Latest / ChangeMakers with Katie Goar / Episode 148: Jason Blain, Senior Commercial Banker, Independent Bank

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Episode 148: Jason Blain, Senior Commercial Banker, Independent Bank · ChangeMakers with Katie Goar

0:05
Speaker 1: This is change Makers with Katie Gore finding the right
0:09
Speaker 1: solutions for the affordable housing community.
0:13
Speaker 2: Today's change maker is Jason Blaine, the senior commercial banker
0:17
Speaker 2: at Independent Bank, where he leads community development lending focused
0:22
Speaker 2: on expanding affordable housing. Jason, Welcome to the podcast.
0:27
Speaker 3: Thank you, Katie. So great to be here.
0:29
Speaker 2: It's a pleasure to have you and I'm very excited
0:32
Speaker 2: because of this perspective of thinking how a banker is
0:36
Speaker 2: working and thinking like a community builder is quite unique
0:40
Speaker 2: to you and how the bank is operating. But first,
0:45
Speaker 2: you've been in the industry for about two decades. I'd
0:48
Speaker 2: love to hear your perspective on that intersection of banking
0:55
Speaker 2: and housing.
0:57
Speaker 3: For me, I think this intersection of of banking and
1:00
Speaker 3: housing ties back to my background and the childhood I
1:08
Speaker 3: had where I grew up in a small business in
1:11
Speaker 3: the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We were a manufactured home dealership.
1:16
Speaker 3: It was a business that my mother ran for over
1:19
Speaker 3: thirty years, and so that's what really all started for
1:24
Speaker 3: me was being involved in housing, seeing the difference you
1:29
Speaker 3: can make in people's lives by creating housing. That type
1:34
Speaker 3: of housing you know, oftentimes is naturally occurring affordable housing.
1:40
Speaker 3: And so I developed a passion at that point for
1:45
Speaker 3: just through my childhood and in ways you really don't
1:47
Speaker 3: understand as you're growing up and working in a business,
1:50
Speaker 3: and you know, it became a real passion of mind
1:53
Speaker 3: to be involved with housing. And then in my my
1:57
Speaker 3: banking career, you know, I've had the opportunityy to be
2:01
Speaker 3: involved with affordable housing and tax credits investment, tax credited
2:07
Speaker 3: investment into local housing tax credit projects throughout the state
2:11
Speaker 3: of Michigan. And what I found is for me, it's
2:17
Speaker 3: a passion. It's an intersection of what what I love
2:21
Speaker 3: to do, what I feel passionate about, but it's also
2:24
Speaker 3: a priority for independent bank and so as a community
2:29
Speaker 3: bank here in the state of Michigan, for our bank,
2:31
Speaker 3: it's about giving back to our communities, helping helping our
2:36
Speaker 3: clients and our communities be independent, and so a lot
2:40
Speaker 3: of that starts with housing, safe quality or affordable housing.
2:43
Speaker 3: So that intersection of where my interests lie, my passion
2:46
Speaker 3: lies where the banks you know, mission and vision is
2:49
Speaker 3: to support our communities. It's really a great fit for
2:53
Speaker 3: me to do what I love to do and try
2:56
Speaker 3: to create additional affordable housing. It's a mission.
3:00
Speaker 2: Independent Bank is a regional community bank. You're doing work
3:05
Speaker 2: in Michigan for listeners who may not be familiar with
3:10
Speaker 2: the uniqueness or the role that a bank like yours plays.
3:14
Speaker 2: Will you just start explain how our regional bank functions
3:19
Speaker 2: and how you're playing in that affordable housing ecosystem.
3:24
Speaker 3: Sure, thanks, Katie. So Independent Bank is in the state
3:28
Speaker 3: of Michigan. We have about sixty offices across the state
3:31
Speaker 3: of Michigan, all in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. And
3:36
Speaker 3: as a bank that's rooted in our communities since the
3:41
Speaker 3: eighteen sixties, our bank is focused on all the financial
3:46
Speaker 3: needs of households in the state of Michigan and small
3:50
Speaker 3: to medium sized businesses. Where housing becomes a priority for
3:55
Speaker 3: us is it's a need across the entire state of Mission.
