A Conversation With … Christian Lewis

Simmons Bank is the largest U.S. Small Business Administration loan lender in the 28-county southwest Missouri region. What do you attribute that to?
Our upper management, a long time ago with Liberty Bank, they found a niche and found a way to really make SBA successful. There is a strong need in southwest Missouri for small-business assistance through lending. When you can identify a method and structure of consistently doing SBA loans, you can really capitalize on it. When Simmons came into the picture, they really listened to the way Liberty was doing it in the past. Liberty was No. 1 on the list, too. All along, Simmons said they really wanted to grow the SBA program and really expand on the success that Liberty Bank had. So far, they are doing what they committed to.

Why the increased focus?
Small businesses are the heartbeat of America. If we can find a way to grow them, it not only betters our economy, but also the community. Without small business, it makes it harder for banks to function. They really bring a lot of business to banking in general. If we can find a way to complement each other, it’s best for everyone involved.

A lot of times, people get scared because there are so many guidelines. Simmons Bank has dedicated a department to make sure they can bare a lot of that weight and make it seamless for customers. We really want to be upfront with people. We don’t want to go back and forth with questions.

While Simmons remains the largest, loan totals are down nearly half to 65 in 2015, from 102 in 2014. What’s behind the dip?
I think some of that has to do with the merger. I think there might have been some miscommunication when the Liberty name went away. I think people may have thought some of the SBA lending went away, too. Communication of that focus was lost in the shuffle.

Simmons did $17.4 million across 65 loans, making the average roughly $268,000. Other banks are lending less, but in larger amounts. Does Simmons focus on smaller loans?
I would say $200,000 to $350,000 or $400,000 is kind of the average size loan. In southwest Missouri, that amount of money can really handle a lot of the small-business needs. We are looking for any size loans. Any time we can help a small business of good character with the ability to repay the loan, then we are absolutely going to help them. Some banks that don’t do as many might be looking at special uses to use their SBA tools. We are willing to do a deal as long as they are eligible for SBA, not just in special cases.

How is 2016 so far?
SBA’s fiscal year ended Sept. 30, so through the second quarter we are at about 58 loans so far this year. With Liberty Bank, we were mostly condensed to Missouri; now we are across four states – Missouri, Kansas, Tennessee and Arkansas. There are branches in all four of those states, but Springfield is the hub for all of those markets. All SBA loans come though this office.

We want to continue to climb the ladder, not only in Missouri, but nationally. We are on the SBA’s top 100 lender list, I think around the top 50 right now.

Following a post-recession bump, SBA-based loan activity in the Springfield metropolitan statistical area has steadily declined, falling to $49.1 million last year from a 2012 high of $86.3 million. Why do you think that is?
People have been cautious not to get themselves in trouble and to realize what happened in that 2008, 2009 time period. There is hesitancy there and banks tightened up on what they could do. As we get further away from those dates, banks are loosening up on what they can do. The (Federal Reserve) recently raised interest rates, so I think that confidence is starting to come back all around.