Public Meeting Regarding Norwest Corporation and Wells Fargo & Company
Thursday, September 17, 1998
Transcript of Panel Two
41
5
6 MS. BANSEN: Good morning, Ms. Smith and 09:51:44
7 Members of the Board. Thank you for the opportunity 09:51:46
8 to be here this morning. My name is Kirsten Bansen. 09:51:48
9 I'm with the Minnesota Housing Partnership. We're a 09:51:52
10 state-wide nonprofit organization, and one of our 09:51:54
11 major roles is to support the nonprofit housing 09:51:58
12 sector in its work, particularly in greater 09:52:02
13 Minnesota. Before expressing our concerns related 09:52:04
14 to the merger, we'd like to make note of the value 09:52:08
15 of Norwest Corporation to Minnesota nonprofits 09:52:12
16 working in the field of affordable housing. 09:52:14
17 Norwest has been a generous and consistent 09:52:16
18 supporter of nonprofit developers and housing 09:52:20
19 agencies in many Minnesota communities. For 09:52:22
20 example, Norwest has committed five years of funding 09:52:24
21 at an interest rate of one percent to 27 Minnesota 09:52:26
22 based affiliates of Habitat for Humanity. Norwest 09:52:30
23 was an initial sponsor and has been a constant 09:52:34
24 supporter of the Home Ownership Center, the
25 organization funding and assisting nonprofit housing
42
1 counseling programs in the Twin Cities. Norwest has 09:52:42
2 also been a major contributor to the Twin Cities and 09:52:44
3 Duluth programs of the Local Initiatives Support 09:52:48
4 Corporation (LISC). This provides technical and 09:52:52
5 financial support to community development 09:52:54
6 corporations operating in these cities. Through its 09:52:56
7 affiliate, the National Equity Fund, Norwest has 09:53:02
8 invested 8 million in nonprofit-sponsored low income 09:53:04
9 housing tax credit projects. Norwest was one of the 09:53:10
10 founding members and is a continuing supporter of 09:53:10
11 the Greater Minneapolis Housing Corporation, a 09:53:14
12 nonprofit innovator of homeowner assistance 09:53:16
13 programs. 09:53:20
14 And, finally, Norwest has been a major 09:53:20
15 contributor to nonprofit housing agencies in smaller 09:53:22
16 metropolitan communities, such as Rochester, where 09:53:26
17 it was the first significant funder of the Community 09:53:28
18 Housing Partnership, a development agency serving 09:53:32
19 two southeastern Minnesota counties. 09:53:34
20 In addition to the direct financial support 09:53:36
21 provided to nonprofit housing agencies, Norwest 09:53:38
22 indirectly supports the work of these agencies in 09:53:42
23 two important ways. First, it has been a major 09:53:44
24 supplier of capital to the State Housing Finance 09:53:46
25 Agency, whose programs are utilized by nonprofits 09:53:50
43
1 across the state. 09:53:54
2 Second, and most importantly, Norwest, through 09:53:54
3 its many branches in Minnesota, particularly in 09:53:56
4 smaller towns, provides a source of community 09:54:00
5 leadership. Frequently Norwest branch managers and 09:54:02
6 loan officers contribute their financial expertise 09:54:06
7 and advocate on behalf of community development 09:54:10
8 projects, thereby enabling nonprofit agencies to 09:54:12
9 make Minnesota communities more viable. 09:54:16
10 It is because Norwest has been so significant 09:54:18
11 to this industry in Minnesota that we ask for a 09:54:22
12 concrete assurance that the merged corporation, once 09:54:24
13 headquartered in California, will not forget its 09:54:26
14 reinvestment obligations in this state. We agree 09:54:30
15 with Minnesota's U.S. Representative Bruce Vento 09:54:32
16 that there's a risk that the bi-coastal 09:54:34
17 concentrations of financial services may lead to 09:54:38
18 diminished community involvement and investment in 09:54:42
19 the nation's heartland. 09:54:44
20 In the September 10 letter to the Federal 09:54:44
21 Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Stanley Stroup, the 09:54:50
22 Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the 09:54:50
23 Norwest Corporation, addressed many of our concerns. 09:54:52
24 Mr. Stroup wrote that, post-merger, the strong ties 09:54:56
25 to Minnesota will remain, branch locations will not 09:55:00
44
1 be changed, and the bank will remain a member of the 09:55:02