4:00
Speaker 3: And there's a housing shortage. It's very well known in
4:02
Speaker 3: Michigan and a lot of there's been a lot of
4:06
Speaker 3: great work here by the Housing Finance Agency MISHTA and
4:12
Speaker 3: developers in the communities that we work in. But there's
4:16
Speaker 3: a housing shortage and we know that we need to
4:19
Speaker 3: play a role in that. And so as a bank,
4:21
Speaker 3: our size different than some of the large regional or
4:25
Speaker 3: national banks. We are somewhat limited in the amount of
4:29
Speaker 3: tax credit equity that we can invest into these projects,
4:32
Speaker 3: just based on regulatory requirements for how much banks can
4:37
Speaker 3: invest into low com housing tax credits. So what we
4:41
Speaker 3: do is we try to support affordable housing, and I'm
4:45
Speaker 3: primarily focused on the low and come housing tax credit
4:48
Speaker 3: projects and we support those in the best way that
4:51
Speaker 3: we can, and so that's really threefold. We provide debt
4:56
Speaker 3: to those projects, so construction and permanent loans. We do
5:00
Speaker 3: provide tax credit equity to those projects. Some of it's
5:03
Speaker 3: through our syndicator partners like Snaire, some of it's directly
5:08
Speaker 3: invested through Independent Community Capital, a subsidiary we created so
5:13
Speaker 3: that we could invest directly into certain low income housing
5:17
Speaker 3: tax credit projects in our footprint. And then the third
5:19
Speaker 3: way would be HP grants. So the Affordable Housing Program
5:23
Speaker 3: grant from the federal Holmo Bank is a really nice
5:26
Speaker 3: gap funding tool that has become it's become more important
5:32
Speaker 3: as construction costs have continued to rise and the gaps
5:37
Speaker 3: in proformas of these projects has continued to become more
5:41
Speaker 3: of a focal point, and so we help developers access
5:45
Speaker 3: those grants through the Federal Homemo Bank of Indianapolis, and
5:48
Speaker 3: we've had since twenty twenty, we've had eight and a
5:52
Speaker 3: half million dollars with those grants support seven hundred and
5:55
Speaker 3: six affordable housing units. So that's been just a really
5:58
Speaker 3: great tool all in that to find ways that as
6:02
Speaker 3: a bank, as a bank our size, you know, what's
6:05
Speaker 3: the best way that we can support affordable housing in Michigan.
6:10
Speaker 2: I think you answered my question, but as you were
6:13
Speaker 2: just scribing it, I started wondering it was like, exactly
6:17
Speaker 2: when in that development pipeline when a developer is trying
6:21
Speaker 2: to build or preserve affordable housing, where you're entering into
6:26
Speaker 2: the picture. I think you mentioned, you know, at the
6:30
Speaker 2: beginning of the pipeline, but is that correct?
6:33
Speaker 3: It is you know, there will be some pre development
6:37
Speaker 3: activity that occurs before a new development finds its way
6:42
Speaker 3: to any bank, investor or tax credit syndicator, and what
6:48
Speaker 3: we do to help those developers during that process as
6:52
Speaker 3: we support their applications for tax credits to MISHTA, so
6:57
Speaker 3: we are involved early in the process. But typically there
7:01
Speaker 3: will be some work that goes in for pre development activity,
7:05
Speaker 3: and it could be an RFP that a municipality is
7:11
Speaker 3: using to award a certain site for development, and we
7:17
Speaker 3: are early enough that oftentimes we are involved for multiple
7:21
Speaker 3: years with these projects before you see a groundbreaking and
7:25
Speaker 3: so sometimes these these developments need to apply for the
7:29
Speaker 3: nine percent tax credit around multiple times before they're successful.
7:33
Speaker 3: Sometimes they need to apply for the HP grant multiple times.
