Pub. 4 2016 Issue 1

www.uba.org 22 Volunteering For the Dream of Ending Hunger in Utah on Martin Luther King Day A group of excited Wells Fargo team members, family and friends spent their Martin Luther King Day off making a difference at the Utah Food Bank. The event started with a sit-down presentation with lots of media present. Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski spoke briefly before we disbursed for our projects. This year, Wells Fargo volunteers swapped roles with kids from Youth City, so that they could have a chance to pack food boxes and work side-by-side with the mayor. Wells Fargo volunteers helped clean and store all of the food bank bins that are used for holiday food drive collections. This was our fourth year participating in the holiday event. ZIONS BANK Zions Bank Named Utah’s Top Small Business Lender for 22nd Year Zions Bank is celebrating its 22nd consecutive year as the top provider of Small Business Administration 7(a) loans in Utah. During the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2015, Zions Bank approved 344 loans in Utah, totaling more than $72.1 million in 2015. These loans represented 28 percent of the 1,188 SBA-backed loans approved in the Utah District. The capital provided through Zions Bank’s loans to Utah businesses allowed them to grow so that they could hire 1,333 new employees and maintain 2,439 positions, ac- cording to SBA data. The average loan size was less than $203,000, a strong indicator of the bank’s support for small businesses in Utah. Zions Bank also continues to be a leader in marketing SBA loans to women- and minority-owned businesses, which accounted for 30 percent of the loans approved by Zions Bank during fiscal year 2015. The SBA’s 7(a) program offers up to 25-year, fully amor- tized loans that may be used for most business purposes, including the purchase of real estate for business opera- tions, acquisition of equipment, and working capital. Zions Bank, SUU Launched New English Language Pro- gram Zions Bank announced a partnership with Southern Utah University’s new English Language Program, which sup- ports non-native speakers in achieving English language proficiency. The first cohort was comprised of 10 primarily Latino students who completed the GED program through the SUU Hispanic Center. They were each awarded a $1,000 scholarship to attend the new English Language Program that started in October 2015. “By removing the financial burden through a scholarship, we hope students can be rewarded with advanced language skills that improve not only their lives, but the entire com- munity,” said Scott Anderson, president and CEO of Zions Bank. The English Language Program is a 14-week iTEP prepa- ration class held Monday through Friday for two hours in the evenings. The class prepares students for the iTEP exam, which when passed with a requisite score of 4.1 or higher, provides them with a certificate that can be used to apply for college admission or present for greater employ- ment opportunities. SUU partnered with Zions Bank to fulfill the need for intermediate- and advanced-level English language training in the community. Utah Student Named National Finalist in ABA’s Video Contest A video created by a Manti student was announced as a top three finalist and competed for a $5,000 grand prize in the American Bankers Association’s Lights, Camera, Save! video contest. “Saving Sounds Great,” by Jared Christensen, 18, a senior at Manti High School, was selected by sponsor Zions Bank for inclusion in the national competition. Christensen’s video featured the actual sounds of money made to illus- trate the importance of saving in order to purchase items like a home or a car, or to save for a vacation or to start a family. To participate in Lights, Camera, Save!, students created a short video to educate their peers about the value of saving and using money wisely. Participating banks including Zi- ons Bank judged the entries and selected one winner each for consideration at the national level. n  Bank Kudos — continued from page 21 Wells Fargo team member Gary Rosenthal cleans barrels at the food bank