Kentucky’s banks are also fighting the effects of coronavirus by helping communities

Kentucky’s bankers have spent the past six weeks on the economic front of the war on COVID-19. With banks in the position of being the conduit for the CARES Act’s massive aid program to minimize job loss during the pandemic, we’ve seen some heroic labors.

We will rightfully hear more about those who risked their lives to fight the disease than we will hear about those who fought for our livelihoods. But I feel compelled to share what I’ve witnessed of the fight to save our jobs and businesses.

Kentucky has never had more reason to be glad of the offices held by our federal legislators. With Mitch McConnell as Senate Majority Leader and Andy Barr as a senior member on the House Committee on Financial Services, Kentucky’s needs were a part of every conversation in the design of the CARES Act. We’ve seen McConnell, Barr and their staffs work around the clock ever since its difficult implementation.

Congressman Barr has conferenced weekly by phone with community banks of every size statewide, asking what their customers and communities need. When urgent issues came up, he was on phone calls in the middle of the night. He and his staff helped us review every word of the draft legislation and forms to spot issues that slow down loan processing. If a bank was having problems getting into the overwhelmed government servers with loan applications, he and his staff offered to hand walk their information to the SBA.

Meanwhile, Kentucky’s banks are also working around the clock, seven days a week, to get their communities full access to the CARES Act funds. One bank’s staff finally got into the loan application servers on a Sunday afternoon. Others were getting through at 2:00 or 3:00 AM, having been at computer terminals for days in the attempt. As of April 7, most of our banks have gotten in, and the rest will follow soon with the help of legislators like McConnell, Barr and their staff.

Kentucky’s bankers, like their neighbors, span the entire political spectrum. As to these officeholders, including our governor, who are making Kentucky a national success story during the pandemic, some supported them. Some supported their opponents. Yet this pandemic has most of us judging those we’ve elected on the basis of their effectiveness as opposed to their party affiliation. We’ll be a stronger state if we can manage not to forget that when this crisis ends.

Ballard W. Cassady, Jr. is the president & CEO of the Kentucky Bankers Association.

This story was originally published April 10, 2020 at 11:14 AM.