Acción San Diego is a “key reinvestment player” because it makes loans to people who don’t have the financial records to document the viability of their business and therefore aren’t ready for a bank loan, says Gordon Boerner, senior vice president for communications with San Diego National Bank.

Boerner, who has served on the Acción board for three or four years, says, “I think Acción is very, very fulfilling. You see people who don’t have education but have the work, will and desire to be entrepreneurial and really make it on their own.” Many people take out a number of loans and repay them, and then “graduate” to a bank. It’s rewarding, says Boerner, to see entrepreneurs succeed to the point where they no longer need Acción’s services.

SDNB is actively involved in targeting the small business loan market. Last year, the bank formed a community lending division to ensure that small business owners seeking loans of $5,000 to $1 million get the same level of service as larger businesses seeking loans of $4 million to $5 million, Boerner says.

The bank trained its branch managers in such areas as small business lending, small business deposits and cash management. The branch managers make the initial contact with potential loan customers in their communities, then work with “buddies” in the community lending division to process the paperwork. The concept has caught on “beyond our wildest imagination,” says Boerner, thanks to San Diego’s thriving small business sector.

SDNB has 17 branches and ultimately plans 30 branches to cover all areas of San Diego County. The bank’s efforts to provide lending, investment and other services to low-income communities have earned it an “outstanding” rating by regulators who enforce the federal Community Reinvestment Act, says Boerner.