2 Des Moine Federal Home Loan Bank. It is vital to 09:55:06
3 Minnesota that the merged institution follow through 09:55:08
4 on Mr. Stroup's assurances. 09:55:10
5 In addition to what he wrote, however, we 09:55:12
6 believe that it is equally important that as a part 09:55:14
7 of this merger, Wells-Norwest, the new Wells Fargo, 09:55:16
8 make a commitment to an investment pledged to 09:55:20
9 Minnesota and other states in its service region 09:55:22
10 that is similar to the multi-billion dollar 09:55:26
11 commitment that was made to California. The new 09:55:28
12 Norwest should make parallel pledges to these states 09:55:30
13 proportionate to that one made in California based 09:55:34
14 on the relative amounts of deposits obtained by the 09:55:36
15 bank from the respective states. 09:55:40
16 In conclusion, we appreciate what has been done 09:55:42
17 and what has been promised by Norwest Corporation 09:55:44
18 and Wells Fargo & Company, but we also believe that 09:55:46
19 the risks are very high for our state. Minnesota is 09:55:50
20 losing one of its most important corporate 09:55:52
21 headquarters. In addition to the general 09:55:56
22 commitments made by these banks to Minnesota, 09:55:58
23 Norwest-Wells should identify a dollar amount that 09:56:00
24 they can commit that will enable Minnesota and like 09:56:04
25 states to meet their needs for community 09:56:08
45
1 reinvestment. 09:56:10
2 Thank you for your time. 09:56:10
3
4 CHAIRPERSON SMITH: Thank you very much. 09:56:12
5 We'll go next to Mr. Bryant. 09:56:12
6
7 MR. BRYANT: Good morning. 09:56:14
8
9 CHAIRPERSON SMITH: Good morning.
10
11 MR. BRYANT: In an effort to keep my 09:56:16
12 remarks within the lines of your time line, I'm 09:56:16
13 going to abridge my remarks. The full text of the 09:56:20
14 testimony is available outside for anyone who wants 09:56:24
15 a copy. 09:56:26
16 Allow me to begin my prepared remarks by 09:56:26
17 reminding us all that CRA is not a government 09:56:30
18 mandated corporate give-away program or that 09:56:34
19 minority thing that a company does, nor the 09:56:38
20 loss-leader activity a financial institution engages 09:56:40
21 in in order to simply continue to conduct its normal 09:56:44
22 or traditional business practices. In short, CRA 09:56:48
23 simply means new markets. 09:56:52
24 Former U.S. Comptroller Ludwig often referred 09:56:56
25 to the democratization of credit America as it 09:56:56
46
1 relates to the historic evolution of credit 09:56:58
2 availability and access to credit in this country. 09:57:02
3 Bless you. In fact, in the year 1901, most 09:57:04
4 middle-aged, middle income Caucasians -- arguably 09:57:10
5 the underwriting standard that modern day criteria 09:57:12
6 has been fashioned around -- could not themselves 09:57:14
7 obtain credit, precisely because the only credit 09:57:16
8 available in 1901 was a commercial credit. 09:57:20
9 Continuing along this line of thought, one of the 09:57:22
10 safest and most acceptable forms of credit 09:57:26
11 collateral during this time was in fact inventory, 09:57:28
12 one of the least perceived safe forms of collateral 09:57:30
13 today. The point here is that CRA is not about some 09:57:32
14 new form of social subsidy, but a serious new, 09:57:36
15 substantial and permanent evolution in the 09:57:40
16 democratization of credit process. Low to moderate 09:57:42
17 income communities are growing segments of our 09:57:44
18 larger national economy and community, and, as such, 09:57:46
19 should represent a substantial component of any 09:57:50
20 bank's future business strategy. 09:57:52
21 Turning my attention to this new merger 09:57:54
22 proposal, let me say that the company I know best 09:57:56
23 here is Wells Fargo & Company, or as we say in 09:57:58
24 California, Wells Fargo. It is, of course, no 09:58:02
25 secret that Wells Fargo has moved aggressively away 09:58:04
47
1 from their traditional branch network that most of 09:58:08
2 us grew up on, and they have likewise moved toward 09:58:10
3 the technology and information based system on 09:58:12
4 banking. It is also fairly common within the bank 09:58:16
5 that I have sparred with officials from Wells Fargo 09:58:18
6 on occasion concerning their inner city strategy. 09:58:20
7 This said, from a business perspective, I happen to 09:58:24
