Harmony Bank Closes on $3.5 Million of Preferred Stock
Harmony Bank, with headquarters in Jackson, N.J., announced today that it has closed on a $3.5 million sale of preferred stock to the U.S. Department of the Treasury as part of the U.S. Treasury’s Small Business Lending Fund program, established by Congress under the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Michael A. Schutzer, said, “We are pleased that Harmony Bank has been approved for the U.S. Treasury Small Business Lending Fund program. The capital that we have received under this program will allow us to continue to serve small business-sized clients in Ocean and Monmouth counties through our commercial lending and owner occupied real estate lending programs.
“For small community banks, such as Harmony, access to the equity markets has been quite limited; therefore, raising new capital to support our balance sheet growth has not been an attractive option in the past. Providing equity capital to healthy community banks, like ours, should result in continued lending to the small business community, which should eventually lead to job growth in that sector.”
According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, small businesses employ roughly one-half of all Americans and account for about 60 percent of gross job creation. Mr. Schutzer noted, “Since Harmony Bank has been fortunate enough to grow its qualified commercial loan balances well over 10 percent relative to the base period, Harmony Bank will initially pay a 1 percent dividend rate on the Series A Preferred Stock, which is the lowest rate available under the program. The preferred securities will be accounted for as a component of Harmony Bank’s regulatory Tier 1 capital.”
Harmony Bank is a commercial bank, incorporated and chartered by the State of New Jersey with headquarters in Jackson, N.J. Harmony Bank opened September 2, 2008. Its deposits are insured by the FDIC. In addition to its headquarters, Harmony Bank also operates a full service branch in Lakewood, N.J.
Harmony Bank’s primary lending focus is real estate finance, as well as loans to small businesses and professionals in its local market area. Harmony Bank provides a complete menu of commercial products including lines of credit, term loans, commercial mortgages and SBA loans. Harmony Bank also offers personal savings and checking accounts including interest-bearing free checking and other competitive interest-bearing accounts, such as Money Markets, IRAs and CDs.
Additional information can be found at www.myharmonybank.com. For further information, contact Michael Schutzer at 732-364-0088.