BN Market Trends with Busey Bank's Tom Good
On episode #23 of Building BN, BNEDC President/CEO Patrick Hoban and Project Manager Nik Duffle speak with Tom Good, Market President at Busey Bank. They talk about the local economy, attempt to uncover the reasons why Bloomington really is the best city to live in, pandemic, or not, and discuss the importance of economic development to a community like Bloomington-Normal.
Good, an alumni of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, relocated from Florida to Central Illinois in 2011. He heads up commercial, retail, and wealth management operations for Busey Bank in McLean and Livingston Counties. Considered a regional bank, Busey has branches in Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana, as well as operations in Fort Myers, Florida. The bank recently announced a merger with Glenview State Bank, which will increase branches in the Chicagoland area.
Busey Bank has been instrumental in helping local businesses navigate the at-times confusing process of securing funds through the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). This loan program, currently in round two, helps businesses affected by the pandemic. Good explains, “It's not too difficult to process, we have to look over (an application) and then the SBA looks it over. It takes some time, but it's a good program. It has a lot of merit this time. It seems like it's a little more focused on need.Your gross revenues need to be impacted by covid (to qualify).”
Good remains optimistic about the local economy, post-COVID-19, while still acknowledging how hard 2020 was for a lot of businesses. He says, “You know, those strategic relationships and mutual support among business has kept a lot of people around, nationwide. And here, too, we've really been lucky here. But still, there are some people that are hurting.”
For more information about Busey Bank or for information about starting an account, please visit their website. You can listen to Episode #23 of Building BN in its entirety here. You can search open positions at Busey Bank here.