8 believe that the bank's overall strategy is a smart 09:58:28
9 one. Branch banking as we know it is a memory of 09:58:32
10 the past, but our communities are not. 09:58:36
11 Wells Fargo's general success with this new
12 approach to banking over the past few years is 09:58:40
13 precisely why Wells Fargo loves their stock. The 09:58:40
14 downside to this general strategy, unfortunately, is 09:58:44
15 that relationship based communities were less than 09:58:46
16 thrilled. Wall Street is a left brain thinker, and 09:58:48
17 communities tend to be more contextual in their 09:58:52
18 understanding, or as I would call right brain 09:58:54
19 thinkers. In short, communities were saying we want 09:58:56
20 high-touch, too, Wells Fargo. 09:58:58
21 To the bank's credit, in time they began to 09:59:00
22 realize there was a true win-win business strategy 09:59:04
23 here in marrying high tech and high touch. Our 09:59:06
24 recent $1.4 million partnership between Operation 09:59:10
25 HOPE and Wells Fargo to build and operate an 09:59:12
48
1 Operation HOPE banking center in the low income 09:59:16
2 Watts/Willowbrook area of Los Angeles, is in our 09:59:18
3 opinion one of the many examples of how the bank has 09:59:20
4 successfully moved to bridge the gap. This new 09:59:22
5 banking center, like the two we currently operate in 09:59:26
6 black and Latino communities, will focus on economic 09:59:28
7 education, borrower readiness, and credit 09:59:32
8 availability, in that order. Our $32 million in 09:59:34
9 performing loans and investments in over 20,000 09:59:36
10 adults educated in economic education suggest it's a 09:59:38
11 strategy that works. 09:59:42
12 We are pleased that Wells Fargo was able to see 09:59:42
13 the bigger picture, and then adapt their business 09:59:46
14 model to include this make-sense strategy. 09:59:48
15 I also want to note, for the record, we do 09:59:50
16 business with people and not companies. And without 09:59:52
17 a doubt, I know that one of the reasons that the 09:59:54
18 bank decided to ultimately move on this proposal and 09:59:56
19 others like it was the organizational focus and 09:59:58
20 leadership provided by the Wells Fargo Community 10:00:02
21 Development Group and the Wells Fargo Foundation. 10:00:04
22 Our communities know these people, and, more 10:00:06
23 importantly, they know and understand our 10:00:10
24 communities. It's called mutual respect. 10:00:10
25 Yes, Norwest is known for its successful high 10:00:14
49
1 touch community banking approach to doing business, 10:00:18
2 but with great respect, generalized strategies and 10:00:20
3 approaches used successfully in the past in other 10:00:22
4 regions of the country simply will not fly in 10:00:26
5 California, which I might remind everyone is the 10:00:28
6 largest banking market in the continental United 10:00:30
7 States. Just like the City of Minneapolis requires 10:00:34
8 that all new buildings in downtown Minneapolis 10:00:34
9 connect to neighboring businesses by way of a 10:00:38
10 secondary walkway called a skyway, community 10:00:40
11 development organizations in California and other 10:00:42
12 cutting edge regions have a different type of 10:00:44
13 relationship with their banks. 10:00:48
14 As an example, you have the $18 million Urban 10:00:48
15 League in Los Angeles, or the 17,000 member First 10:00:52
16 A.M.E. Church, with 180 full-time employees, or 10:00:56
17 TELACU with $200 million in annual revenues, or the 10:01:00
18 Church of God in Christ was building a $50 million 10:01:02
19 cathedral in South Central, creating a hundred 10:01:08
20 million dollars in spin-off economic activity, or 10:01:08
21 take Operation HOPE, with three quarters of a 10:01:10
22 million dollars on deposit at any time in a bank in 10:01:14
23 Los Angeles. These organizations will not respond 10:01:18
24 well if their local decision-making capacity is 10:01:20
25 taken away. 10:01:24
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1 I did hear the bell. Thank you. 10:01:24
2
3 CHAIRPERSON SMITH: By all means, make 10:01:30
4 sure that we have a copy of your full statement and 10:01:32
5 we'll enter it into the record. 10:01:34
6
7 MR. BRYANT: Seventy-five copies are 10:01:44
8 available in your lobby.
