Valley Green Bank Gets $5 Million From Treasury Department

will receive $5 million from the U.S. Department of the Treasury through its Small Business Lending Fund.

The federal agency announced the decision Wednesday. It's one of four banks statewide to receive an additional $43 million from the fund.

The fund's director, Jason Tepperman, said on a conference call today that 80 banks nationwide had received funding.

"We think these funds will help provide a power spark for econ growth and job creation," he said.

Valley Green Bank's Lesley Seitchik said she believes the bank's role in lending to small businesses helped it get the grant.

Banks are required to apply for funding through the program. It's only open to community banks, and Seitchik said the funding was well publicized.

"We've been very active in lending to small businesses since we opened in 2005," she said. "I think that's one of the things that attracted the Treasury Department to us."

Seitchik said the bank will continue to lend the money in the same way it has already been doing that. She also said she hopes it will spur job creation locally.

"Banks have been given a bad rap because they're sitting on their money," Seitchik said. "We've been lending very briskly throughout the last five years."