7:38
Speaker 3: We've had some that have applied three times before they
7:40
Speaker 3: were successful, and so we really try to take a
7:43
Speaker 3: long term approach with that type of support because we
7:47
Speaker 3: know it doesn't happen overnight. But if you're if you're consistent,
7:52
Speaker 3: if you're you know, if you're patient, and you're willing
7:57
Speaker 3: to do that work, it will typically in the end
8:01
Speaker 3: results in a new development and then all that goes
8:05
Speaker 3: along with that with safe, quality affordable housing.
8:10
Speaker 2: You mentioned the partnership with the Federal Home Loan Bank
8:14
Speaker 2: of Indianapolis and this affordable housing program the HP. Walk
8:21
Speaker 2: us through how that partnership works. How long have you
8:25
Speaker 2: had it. Give us some more information about how that
8:29
Speaker 2: process has evolved, maybe even over the years.
8:34
Speaker 3: Sure, it's you know, it's something that started during the
8:40
Speaker 3: Great Depression when the federal government created the Federal Homeland
8:46
Speaker 3: Bank districts across the United States. We happen to be
8:50
Speaker 3: in Michigan part of the Federal Homeland Bank of Indianapolis
8:54
Speaker 3: that covers Michigan and Indiana. The Federal Homeland Bank is
9:00
Speaker 3: a bank for banks in a sense you won't find
9:04
Speaker 3: a branch for the Federal Holo Bank. They were created
9:07
Speaker 3: to support the financial system through providing sources of capital
9:12
Speaker 3: to banks. What's great about that is through their charter,
9:18
Speaker 3: they have a commitment that ten percent of their annual
9:21
Speaker 3: earnings will go back into the communities they serve in
9:24
Speaker 3: the forms of various community programs. The Federal Holmo Bank
9:28
Speaker 3: of Indianapolis has actually taken that a step further and
9:32
Speaker 3: they have a discretionary component of those programs as well,
9:37
Speaker 3: where they're investing back into the communities beyond what's required
9:41
Speaker 3: of them. And so their flagship program is the hp
9:46
Speaker 3: Grant program, which supports affordable housing across Michigan, India, and Indiana.
9:51
Speaker 3: And it is a program that can support rental housing
9:55
Speaker 3: or for sale, but it's primarily been a tool that
9:59
Speaker 3: we've used with creation of new low income housing units
10:04
Speaker 3: across the state of Michigan.
10:07
Speaker 2: Can you talk a little bit about the rate buydown structures.
10:12
Speaker 2: And this is a little bit of the banking nuances,
10:17
Speaker 2: but it's a real tool that's important for today's financing environment.
10:23
Speaker 4: So can you cover some of those basics for us?
10:26
Speaker 3: Thanks Katie. So, the rate buydown program was another unique
10:29
Speaker 3: program that the Federal Homelan Bank of Indianapolis came up with.
10:35
Speaker 3: So a lot of credit to Anna Shires at the
10:39
Speaker 3: Federal Homelan Bank who does outreach in the state of Michigan.
10:42
Speaker 3: She made a lot of connections in Michigan for banks
10:47
Speaker 3: and credit unions to be able to access that program
10:50
Speaker 3: and connect the parties involved. And so what we were
10:54
Speaker 3: able to do with the what they called the CDFI
10:57
Speaker 3: rate buydown program was provide lower cost of capital here
11:02
Speaker 3: in Michigan. Two cdfys or community development financial institutions in
11:08
Speaker 3: an environment where interest rates are higher than they had
11:12
Speaker 3: been five years ago. And so a lot of these
11:14
Speaker 3: CDFI's in Michigan that support not only small businesses in Michigan,
11:19
Speaker 3: but also real estate projects, including housing projects in Michigan.
11:24
Speaker 3: The CDFIs were, you know, having a bit of a
11:28
Speaker 3: harder time striking the right balance of raising capital that
11:32
Speaker 3: fit with their business model where they could then turn
11:35
Speaker 3: around and lend it out into small business or housing
11:38
Speaker 3: projects or other real estate projects in Michigan. So the
11:41
Speaker 3: CDFI rate buydown program provided a way for independent bank
11:48
Speaker 3: to support those cdfy's in the state of Michigan with
11:52
Speaker 3: a subsidy from the Federal Homeow Bank, So a really
11:55
Speaker 3: you know, win win program that they created their There
12:00
Speaker 3: are more details that I believe will be forthcoming about
12:04
Speaker 3: how that program's going to evolve for twenty twenty six
12:07
Speaker 3: with more of a focus on housing. So we're really
12:09
Speaker 3: excited about that and what that can mean for just
12:12
Speaker 3: finding ways to provide capital and subsidy to these developments
12:18
Speaker 3: so badly need it to be able to create housing
12:22
Speaker 3: that has truly affordable rents.