9
10 CHAIRPERSON SMITH: Thank you very much.
11 We'll go to Ms. Haines.
12
13 MS. HAINES: Thank you. I'd like to thank 10:01:46
14 the Federal Reserve Board for this opportunity to 10:01:46
15 speak. My name is Anne Haines Yatskowitz, and I'm 10:01:48
16 the president and CEO of ACCION New Mexico, which is 10:01:52
17 an Albuquerque based micro-lending organization. I 10:01:54
18 wish to comment today on the positive impact that 10:01:58
19 support from both Norwest Bank and Wells Fargo Bank 10:02:02
20 has had on ACCION New Mexico's ability to serve 10:02:06
21 disenfranchised and emerging entrepreneurs and also 10:02:12
22 to strengthen the economies of Albuquerque's low and 10:02:16
23 moderate income neighborhoods. 10:02:20
24 I'd like to first begin by giving you just a 10:02:20
25 little background about ACCION New Mexico. ACCION 10:02:24
51
1 New Mexico was created four and a half years ago in 10:02:28
2 response to the escalating poverty conditions in New 10:02:32
3 Mexico. And, unfortunately, New Mexico is the state 10:02:36
4 now that has the highest poverty rate in the 10:02:38
5 country. An associate of ACCION International, 10:02:42
6 ACCION New Mexico is a local private nonprofit 10:02:48
7 organization that extends a life-line to very small 10:02:50
8 or micro businesses in New Mexico by offering tools 10:02:52
9 of economic self-reliance; namely, business credit 10:02:58
10 and business training. It is these hard-working 10:03:02
11 entrepreneurs, home-based mechanics, seamstresses, 10:03:08
12 artists, woodworkers and others, who make up a 10:03:12
13 growing sector of self-employed families and 10:03:14
14 individuals in New Mexico. 10:03:18
15 And because of a lack of collateral, credit 10:03:20
16 history or the need for only a small loan amount, 10:03:24
17 many emerging entrepreneurs do not have access to 10:03:28
18 business credit from traditional sources. Yet, 10:03:34
19 capital is an essential ingredient in helping boost 10:03:36
20 a small business from subsistence to 10:03:42
21 self-sufficiency and to success. 10:03:44
22 Today ACCION New Mexico, since we started 10:03:48
23 lending about four and a half years ago, has made 10:03:52
24 over 760 micro loans of an average size of $12 10:03:54
25 hundred to over 400 businesses in the Albuquerque 10:04:00
52
1 area. The organization has written off less than 10:04:04
2 two percent of the slightly less than $1 million 10:04:06
3 that we've lent. Nearly two thirds of our client 10:04:10
4 base is minority, and the median yearly household 10:04:14
5 income of our borrowers is about $21,000, which is 10:04:18
6 substantially lower than the area median income for 10:04:24
7 Albuquerque, which is approximately $33,000. 10:04:28
8 By June of 1996, ACCION New Mexico had enough 10:04:32
9 multiple loan clients to analyze certain changes 10:04:36
10 entrepreneurs experienced over time. And in a 10:04:40
11 sample size of some of our clients who had received 10:04:44
12 at least three consecutive loans, we have found an 10:04:46
13 average increase of 71 percent in business assets, 10:04:50
14 61 percent in business revenues, 87 percent in 10:04:54
15 take-home income from the business, 21 percent in 10:05:00
16 overall household income, and 21 percent in 10:05:04
17 full-time jobs. 10:05:06
18 The reason I wanted to touch on some of these 10:05:08
19 statistics is because I do believe that we would not 10:05:12
20 have achieved some of these successes and already 10:05:16
21 seen some of these economic changes had it not been 10:05:20
22 from the tremendous support that both Norwest and 10:05:24
23 Wells Fargo have provided to ACCION New Mexico. 10:05:28
24 When ACCION New Mexico was first created, 10:05:32
25 Norwest was one of the few banks that stepped 10:05:36
53
1 forward in the Albuquerque area to support the 10:05:38
