Pacific Mercantile Bank Provides Critical Support to Southern California Businesses With Over $290 Million in Paycheck Protection Program Loans

COSTA MESA, Calif., June 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pacific Mercantile Bank (“the Bank”), the wholly owned subsidiary of Pacific Mercantile Bancorp (NASDAQ: PMBC), today announced that it has originated over $290 million in Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans through June 15th for almost 700 businesses in Southern California.  The businesses assisted by Pacific Mercantile Bank in accessing the PPP funding represent an aggregate workforce of more than 36,000 employees. 

Following the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES” Act) on March 27, 2020 that created the PPP, Pacific Mercantile Bank was able to quickly establish its PPP loan application process and begin processing applications on April 3, 2020, the first day of the program’s implementation by the Small Business Administration. 

In step with their consultative approach to their clients, Pacific Mercantile Bank created a to help them fully understand and prepare for the loan forgiveness process of the PPP, including:

• A video providing guidance on how to maximize loan forgiveness
• A loan forgiveness calculation tool to help companies track eligible expenses and determine loan forgiveness amount
• A video tutorial on how to utilize the loan forgiveness calculation tool
• A downloadable checklist of eligible expenses and a loan forgiveness resource guide

The PPP web page created by Pacific Mercantile Bank has been a valuable tool for keeping their clients updated on changes made by Congress and the SBA, as the program has evolved.  In the coming weeks, an online application for requesting loan forgiveness will be launched to make the process as quick and efficient as possible for Pacific Mercantile Bank clients.

As with all of its commercial clients, Pacific Mercantile Bank’s PPP borrowers are able to utilize the Bank’s proprietary tool at no charge.  Horizon Analytics is a customized financial modeling tool that helps companies plan for long term success by building cash flow forecasts, assess profitability under various scenarios, and identify optimal capital structures.

“The role of community banks in supporting local economies and businesses has never been more important than it is now as we deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Brad R. Dinsmore, President & CEO of .  “I’m incredibly proud of the hard work our team did in just a few days to set up our PPP application process, begin proactively reaching out to clients to determine if they wanted to utilize the PPP funding, and then quickly getting applications processed and funded so that businesses could maintain operations and continue paying employees on time.  Our process was so efficient that we were able to open it up to new clients that weren’t being helped by their previous bank.  To date, we have added close to 300 new clients as a result of our assistance in helping them apply for a PPP loan.  After funding PPP loans for our clients, we have stayed in close contact to help them understand how to successfully qualify for loan forgiveness, keep them apprised of changes to the criteria, and guide them through the forgiveness process.

“We are excited to have the opportunity to introduce our Horizon Analytics tool to these new clients.  The insight provided by Horizon Analytics is unlike any analysis and advice they have received from a community bank and will be extremely valuable in helping them to evaluate and plan for possible recovery scenarios as the economy strengthens in the future.  From the immediate assistance of helping clients access PPP funding to the value we provide in long-term strategic and financial planning with Horizon Analytics, we have never been better positioned to fulfill our mission To Help Companies Succeed,” said Mr. Dinsmore.

About Pacific Mercantile Bank

Pacific Mercantile Bancorp (NASDAQ: PMBC) is the parent holding company of Pacific Mercantile Bank, which opened for business March 1, 1999. The Bank, which is an FDIC insured, California state-chartered bank and a member of the Federal Reserve System, provides a wide range of commercial banking services to businesses, business professionals and individual clients. The Bank is headquartered in Orange County and has seven locations in Southern California, located in Orange, Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Bernardino counties. The Bank offers tailored flexible solutions for its clients including an array of loan and deposit products, sophisticated treasury management services, and comprehensive online banking services accessible at .

About Horizon Analytics®

Horizon Analytics is Pacific Mercantile Bank’s proprietary financial tool that provides a level of insight and analysis uncommon for middle-market private businesses. Using a proprietary private company database and financial analysis techniques typically available only to large public companies, Horizon Analytics helps businesses understand how their financial performance compares to their competitors and develop a detailed multi-year financial forecast to assist with capital planning and business investment.  Through the insight provided by Horizon Analytics, Pacific Mercantile Bank helps its clients navigate challenges, capitalize on opportunities, and look into the future, far beyond a company’s day-to-day activities.  Learn more about Horizon Analytics and Pacific Mercantile Bank’s commitment to helping companies succeed at .

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains statements regarding our expectations, beliefs and views about our plans to continue to build our loan portfolio and supporting systems and processes.  These statements, which constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Often, they include words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "estimate," "project," or words of similar meaning, or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could," or "may." These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the results discussed in these forward-looking statements because such statements are inherently subject to significant assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and are generally beyond our control. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following: the impact of interest rates and other external economic factors and competition among financial services providers. We undertake no obligation (and expressly disclaim any such obligation) to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For additional information concerning factors that could cause actual conditions, events or results to materially differ from those described in the forward-looking statements, please refer to the factors set forth under the headings "Risk Factors" in our most recent Form 10-K and 10-Q reports and to our most recent Form 8-K reports, which are available online at . No assurances can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what impact they will have on our results of operations or financial condition.

Pacific Mercantile Bank Contact:

Sean Foley

Chief Banking Officer

714-277-1495