12:26
Speaker 2: So in non banking terms, that is really a tool
12:30
Speaker 2: to be able to add for financing for developers to
12:35
Speaker 2: build housing better, more cost effective, and possibly quicker. Is
12:40
Speaker 2: that a good layman's description on that particular tool.
12:45
Speaker 3: Yes, I think it is, and I think with the
12:48
Speaker 3: with what's been just broadly announced by the Federal Home
12:53
Speaker 3: Loan Bank for twenty twenty six, more applicability to housing
12:58
Speaker 3: and helping control costs because as developers build affordable housing units.
13:05
Speaker 3: You know, there are the obvious costs the bricks and
13:08
Speaker 3: the sticks and everything we see built vertically, and of
13:13
Speaker 3: course all that goes into hard construction costs, but there
13:17
Speaker 3: are soft costs that are encouraged for these developments. Interest
13:21
Speaker 3: carry other carrying costs of a construction project, and so
13:25
Speaker 3: this is just another nice tool to help reduce those
13:28
Speaker 3: costs and be able to put more money into what
13:31
Speaker 3: really matters, and that's the bricks, the sticks and the
13:35
Speaker 3: building that residents live in.
13:39
Speaker 2: You mentioned another tool tax credits earlier, and they're often
13:44
Speaker 2: very very competitive, very complex, but they're so crucial as
13:48
Speaker 2: a backbone to affordable housing. It's a space you guys
13:53
Speaker 2: work in from where you sit, what do you think
13:57
Speaker 2: and this is this is more subjective, I realize this,
14:02
Speaker 2: But what do you think is working in the current
14:07
Speaker 2: system or is there something that you think needs improved
14:11
Speaker 2: as it comes as it relates to some of that
14:14
Speaker 2: tax credit components?
14:16
Speaker 4: Just anything you want to speculate on.
14:18
Speaker 2: There are you allowing to speculate?
14:21
Speaker 4: Oh, it's just tax credits here.
14:23
Speaker 2: Everybody talks about them, everybody wants them the birth They're
14:25
Speaker 2: so complex.
14:26
Speaker 4: Any insight there.
14:28
Speaker 3: You know, I think the program is I think it's
14:32
Speaker 3: overall very well designed to create a public private partnership
14:37
Speaker 3: to create housing. And I think, you know, what you
14:40
Speaker 3: see across the entire country and here in Michigan is
14:45
Speaker 3: the low causing tax credit program being the driving source
14:50
Speaker 3: for new affordable housing units. And so I think, you know,
14:55
Speaker 3: we get it mostly right most of the time, and
14:58
Speaker 3: so I'm optimist if you think about what we may
15:04
Speaker 3: do to you know, adapt and change and improve. One
15:10
Speaker 3: of the components that I'm really excited about that's in
15:13
Speaker 3: the bill that was sent back to the House from
15:17
Speaker 3: the Senate, the twenty first Century Road to Housing Bill,
15:22
Speaker 3: is a provision that would allow banks to invest a
15:26
Speaker 3: larger percentage of their capital in public welfare investments. And
15:31
Speaker 3: so that could be a really nice adjustment to some
15:36
Speaker 3: of the restraints that are in the industry right now
15:39
Speaker 3: and allowing more capital to flow into affordable housing projects.
15:44
Speaker 4: So turning on the pipeline a little more right.