2 program, and Norwest supported us in a number of 10:05:42
3 different ways. One way was by providing office 10:05:46
4 space and furniture, leadership support, strategic 10:05:50
5 thinking, marketing support, and a line of credit to 10:05:54
6 enable us to launch the program. We used the line 10:05:58
7 of credit to turn around and make loans to our 10:06:02
8 borrowers. Norwest has provided considerable fund 10:06:06
9 raising support by offering challenge grants which 10:06:10
10 have enabled us to catalyze and challenge the 10:06:14
11 surrounding community and business community to 10:06:18
12 support the program as well. 10:06:20
13 Last year Wells Fargo made a $200,000 10:06:22
14 investment in ACCION New Mexico. Wells Fargo did 10:06:26
15 not have a very visible presence at the time in 10:06:30
16 Albuquerque, there were no branches in Albuquerque, 10:06:34
17 and yet Wells Fargo took a very proactive role in 10:06:38
18 supporting our program. And with a $200,000 10:06:42
19 investment, which was a loan, Wells Fargo also 10:06:44
20 helped change the playing field. 10:06:48
21 My time is up. I would like to say that I do 10:06:52
22 not think this program would exist without the 10:06:54
23 support of both banks. Thank you. 10:06:58
24
25 CHAIRPERSON SMITH: Thank you very much. 10:07:00
54
1 Mr. Rainey. 10:07:02
2
3 MR. RAINEY: Yes. Thank you. My name is 10:07:04
4 Clive Rainey, and I'm here to represent Willard 10:07:06
5 Fuller, the founder and president of Habitat for
6 Humanity. As Mr. Biller has already testified, 10:07:10
7 Norwest has a tremendous leadership commitment to 10:07:14
8 Habitat for Humanity, and I'm simply going to read 10:07:18
9 from Mr. Fuller's letter to Ms. Levert. 10:07:18
10 I'm pleased to write you regarding the 10:07:22
11 partnership between Norwest Mortgage and Habitat for 10:07:24
12 Humanity. This partnership reflects real leadership 10:07:26
13 I know as (inaudible), most significantly through 10:07:30
14 the partnership in the Rebuilding Our Communities 10:07:32
15 Campaign. The Rebuilding Our Communities Campaign 10:07:34
16 is an effort to raise 250 million of additional 10:07:36
17 money for Habitat's work by our 25th anniversary in 10:07:40
18 September of 2001. Norwest committed in October of 10:07:44
19 1996 to be the lead sponsor in this effort. This 10:07:48
20 commitment of 16.5 million over five years includes 10:07:52
21 seasonal construction loans of $2 million interest 10:07:56
22 free each year for materials. 10:07:58
23 Norwest's contribution here has encouraged 10:08:00
24 others. For example, Fannie Mae has matched this 10:08:02
25 two million seasonal construction loan for the past 10:08:06
55
1 two years, investments in home loan pools of a 10:08:08
2 million dollars annually at nominal or no interest 10:08:12
3 to accelerate more construction. 10:08:14
4 Norwest is also recruiting other lenders to 10:08:16
5 come in so that the total should exceed $1 million a 10:08:20
6 year, matching Norwest employee contributions to 10:08:22
7 Habitat with a guaranteed minimum of $100,000 a 10:08:26
8 year. Site participation grants to Habitat 10:08:28
9 affiliates in cities where ten or more of Norwest 10:08:34
10 corporation's 53,000 employees volunteer, these 10:08:36
11 grants, a minimum of $100,000 a year, will fund 10:08:40
12 volunteer Habitat projects. Grants of up to $2,000 10:08:44
13 to help Habitat homeowners with closing and related 10:08:48
14 costs, the minimum is a hundred thousand dollars per 10:08:52
15 year. 10:08:54
16 As you can see, leadership on the part of 10:08:54
17 Norwest has not been limited to their own 10:08:56
18 commitment. They have encouraged and challenged 10:08:58
19 other members of their industry to match their 10:09:00
20 efforts. Norwest Mortgage has demonstrated 10:09:02
21 exemplary corporate citizenship and Habitat for 10:09:06
