Issue 2. 2022 23 in the future. The bank anticipates more product and service announcements over the next few months. U.S. BANK U.S. BANK’S MARLON MORALES RECOGNIZED AS MOFI 2021 UTAH LENDER OF THE YEAR On May 11, U.S. Bank Salt Lake City business banking relationship manager Marlon Morales accepted one of MoFi’s 2021 Utah Lender of the Year Awards, while U.S. Bank was named Utah Partner of the Year. MoFi is a nonprofit organization that provides financing and consulting for small business owners. They offer micro-loans and work with entrepreneurs over a one-tothree-year period to qualify for traditional loans. “Say I have a customer who doesn’t qualify for a traditional loan because the revenue or cash flow is not there. I will refer that customer to MoFi, who can help with a loan request right now, but their goal is to help get you to a point where you can qualify for a traditional loan,” Morales said. The partnership began eight months ago, but Morales has already referred more than 40 business banking customers. For any customer he refers, MoFi sends them back to U.S. Bank once they’ve completed the program. “Every Tuesday, I teach a class for Spanish-speaking business owners at an organization called Suazo Business Center,” Morales said. “It’s been a great way to bring new customers into the bank, as many of the people in the classes don’t have accounts with us but decide to become a customer because of the interaction.” Morales looks forward to helping business owners as they complete MoFi’s program and growing the relationship with the organization to benefit customers. ZIONS BANK ZIONS BANK, IMAGINE DRAGONS TEAM UP TO SAVE ICONIC MUSIC VENUE Zions Bank teamed up with Imagine Dragons to save the beloved Provo music venue where Imagine Dragons and Neon Trees started. After learning Velour Live Music Gallery was struggling during the pandemic, Imagine Dragons live-streamed a YouTube benefit concert with Neon Trees, calling on fans to donate. Zions Bank matched those donations, enough to pay off the balance on Velour’s mortgage. In May 2022, during Velour’s 16th-anniversary celebration, Imagine Dragons lead vocalist Dan Reynolds and Zions Bank region president Nick Whiting presented Velour owner Corey Fox with the promissory mortgage note to the building, stamped “paid in full.” “Velour has done so much to help build a vibrant downtown and put Provo on the music map,” Whiting said. “Zions Bank is proud to support the generous efforts of Imagine Dragons, Neon Trees, and so many community members to preserve this local treasure.” PAINT-A-THON Thirty homes across Utah and Idaho received a fresh coat of paint and a landscaping lift during Zions Bank’s 30th annual Paint-aThon service project. More than 1,600 local bank employees and their family members rolled up their sleeves to clean, scrape and paint the homes of elderly, disabled and veteran homeowners. In addition to painting, Zions employees provide yard clean-up, pruning, mowing, planting, and minor repairs as needed by homeowners. The cost for all paint and supplies was contributed by Zions Bank. The average age of this year’s homeowner was 75, with an average yearly income of $24,489. Projects completed during the annual week-long event were selected with the assistance of nominations from the public, state housing agencies, community organizations and local churches. Launched in 1991, Zions Bank’s Paint-a-Thon began as a volunteer project for a dozen homes along Utah’s Wasatch Front. Over the three decades, Zions Bank employees have set aside summer pastimes for a week each year – volunteering in the evenings after work and on Saturday – to paint 1,221 homes throughout Idaho and Utah. Not counting the dollar value of volunteer hours through the years, the bank has donated more than $1.3 million toward beautifying homes in the two states. n
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