15:48
Speaker 3: Exactly. You know, if we can contribute more equity into
15:54
Speaker 3: affordable housing developments and other banks around us can do
15:57
Speaker 3: the same, it's really going to pair nicely with some
16:03
Speaker 3: of the other changes to the long come Housing tax
16:05
Speaker 3: credit that you know we're recently passed, where there's additional
16:11
Speaker 3: allegation of the nine percent credit, the changes to the
16:16
Speaker 3: fifty percent tests on the four percent long com housing
16:20
Speaker 3: tax credit projects allowing for more creation of affordable housing
16:25
Speaker 3: through the four percent credit. As that supply of credits increases,
16:29
Speaker 3: we really need to pair it with more demand from investors,
16:32
Speaker 3: and so I think that that will help, and so
16:34
Speaker 3: I'm really excited about that. Federally. On a state level
16:38
Speaker 3: here in Michigan, there was a bill that was just
16:41
Speaker 3: introduced last week that is geared towards a state local
16:48
Speaker 3: housing tax credit. We are one of the few states
16:51
Speaker 3: that does not have a state lie tech program. We
16:54
Speaker 3: have a very supportive state Housing Finance agency with MISCHTA.
17:00
Speaker 3: Our governor has been very supportive of affordable housing. The
17:05
Speaker 3: state lie tech could be I think a real game
17:08
Speaker 3: changer here in Michigan to support more of affordable housing units,
17:13
Speaker 3: particularly with the four percent tax credit program. When you
17:16
Speaker 3: pair the four percent federal lie tech with the state
17:19
Speaker 3: lie tech and so we're excited. There's you know, I
17:21
Speaker 3: think a lot of optimism in Michigan. Everyone knows the
17:25
Speaker 3: task at hand, and you know throughout the state there's
17:29
Speaker 3: a lot of support to try to figure out solutions.
17:32
Speaker 2: Well, that's a promising prospect on the horizon. Many people
17:37
Speaker 2: will be watching that for sure.
17:40
Speaker 4: I want to switch over.
17:41
Speaker 2: We talked about the tools, we talked about the mechanism,
17:44
Speaker 2: some of the structural pieces. I want to switch over
17:47
Speaker 2: to something I read in particular about what you guys
17:51
Speaker 2: have been involved in as far as a project, and
17:54
Speaker 2: this one really spoke to me. I have two kids
17:58
Speaker 2: with special needs, and so when I was reading your
18:01
Speaker 2: information about this particular project, I really really it just
18:07
Speaker 2: hit personally, professionally.
18:09
Speaker 4: It also spoke to one of.
18:11
Speaker 2: My fears as I'm raising these children who are not
18:16
Speaker 2: going to have access to independent living. And so this
18:19
Speaker 2: particular project I want to I want to read from
18:21
Speaker 2: and then I want to have you comment on it.
18:23
Speaker 2: It really hit home for me. So I was I
18:27
Speaker 2: made some.
18:27
Speaker 4: Notes here because I want to do it justice. But
18:31
Speaker 4: you just.
18:32
Speaker 2: Partnered with a seventy seven unit community called ability Way
18:37
Speaker 2: being built in Grand Haven, Michigan. It says here the
18:40
Speaker 2: goal is to expand independent living options for adults with
18:46
Speaker 2: intellectual disabilities. So Independent Bank was a key financial partner
18:52
Speaker 2: in that project. Can you brag about that project in
18:56
Speaker 2: particular and tell us some more details about it.