22 Humanity is proud to call them our partners. 10:09:10
23 Habitat for Humanity International is a 10:09:14
24 nonprofit, ecumenical, Christian housing 10:09:14
25 organization dedicated to the elimination of 10:09:16
56
1 substandard housing. Habitat works in partnership 10:09:18
2 with people in need to build simple, decent houses 10:09:20
3 that are sold at no profit through no interest 10:09:22
4 mortgages. 10:09:26
5 Founded in 1976 in Americus, Georgia, Habitat 10:09:26
6 has more than 1,450 U.S. affiliates, and together 10:09:30
7 with affiliates in 59 other countries, has built 10:09:32
8 over 70,000 homes. Thank you very much. 10:09:36
9
10 CHAIRPERSON SMITH: Thank you. We'll go 10:09:38
11 to Ms. Saweuyer-Parks. 10:09:40
12
13 MS. SAWEUYER-PARKS: Distinguished members 10:09:46
14 and staff of the Federal Reserve, good morning. I'm 10:09:48
15 Deborah Saweuyer-Parks, CEO of the Oregon 10:09:52
16 Corporation for Affordable Housing in Portland, 10:09:56
17 Oregon. We are a nonprofit syndicator of federal 10:09:58
18 low-income housing tax credits, and invest 10:10:02
19 exclusively in affordable housing throughout the 10:10:08
20 State of Oregon, and now in Washington State and 10:10:10
21 soon to enter into Idaho. 10:10:12
22 I am here this morning to testify in support of 10:10:14
23 the merger between Norwest Corporation and Wells 10:10:18
24 Fargo & Company. My remarks are designed to 10:10:22
25 illustrate what can be done when a local nonprofit 10:10:26
57
1 corporation partners with a large financial 10:10:30
2 institution new to the Oregon market. Specifically, 10:10:34
3 I'm talking about Wells Fargo & Company. 10:10:38
4 I founded OCAH five years ago. Our aim was to 10:10:42
5 raise capital from Oregon's corporate and financial 10:10:46
6 community to reinvestment that capital in 10:10:50
7 multi-family housing throughout the state, initially 10:10:52
8 the State of Oregon. It was our hope to demonstrate 10:10:54
9 that it was realistic to merge social objectives 10:10:58
10 with business goals and to create an opportunity 10:11:02
11 that was worthwhile for both the public and private 10:11:06
12 sectors. Oregon's economy was quite robust, so we 10:11:08
13 at OCAH planned to help eliminate a social need in 10:11:14
14 our state, which was to finance a portion of the 10:11:18
15 projected 50,000 affordable housing units needed to 10:11:22
16 house over 125,000 working poor and their families. 10:11:26
17 The vehicle we created was the Oregon Equity 10:11:34
18 Fund, a limited partnership designed to provide 10:11:36
19 equity to developers of affordable housing. I 10:11:40
20 raised $20 million in Fund I -- for Fund I. The 10:11:46
21 first -- no. Because of time, I crossed so much of 10:11:52
22 this out, so I'm having trouble following. 10:11:54
23 Since Fund I was so successful, we proceeded 10:11:56
24 with Fund II. Raising equity this time was 10:12:02
25 extremely difficult. Former Fund I commercial banks 10:12:04
58
1 created their own hundred million dollar plus funds 10:12:08
2 and left OCAH, or either they merged with other 10:12:12
3 financial institutions and retreated from their 10:12:16
4 local community promises. 10:12:20
5 I had some trepidation approaching Wells Fargo, 10:12:26
6 but at the urgence of a friend, I called Karen 10:12:30
7 Wegman. Karen, in turn, referred me to another 10:12:32
8 Wells Fargo staffer, and much like John said a few 10:12:38
9 minutes ago, it's about the people at Wells Fargo 10:12:42
10 that makes the difference in our business. Six 10:12:44
11 weeks after that call, I had a $4 million commitment 10:12:48
12 from Wells Fargo. One year later I approached Wells 10:12:52
13 Fargo again for Fund III, asked for $10 million. It 10:12:58
14 was not only granted -- or not granted, invested, 10:13:02
15 but they also agreed to provide me with a $10 10:13:04
16 million line of credit for the partnership. 10:13:08
