Jeff Dick
President and CEO
MainStreet Bank

If you are like me, you’re probably a little bleary-eyed, having once again stayed up too late watching the Olympics. 

As I watch the relentless determination demonstrated by the athletes, I can’t help but wonder how much better we would be if everyone worked that hard to master their craft each and every day of the year.  I’m proud to say that we have an “Olympic quality” team at MainStreet – we are determined to provide exceptional service to our customers.   

 A final word about your concern with what’s happening with many banks: At MainStreet, we’re very creative in making loans, but very conservative about the risk we’ll tolerate.  We keep healthy reserves, we don’t overextend, and we’re here to make long-term relationships, not quick deals that can turn into trouble down the road.  You can trust us to be here for the long term, working hard to keep your money safe – and to keep it working hard for you! 

And tonight… well, order that pizza and tuck in for another evening of the Olympics.      Feedback@mstreetbank.com

Meet MainStreet

“I may work at a bank, but my real job is making our customers rich,” says MainStreet’s Mike Rudolph. And according to those customers, Mike is very, very good at his job! Best of all, it’s a job Mike loves.

Mike is very experienced in commercial lending, but his early background was in retail/consumer lending. So how did he develop such a talent for helping business owners get the right loans? “I learned from my best customers,” he says. “Business owners who enjoy $300,000 and $400,000 salaries are brilliant when it comes to financing. For over 15 years, I’ve seen how they use credit and collateral, how they use strategic partnerships to shore up business value and working capital, and what kinds of loans they use in different scenarios. Every day I learn more, and every day I share what I’ve learned.”

In addition to working for MainStreet, Mike is also one of the bank’s owners. “I have a vested in interest in making the right decision to attract business to the bank,” he says. “I take personal pride in figuring out how we can attract that business and at the same time help our customers realize their own dreams.” Mike also takes personal pride in the fact that trust is still the foundation of how MainStreet does business. “Before I make loans,” Mike explains, “I get to really know my customers. I end up knowing who they are personally as well as business-wise.”

Mike points to a recent example where a customer needed a business loan but had a very low credit score. With some banks, that would have meant an automatic denial. But Mike understood the reason for it: a recent divorce. When Mike looked at past credit history and the applicant’s future prospects, he was able to approve the loan. “Big banks,” says Mike, “have remote, centralized loan committees who aren’t free to make this kind of good judgment call.” In fact, Mike adds, those centralized loan committees had a role in creating the current mortgage mess.

“Many of these loan committees didn’t have any way to understand the loans they were making – they didn’t know the local real estate market, documentation was skimpy and, most important, they didn’t take the time to ‘get their arms around’ the applicants. They have no real way to tell what impact any rise in interest rates would have on them. Compare that to MainStreet where I really know my customers before I approve loans. Plus, if there’s ever a problem down the road, I know I can walk over to their office and talk about how to solve it.”

But Mike doesn’t see many problems. What he does see are businesses using solidly structured loans to fund expansion, acquisition and growth. “Like I said,” Mike reiterates, “I work for a bank, but I make people rich.” If you’d like to talk with Mike about a loan, his direct number – it’s his cell phone -- is (703) 402-1151.

Creative Solutions - Loans: Turning "no" into "yes"

Recently, a customer came to MainStreet looking for multimillion-dollar financing to build a large manufacturing plant. When MainStreet’s loan committee first reviewed the business case, there just wasn’t the cash or collateral to merit loan approval.

Most banks would simply have said “No,” and denied the application. Instead, MainStreet’s Mike Rudolph mapped out a strategy for the entrepreneur to find private investors and resubmit the business case.

Mike says he’ll often recommend ways to shore up the numbers. “I help business owners look at all possible assets to use as collateral and to structure payments. If that comes up short, we have many bank clients who are interested in business investment opportunities and I might ask permission to put them in touch with the business owner.”

In the case of the manufacturing plant, the applicant did indeed find additional investors. When he brought his business case back to the table, Mike liked the new numbers so much he flew to the Midwest to tour a plant similar to the one the applicant proposed to build. He added this new industry knowledge to what he already knew about the Northern Virginia market — including the prevalence of government contractors.

Convinced the business plan, market, and timing were solid, MainStreet approved the loan. “We don’t like to say ‘no’ just because that’s what other banks would do,” Mike says. “If the numbers don’t add up, we roll up our sleeves, and start figuring out what it will take to get to ‘yes.’”

StreetSmart - High CD rate just for our eNewsletter readers

MainStreet introduces its new VISA card. This August, MainStreet will begin offering our own business VISA credit card. This card is available exclusively to our MainStreet Bank business customers, but may be used for both business and personal purchases. To request your business VISA card, just call your account officer today.

Take a vacation from paying bills. Did you know that MainStreet’s Online Bill Pay system lets you advance-schedule payments? Just select the date you want bills to be paid, and the system automatically activates payment on that day. Talk about freedom! If bills are due while you’re away, you don’t have to take time out from your vacation to pay them. You never worry about late fees – or the fact that late payments can raise your interest rates on some credit accounts. Plus, with MainStreet, money stays in your account until the check is actually presented for payment – that’s a big difference from other bill-pay systems that transfer funds the minute you initiate payment.

Improve cash flow with LOCs. Lines of credit (LOCs) are essential tools for covering unexpected expenses or smoothing out uneven cash flow. It’s a prudent idea to put both business and personal lines of credit in place before you actually need them. Then, whenever you do need extra money, funds can be advanced quickly through MainStreet’s secure online service and transferred into any of your accounts. Our online service also makes it very easy to pay back the line of credit by scheduling payments from any of your MainStreet accounts. Bottom line: Lines of Credit are a smart and convenient way to free yourself from worrying about financial emergencies or unpredictable cash flow.

MainStreet Answers

Q. I am very concerned about the economy and what seems to be happening to many of the banks.  I want to put my money into FDIC-insured deposits, but there is the $100,000 deposit limit.  What can I do?

A. MainStreet can give you FDIC insurance on up to $50 million.  We’re proud to be an FDIC-insured bank, yet the FDIC deposit insurance limit is a concern to many of our customers. That’s why we are also proud to offer a service called CDARS.  Through CDARS, we can provide you with FDIC insurance on your deposits of up to $50 million.  Now that is protection!