19:00
Speaker 3: Yeah, thanks, Katie. And as you know, we share that
19:03
Speaker 3: in common. I have one child with special needs. Kai
19:07
Speaker 3: has Down syndrome, and I too think about his future
19:12
Speaker 3: and for any child like Kai and what their life
19:19
Speaker 3: will look like and hopefully at some point, you know,
19:22
Speaker 3: they're able to kind of maximize their independence but also
19:26
Speaker 3: have support around them. And so this ability Way development
19:31
Speaker 3: in Grand Haven is with a local nonprofit called Gracious Grounds,
19:37
Speaker 3: and they were able to partner with third generation local
19:41
Speaker 3: causing tax credit developer Meanders in the state of Michigan
19:45
Speaker 3: that Independent Bank works with and so a really nice
19:48
Speaker 3: partnership there where this development had been on the drawing
19:53
Speaker 3: board for ten years and so these again these developments
19:56
Speaker 3: don't happen overnight, but lot of efforts to bring this
20:03
Speaker 3: to the point where now it's under construction. They have
20:08
Speaker 3: currently fifty residents that they Gracious Grounds houses more of
20:15
Speaker 3: a scattered site focus with a few different locations. They're
20:20
Speaker 3: really excited because this expands the number of units. They
20:24
Speaker 3: have a waiting list that this will help help address
20:28
Speaker 3: and give it gave them an opportunity to try to
20:31
Speaker 3: design something that they knew would work for them from
20:34
Speaker 3: their years of experience and what their residents need. But
20:40
Speaker 3: just a really fantastic way to leverage the long income
20:44
Speaker 3: housing tax credit program and solve not just affordable housing needs,
20:51
Speaker 3: but you know, affordable housing needs for you know, a
20:56
Speaker 3: base of residents, a population of people that I'm really
21:00
Speaker 3: passionate about. I think most people are really passionate about serving,
21:04
Speaker 3: and so I couldn't be more excited about what they're
21:07
Speaker 3: creating there. And just you know, we did play a
21:09
Speaker 3: role as the local causing tax credit investor and a
21:13
Speaker 3: lender on the project, but really all the credit to
21:17
Speaker 3: the development team, the nonprofit Gracious Grounds, their board, their
21:23
Speaker 3: executive director, Matt, you know, years and years in the making,
21:29
Speaker 3: and I'm really excited to see that development finished construction
21:33
Speaker 3: and what it's going to do in Grand Haven.
21:36
Speaker 2: Well, it's a nice alignment of your time and your talents,
21:40
Speaker 2: but also something that you're connected with and I think
21:44
Speaker 2: that so many of us are in the business of
21:47
Speaker 2: the nuances of compliance or regulation, but then when we
21:50
Speaker 2: can you know, really see that it's fitting a need
21:55
Speaker 2: for the community, and there's connectivity.
21:57
Speaker 4: It's a it's a beautiful thing.
21:59
Speaker 2: I I often think about, you know, how my children
22:04
Speaker 2: are going to be able to live, you know, in
22:06
Speaker 2: the event that something happens to me, and you know,
22:09
Speaker 2: you just hope that there's a community option, like what
22:14
Speaker 2: Gracious Grounds is is stepping in and helping. So it's
22:18
Speaker 2: a it's a beautiful thing when you can see that materializesn't.
22:22
Speaker 3: It It is? And I think it's a model that
22:25
Speaker 3: you know, through their work can be replicated and so
22:29
Speaker 3: that's exciting too that hopefully we'll look back and this
22:32
Speaker 3: will have, you know, inspired other developers, other communities to
22:37
Speaker 3: be able to do something similar. Mm hmm.
22:41
Speaker 2: It's it's it's when you when you look at a
22:45
Speaker 2: community though, there are certain pockets that are traditionally overlooked.
22:51
Speaker 2: So it's promising, like you're thinking about the success and
22:55
Speaker 2: the long run that there they are solving this. So
22:59
Speaker 2: great job to the team there that's doing this. From
23:04
Speaker 2: your perspective though, is what would need to shift maybe
23:07
Speaker 2: in the financing world to make more of this more common.
23:13
Speaker 3: Yeah, and Katie, you had mentioned you know, sometimes we
23:17
Speaker 3: get caught up in some of these details compliance that
23:21
Speaker 3: are very important to the low and come housing tax
23:23
Speaker 3: credit program, and I think what ability Way can do
23:30
Speaker 3: maybe to set up a precedent for future development similar
23:34
Speaker 3: to this is prove out a model that can can
23:40
Speaker 3: be built, leased up, and operated and you know, not
23:47
Speaker 3: have compliance issues. You know, there's a development team and
23:52
Speaker 3: property management team that's very experienced in low comme housing
23:55
Speaker 3: tax credits that's involved in this development. And so I
23:59
Speaker 3: think when some things a little bit different than what
24:02
Speaker 3: we're used to seeing, sometimes that can create a sense
24:07
Speaker 3: of higher risk involved in the project. So as this
24:11
Speaker 3: project moves forward and you you know, you pair this
24:15
Speaker 3: kind of the vision and the nonprofits involvement with you know,
24:24
Speaker 3: industry professionals that are focused on li tech on a
24:28
Speaker 3: project together, and as it proves out its success, I
24:31
Speaker 3: think that that could pave the way for other projects
24:35
Speaker 3: like this to be supported. And and then the you know,
24:39
Speaker 3: maybe this misperception of something being a little bit different
24:44
Speaker 3: posing higher risk would be you know, you know, would
24:48
Speaker 3: be something that we would overcome through gracious grounds, you know,
24:55
Speaker 3: paving the way for more developments like this.