17 For my Board and those of us who manage the 10:13:12
18 fund, this level of commitment that Wells Fargo 10:13:14
19 demonstrated was unparalleled. 10:13:18
20 The following are a few examples of the results 10:13:24
21 that were achieved because of Wells Fargo's 10:13:26
22 investment in the Oregon Equity Fund. In Medford, 10:13:30
23 southern Oregon, in a rural community, we developed 10:13:34
24 80 units of affordable housing for families, one, 10:13:38
25 two, three and four-bedroom units, and four bedrooms 10:13:42
59
1 are extremely difficult to locate. 10:13:46
2 In far eastern Oregon, Sierra Vista, largely an 10:13:48
3 Hispanic community, we developed housing for farm 10:13:54
4 workers. 10:13:56
5 In Cannon Beach, Twelfth Avenue Terrace -- I'm 10:13:56
6 speeding up because I saw that minute -- there were 10:14:02
7 housing projects developed, in Bend, the Bill Healy 10:14:04
8 Family Center for previously homeless families who 10:14:08
9 are gainfully employed, in Eugene and other 10:14:12
10 communities throughout our state. 10:14:14
11 Wells Fargo has done much in Oregon. Through 10:14:18
12 its foundation, countless grants were given, 600,000 10:14:22
13 to Portland Public Schools, a hundred thousand 10:14:28
14 dollars to Umpqua Community Development, over 10:14:30
15 400,000 to United Way, and a hundred thousand 10:14:34
16 dollars to Albina Community Bank. It was the only 10:14:36
17 bank in the state of Oregon that did not -- that 10:14:38
18 received an investment from a large commercial bank, 10:14:42
19 and it was established to serve a population 10:14:46
20 formerly denied access to capital for homeowners or 10:14:48
21 small businesses. 10:14:54
22 My time's up. Thank you very much. I did 10:14:54
23 prepare a record of my comments for the record. 10:14:56
24
25 CHAIRPERSON SMITH: Thank you, and we'll 10:15:00
60
1 go to Ms. Wheeler. 10:15:02
2
3 MS. WHEELER: Thank you, and thank you for 10:15:04
4 this opportunity to be here as well. My name is 10:15:04
5 Suzy Wheeler, and I work for an organization called
6 Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Minnesota. 10:15:10
7 We're a private nonprofit agency. We have about six 10:15:10
8 offices around the metro area. We provide four main 10:15:14
9 programs: budget counseling, debt management, 10:15:18
10 housing counseling, and community education. 10:15:20
11 We've been very pleased with the relationship 10:15:22
12 we've had with Norwest Bank over the last few years, 10:15:26
13 especially in the area of community education. We 10:15:28
14 find that there's much a very big need for education 10:15:32
15 regarding money management out in the community. 10:15:36
16 I'm an education coordinator, and I spend all 10:15:38
17 my time in the community talking to people about 10:15:40
18 managing their money, how to manage it better, how 10:15:42
19 to take care of credit problems. I talk to high 10:15:46
20 school kids about using credit wisely, and that's 10:15:48
21 starting to become a very needed issue because high 10:15:52
22 school kids are starting to get credit cards, and 10:15:54
23 that's very scary. So as part of our mission at the 10:15:56
24 agency is we try to go out and provide education to 10:16:00
25 the community about money management. 10:16:02
61
1 Our relationship with Norwest Bank has 10:16:04
2 primarily been with community education focusing on 10:16:08
3 bringing education into places where they have not 10:16:10
4 had the opportunity to get education about money 10:16:14
5 management. One particular example is my work with 10:16:16
6 the treatment centers in the cities, the Twin 10:16:18
7 Cities. One particular organization comes to mind 10:16:22
8 is the Wayside House, and this is a treatment 10:16:24
9 facility for women for drugs and alcohol. And what 10:16:26
