HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Representatives from Texas Capital Bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) on Wednesday announced $200,000 in Small Business Recovery grants to assist 15 Houston, Texas-area small businesses with hurricane recovery efforts.
FHLB Dallas made available to members, like Texas Capital Bank, $6.7 million in recovery grants, including $2.25 million in Small Business Recovery grants to assist small businesses with rebuilding and/or repairs.
“If Hurricane Harvey has showed us anything, it’s that the silver lining in a disaster is a community quickly pulling together to bring light to an otherwise dark time,” said Bill Wilson, Chairman of Texas Capital Bank’s Houston Region. “Through the great work of the Federal Home Loan Bank, we were able to grant $200,000 in grant funds to 15 small businesses across the Houston metropolitan area. We remain committed to helping small businesses across the Houston metropolitan area.”
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee’s District Counsel Booker Morris attended the event and presented Texas Capital Bank and FHLB Dallas with a Certificate of Congressional Recognition for their support of the recovery of small businesses.
State Representative Carol Alvarado, Texas House District 145, also attended. “I am glad the private sector has stepped up to the plate and is proactively helping small businesses get back on their feet,” said Representative Alvarado.
One of the businesses helped by a grant was BreWingZ Restaurant & Bar. Twenty-five BreWingZ locations were impacted by Hurricane Harvey. Most locations shut down for at least three days following the storm and one location was closed for more than a month, said Manish Agrawal, the company’s president.
The restaurant reopened as quickly as possible so they could get their employees back to work and open their doors to serve first responders and other community members who needed a hot meal. Even though the restaurant was amid its own recovery efforts, it held fundraisers to raise money for the Houston Food Bank, where many of the employees also volunteered their time.
“Having cash is one of the biggest issues when it comes down to recovery,” said Mr. Agrawal. “The grant helped us resume operations quickly so we could pay salaries to people who really needed them the most, and it helped us get back on our feet to serve the community. Having a banker like Texas Capital that really understands our business and treats us less like a business and more like a partner, and having programs like these really do help us get back on our feet.”
In the aftermath of the hurricane, The Green Bone, a doggy day care in Houston, shut down for two weeks to deal with roof damage and flooding. A dozen dogs were housed at the facility while their owners were unable to get to them from other parts of the country or were displaced by the hurricane, said owner J.P. Capistran.
The Green Bone used the grants to pay staff who returned to work to help with the dogs. “Without the grant, we would have incurred a financial loss,” he said. “We didn’t have any help from insurance.”
Helping members help their communities, including small businesses, recover after Harvey was just the right thing to do, said Greg Hettrick, a first vice president and director of Community Investment at FHLB Dallas.
“Our members come first at FHLB Dallas, so what is important to them is also important to us,” said Mr. Hettrick. We were hearing first-hand accounts from our community bankers of the devastation in Houston, so in looking for ways we could help these communities recover, we set aside dollars to help not only homeowners, but also small businesses and community organizations involved in recovery efforts.”
In addition to the Small Business Recovery grants, FHLB Dallas also made available through its members $4.5 million in Homeowner Recovery grants and $225,000 for community-based organizations.
Several of the business owners helped by the grants through Texas Capital Bank attended the event, which was held at The Green Bone.
“I want to thank the banks for the grant and for reaching out and assisting the small business community,” said Mr. Capistran. “We are so grateful for the grant. Without it we would have been delayed in getting back on our feet and we wouldn’t have been able to help our customers, who were also in need of help and were displaced.”
About Texas Capital Bank
Texas Capital Bank, N.A. is a commercial bank that delivers highly personalized financial services to businesses and entrepreneurs. We are headquartered in Texas working with clients throughout the state and across the country. Texas Capital Bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ®: TCBI) and is recognized as a Forbes Best Banks in America and the Dallas Morning News’ Top 100 Places To Work company. For more information, visit www.texascapitalbank.com. Member FDIC.
About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank System created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $66.4 billion as of September 30, 2017, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community investment by providing competitively priced loans and other credit products to approximately 840 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. For more information, visit fhlb.com.