24:58
Speaker 2: M another aspect of affordable housing when we're thinking about
25:03
Speaker 2: expanding it, improving it is a lot of people think
25:08
Speaker 2: of affordable housing just related to the rental housing in
25:11
Speaker 2: the market, but I knew some of the work that
25:14
Speaker 2: you touch on also leads into home ownership as well.
25:19
Speaker 2: What do you think about home ownership in the broader
25:24
Speaker 2: affordability conversation?
25:26
Speaker 3: It is an area that Independent Bank is absolutely focused on.
25:31
Speaker 3: Part of our mortgage team is just dedicated to providing
25:35
Speaker 3: residential mortgages and down payment assistance to first time home buyers,
25:40
Speaker 3: lower income home buyers, and so that is a that's
25:43
Speaker 3: a key focus for Independent Bank. One of the models
25:48
Speaker 3: that we're starting to be more active with our community
25:52
Speaker 3: land trusts, where Independent Bank can finance buyers of community
25:59
Speaker 3: land trust homes either through Fanny or Freddie, who's then
26:05
Speaker 3: you know, investing in those mortgages. But we also have
26:08
Speaker 3: the ability as a bank to hold those loans on
26:10
Speaker 3: our books. So it gives us a little bit of
26:15
Speaker 3: you know, flexibility in additional tools in the toolbox to
26:18
Speaker 3: support affordable housing in Michigan. Those community land trusts are
26:23
Speaker 3: you know, leveraging grants and other incentives to be able
26:27
Speaker 3: to drive down the cost of the homes that ultimately
26:33
Speaker 3: then is passed on to the buyer. Through the purchase price,
26:38
Speaker 3: and in some cases, you know it's one hundred to
26:41
Speaker 3: two hundred thousand dollars per unit that the purchase price
26:47
Speaker 3: is under what it costs to build these these homes,
26:52
Speaker 3: and so I think that's a really nice tool that's
26:54
Speaker 3: becoming more common in the state of Michigan. But overall,
26:57
Speaker 3: Independent Bank is focused on homeowner ship for those types
27:01
Speaker 3: of houses, but really any affordable home that someone is
27:06
Speaker 3: able to trying to help that dream become reality for
27:12
Speaker 3: a home buyer through down payment assistance and just financial
27:15
Speaker 3: literacy and helping people understand how to become a homeowner.
27:20
Speaker 3: We recognize that the rental units that we're supporting are
27:25
Speaker 3: very important, but also we need to also support homeownership
27:30
Speaker 3: so people can create generational wealth through homeownership and it
27:36
Speaker 3: can start with that first home purchase.
27:40
Speaker 2: At Quadel, we recently created a brand new, first in
27:44
Speaker 2: our ever fifty year history, a first time home buyer
27:49
Speaker 2: down payment assistance program, and it's been received very, very well.
27:54
Speaker 2: We've had a couple of people already close on properties
27:57
Speaker 2: and offered home ownership Counts is a part of that program.
28:02
Speaker 2: But when you do think of making a first step
28:06
Speaker 2: for generational wealth. This this is one way, not the
28:11
Speaker 2: only way, but it is a way that we recognize
28:15
Speaker 2: that we weren't we weren't doing enough in that space.
28:18
Speaker 2: So accessing programs like this really can take a step forward.
28:25
Speaker 2: And you know, there's there's controversy, I mean as far
28:27
Speaker 2: as rental versus home ownership and all of that's a
28:30
Speaker 2: very fair social discussion.
