to see all banks respond accordingly was amazing. The Association held regular calls to discuss updates and challenges, and staff worked closely with legislators and elected officials to help protect Maryland businesses, citizens, and the communities they serve.

We coined the term ‘economic first responders’ as our role during the pandemic, and the stories are the same across the board. We helped people that were laid off, or whose businesses were shuttered, through these hard times. We had to make sure branches were open so people could access their money. And we had to make sure the phones were manned, in order to ease and calm the fears of businesses being closed for an unknown amount of time.

I’ve never been more proud to be in the banking industry—to see the 30,000 bankers that serve the state come together and focus on what is right for the community, making sure we went into this safely, and work to come out stronger on the other side.

Can you explain what the “supply and demand'' was like for PPP? Was there a question if Maryland’s local banks could keep up with the requests?

We put out tremendous amounts of money in that first round, and we’re still processing round two of funding until the end of May. All banks, regardless of size, did a great job serving the business community and making sure they were okay, particularly our smaller and community banks in more rural communities. Whether it was in Western Maryland or on the Eastern Shore, all the small banks really focused their attention on their customers. They also focused on non-customers to make sure the businesses that employ people in their communities had access to necessary resources.

As president of Middletown Valley Bank, what role has your financial institution played in supporting small businesses from Frederick County and the surrounding region during COVID-19?

The initial introduction of PPP was very chaotic. Customers were very nervous about money running out, and banks were prepared to jump on the portal as soon as it opened. I remember that first weekend, I had about nine people that worked 22 hours per day in a three day span to make sure we were taking care of our customers. Smaller banks divided their resources and worked hours and hours to make sure everyone was taken care of. Our bank alone processed 960 PPP loans, which impacted nearly 12,000 jobs in Frederick and Washington County.

In April, Middletown received an email from a customer that was so heartfelt, about what it meant to him that the bank was there to support him. The letter made its way to each person working on PPP, and you could see the look on everyone’s face that made all this work worth it. I’ve really never been more proud to see what the entire industry did for their communities.

What is the importance of a local bank to the community, and what can Marylanders do to support them?

This process has re-established what smaller and community banks mean to the region. Small and community banks are small businesses. At the heart of it, they are no different than the small businesses that operate down the street. And to help all small businesses survive, we need to shop locally, dine locally, and bank locally.

In round one, Maryland financial institutions provided 87,007 PPP loans, and so far in round two have provided 82,621 loans. In total, loans totaling more than $14.6 billion have been provided to Maryland businesses. To learn more about COVID-19 resources for businesses, click here.