10 we've developed is a four-part workshop on money 10:16:28
11 management. And I go out into the center, and the 10:16:32
12 Norwest bankers join me as well, and we provide 10:16:36
13 topics on money management so that these women can 10:16:38
14 get their financial life under control before they 10:16:42
15 actually leave the center. So we discuss topics 10:16:44
16 such as basic banking, credit, money management, 10:16:48
17 housing issues, as well as student loan default. So 10:16:50
18 we spend a lot of time with the women, and we've had 10:16:54
19 a lot of support with Norwest Bank to provide the 10:16:58
20 information to these individuals so when they leave 10:17:00
21 the center, at least they have a pretty good idea on 10:17:02
22 how to tackle some of these issues that come up. So 10:17:04
23 we've been very pleased and we hope to see that 10:17:08
24 relationship continue. 10:17:10
25 Other organizations that we're very involved 10:17:10
62
1 with, we also do the same thing at a men's treatment 10:17:12
2 center called the Eden Programs, and we do the same 10:17:16
3 sort of thing: we go out and provide the education 10:17:18
4 so that these folks at least have a better handle on 10:17:22
5 how to start tackling some of the financial issues 10:17:24
6 that they encounter prior to going into treatment, 10:17:26
7 as well as trying to get things under control so 10:17:30
8 that when they get out of treatment they can start 10:17:30
9 rebuilding their life, find an apartment, try to 10:17:34
10 deal with credit problems that come up, and start to 10:17:36
11 get things under control. 10:17:38
12 So we have been very, very excited, and the 10:17:40
13 people are very positive as far as how they have 10:17:42
14 been responding to the program because this is 10:17:44
15 information that they have not received other 10:17:46
16 places. So this is something we've been very, very 10:17:48
17 pleased with. 10:17:50
18 Other organizations that we go out to, we also 10:17:52
19 go to visit a -- been to a program called the Step 10:17:54
20 Program, which is a self-sufficiency program in St. 10:17:58
21 Paul, and this is a program for people that are 10:18:00
22 living in public housing that need to get things 10:18:02
23 under control so they can become self-sufficient. 10:18:04
24 We go out and talk to the folks about credit. 10:18:06
25 The Norwest bankers have been very positive. 10:18:08
63
1 We usually have a Norwest banker join us at these 10:18:12
2 workshops, and it really helps for the participants 10:18:16
3 to be able to talk to a banker and actually feel 10:18:18
4 like they can connect a person at the bank. They 10:18:22
5 get the business card of the banker; then they know 10:18:24
6 that they can go down and talk to that particular 10:18:28
7 banker. It takes a lot of the intimidation out, and 10:18:30
8 we've found that that really works well. So that 10:18:34
9 way they can say okay, I'm going to go down and talk 10:18:36
10 to this banker and deal with my issues that I've had 10:18:38
11 with my checking account. I've had checking account 10:18:42
12 problems in the past, maybe I've bounced a few 10:18:44
13 checks, but what happens is is sometimes there's a 10:18:46
14 barrier that gets developed and people don't -- they 10:18:48
15 don't feel comfortable actually calling the bank up 10:18:50
16 because they're embarrassed. So what we've done is 10:18:54
17 developed information so that people -- take the -- 10:18:56
18 the intimidation is gone, they can feel like they 10:19:00
19 can now go down and talk to the banker, and feel 10:19:02
20 like okay, now I can address some problems because I 10:19:04
21 feel a lot more comfortable: I've actually met the 10:19:08
22 banker. So we really found that that's been 10:19:10
23 successful, and we hope to see that kind of 10:19:12
24 relationship continue. Thank you. 10:19:16
25