Sevierville bank president to head development corporation

David Verble, president of Citizen’s National Bank of Sevierville, was elected president of the board of directors of Areawide Development Corporation at its annual meeting Tuesday, September 13, at Egwani Farms Golf Course in Rockford. As president of the board, Verble will oversee policymaking for Areawide, a not-for-profit corporation that markets and processes Small Business Administration Section 504 loans and makes direct loans to small businesses under several state and federally funded loan programs.Other officers elected were: Kent Bewley, president and CEO, Bewley Properties Inc., Greenville, vice president; Teri Brahams, director, East Tennessee Small Business Development Center, – Pellissippi State Technical Community College, Knoxville, secretary, and Daryl Brady, executive vice president, Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce, Dandridge, treasurer. Also elected to the board of directors were Townsend Collins broker, Knoxville; Harry Glass, a retired banker from Morristown; Steve Jones, senior vice President / manager of Commercial Real Estate, Home Federal Bank of Tennessee, Knoxville; Jim McBrearty, president, McBrearty Capital Management, Knoxville, and Michael T. Christian, a retired banker and local businessman from Johnson City.The volunteer board of directors meets quarterly to review loan applications and consider other policy matters. Areawide Development Corporation, which recently moved from Knoxville to 301 McGhee St. in Maryville, as formed in 1981 and designated a certified development company by the U.S. Small Business Administration in 1982 to market and process Section 504 loans. It is one of such five certified development companies across the state. Areawide markets its services to area banks, which together make loans to eligible small businesses. Areawide also prepares the SBA loan application documents. Under the SBA 504 Loan program, partner banks fund 50 percent of eligible capital projects; the SBA provides 40 percent of the capital funding, and the loan recipient provides a 10 percent down payment. In addition to the SBA 504 loan program, Areawide provides funding through two other loan programs, the Rural Development Intermediate Relending Program and the East Tennessee Development District Revolving Loan Fund. These programs are designed to help businesses where loans may be considered non-conforming by conventional lenders. ADC also provides workshops for banks to explain the benefits of these programs, and prepares the applications for businesses seeking loans under these programs.