Michael Amon Email & Phone Number

Davidson, North Carolina, United States

Davidson, Nc, Us

Charlotte, North Carolina Area

Lead all aspects of SBA (Small Business Administration) line of business. Serve as executive responsible for P&L, including new loan origination, operations, and portfolio management of bank’s SBA 7(a), 504, and USDA lending business.Hired to turn around a declining business unit and return it to top tier performance. After 3 years, the pipeline has grown 170% to the highest level in 5 years; the closing pipeline has grown 432%; NII and fee income is up 64%; Revenue/FTE is up 74%; and new loan production rose 82% and 63% in each of the last 2 years. Upgraded BDO talent and repositioned to high growth markets. Aligned pricing, incentive plan, and sell/hold strategies to current economic conditions. Improved referral relationship with regional presidents. Added preferred lender relationships with several franchise concepts. Expanded annual non-premium fee income by 24x.Scope under management: $700M in SBA loans; loans up to $5.0M to companies up to $20.0M in revenue; 12 SBA BDOs (8 in-market plus 4 out-of-footprint), and operations staff of 28, including underwriting, closing, construction loan management, loan sales, and servicing/portfolio management; supporting 175 commercial bankers in 7 states. SBA market area currently eastern half of the U.S.

Birmingham, Alabama Area

Led all aspects of SBA (Small Business Administration) line of business. Served as executive responsible for P&L, including new loan origination, credit, and operations of bank’s SBA 7(a) and 504 lending business.$816M in SBA loans; loans up to $5.0M to companies up to $20.0M in revenue, 23 SBA BDOs, 275 bankers and 1600 branches supported in 16 states by credit staff of 34. 17% increase in new loan volume to $260 million, and 14% portfolio growth, year-over-year, in 2017.To increase the percentage of SBA BDOs achieving production goals, I studied the activity habits of our top performers and developed a set of best practice metrics. These metrics were then utilized by our sales managers to increase pipeline levels and deal quality among the average and lower performers, that resulted in 20% increase in BDOs at or above goal.To improve consistency in service levels, I switched credit and operations from separate functional teams to customer-centric, fully integrated regional teams, which resulted in improved end-to-end processing times and increased accountability.

Birmingham, Alabama

Served as Credit Executive for all credit functions for SBA line of business, including underwriting, closing, servicing, and risk management of bank’s SBA 7(a) and 504 lending portfolios.To improve risk management, I re-wrote SBA underwriting guidelines, strengthened the underwriting analysis/credit write-up, built a new risk rating tool for SBA loans using RMA industry data, and switched the servicing team from a task-oriented approach to a portfolio ownership strategy. To improve efficiency, I orchestrated a comprehensive process review initiative with key members of the sales management team, finishing with end-to-end training for the SBA BDOs and credit staff. I also developed and implemented an employee productivity tracking and reporting discipline, to establish individual accountability and awareness, and to drive better results across all teams.Other initiatives include:• Implemented SBA alternative for conventional small dollar high side overrides• Set business requirements to switch to nCino application processing system

Cleveland/Akron, Ohio Area

Worked for FirstMerit Bank, which was acquired by Huntington National Bank in 2016.Responsible for all credit functions for Core Banking line of business - underwriting, portfolio monitoring, criticized assets, credit policy, procedure development, portfolio risk analysis, management reporting, loan documentation, credit training, and leadership development. $1.3B portfolio, commercial loans up to $5.0M, to companies up to $20.0M in revenue. Supported 75 bankers and 410 branches in 4 states, managing two loan centers and total credit staff of 42.Phase I included the transformation and build out of the credit group to be able to support relationships up to $5.0M (had been $500k), introducing score-based underwriting for smaller branch originated loans, and adding a robust portfolio management discipline, including introduction of a highly efficient behavioral monitoring tool. This build out phase included recruitment and development of additional underwriter and management talent, and significant improvement in the banker/credit relationship by implementing a regional team structure aligned with the sales management structure, introducing pre-underwriting opportunity discussions, adding underwriter productivity metrics, and holding the regional teams accountable for service level agreements.Phase II was the acquisition/integration of Citizens Republic Bank into the FirstMerit operating model. Realized immediate lift in booked new loan volume and speed of execution with training and agreement on credit risk appetite, the introduction of opportunity discussions, and encouraging a culture of “finding the deal within the deal”. I delivered annual cost savings of $2.8M (35%) including a reduction of 23 positions and elimination of redundant technology systems.

Cleveland, Ohio

Responsible for growth and profitability of $5.0B small business lending portfolio. Coordinated efforts with both the branch and banker origination channels with the credit group to improve product offerings, procedures, credit policies, and pricing. Captured incremental $500M in new loan volume, and $5.0M in annual net income.

Cleveland, Ohio

Responsible for P&L, and all credit, closing due diligence, and loan documentation functions for Business Banking line of business - underwriting, portfolio monitoring, criticized assets, credit policy, procedure development, pricing, management reporting, and credit training. $1.0B portfolio, commercial loans up to $3.5M, to companies up to $20.0M in revenue. Supported 50+ bankers and 500+ branches in 4 states with staff of 75.This was a build from scratch initiative, including development of business strategy, credit policies, operating procedures, recruiting, and training. Grew loan center staff from 0 to 65 in 24 months, and grew loan balances from 0 to $1.0B in 3.5 years.

Chicago, Il

Responsible for all credit functions for national line of business – underwriting, credit approval, credit policy, appraisal and environmental review, construction loan management, portfolio management, collections, and work-out.$1.8B portfolio, commercial loans up to $4.0M.Portfolio was primarily comprised of SBA 7(a) loans, SBA 504 loans, real estate loans, and construction loans, originated in 12 different high growth markets nationally.This was a cost reduction and process improvement initiative that included centralizing all non-sales functions from 4 district field offices to Chicago. Improved response times by 50%, reduced loan default rate by 30%, and reduced credit staff by 1/3. Achieved #1 national ranking for SBA 7(a) loan volume.

Columbus, Ohio

Responsible for credit approval, closing due diligence, and loan documentation for the Business Banking line of business for Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. This role began as a build from scratch initiative to underwrite branch originated business loans for the Columbus, Ohio market, expanded to cover all loans under $2.0M in all markets in the state of Ohio, and then expanded again to include all markets in the 3 state region. Developed all underwriting templates, tracking systems, credit policies, and operating procedures. Worked on project with VISA and Fair-Isaac to build and introduce business scorecard models using pooled bank data in 1992.Prior to 1992, held various roles of increasing responsibility.

Masters In Banking, Banking

Thesis, "Automating the Centralized Credit Approval Shop for Small Business Loans" was published and placed into the libraries.

Bachelor Of Science (Bs), Finance, General

Activities and Societies: President of college fraternity