28:33
Speaker 4: But for people who.
28:34
Speaker 2: Do want to move into the ownership home ownership space,
28:38
Speaker 2: these down paymentent grants, paired with what they've saved, paired
28:42
Speaker 2: with tax refunds. You know, whatever the pieces are, they
28:46
Speaker 2: do make a big difference. And so these are these
28:50
Speaker 2: remain important tools for wealth building and long term generational stability.
28:59
Speaker 4: So I appreciate what you guys were doing there too.
29:02
Speaker 2: Switching gears a little kind of going over to a
29:05
Speaker 2: different side of this, I want to highlight that you
29:10
Speaker 2: were recently recognized with the Community Spirit Award congratulations that
29:16
Speaker 2: came from the Federal Home Loan Bank in Indianapolis. Were
29:20
Speaker 2: your contributions and apportable housing. What did that award mean
29:26
Speaker 2: to you or what did it signify about your role
29:31
Speaker 2: or the role of banks.
29:33
Speaker 3: I was flattered by the recognition for sure. I always
29:38
Speaker 3: like to think about what we do in terms of
29:41
Speaker 3: the team that does the work. So you know, I
29:43
Speaker 3: think it's a reflection of what Independent Bank is doing,
29:47
Speaker 3: but also the Federal Homeland Bank and their support. I
29:52
Speaker 3: think I mentioned Anna Shire's Mike Record, who runs the
29:56
Speaker 3: HP program. You know, a lot of people all in
29:59
Speaker 3: thought in the industry trying to you know, solve a
30:05
Speaker 3: common issue, working towards a common goal. And the developers
30:09
Speaker 3: we work with, I mean, you can't you can't give
30:11
Speaker 3: them enough credit for the work they do, the risks
30:14
Speaker 3: they take to be able to create housing. And so
30:18
Speaker 3: you know, we worked with several developers in the state
30:21
Speaker 3: of Michigan that have have been involved with creation of
30:26
Speaker 3: affordable housing, a lot of them using this HP grant,
30:29
Speaker 3: and so you know, I was recognized, but very much
30:36
Speaker 3: you know, related to the effort of a lot of people,
30:40
Speaker 3: the team, I would say, this broader team that's involved.
30:43
Speaker 3: And so on a personal note, you know, I did
30:48
Speaker 3: have an opportunity a couple of years ago to consider
30:52
Speaker 3: relocating my family from Traverse City, Michigan, which is an
30:56
Speaker 3: incredible community and most people would say why would you
30:59
Speaker 3: ever be Traverse City, especially with four children. But it
31:04
Speaker 3: was really an opportunity one for my son, Kai, who
31:08
Speaker 3: we talked about, to have more resources here in West Michigan,
31:13
Speaker 3: but also for me professionally to focus solely on affordable housing.
31:18
Speaker 3: And so in a way, the recognition is a little
31:22
Speaker 3: bit of validation that I'm doing what I meant to
31:25
Speaker 3: do here, and you know, and overall it's been just
31:29
Speaker 3: really really great opportunity to do the work that I
31:35
Speaker 3: enjoy doing, feel passionate about, and hopefully continue to do
31:40
Speaker 3: more for years to come.
31:42
Speaker 2: When you think about the legacy of what Kai is
31:45
Speaker 2: doing for you and your family, and you've mentioned him
31:48
Speaker 2: a couple of times, isn't it interesting how one person
31:54
Speaker 2: really can make a difference in the world. I mean,
31:57
Speaker 2: we use that phrase commonly, people try to aspire to it. Again,
32:03
Speaker 2: when you actually like somebody knows somebody, then you're like, oh,
32:08
Speaker 2: this really does work. And anything you want to share
32:14
Speaker 2: about your experience his you know, his input into your family,
32:21
Speaker 2: anything you want to mention related to.
32:25
Speaker 3: That, Kai is just full of joy and people who
32:29
Speaker 3: are around him see it. And you know, we live
32:33
Speaker 3: in a great community here in West Michigan where Kai
32:37
Speaker 3: has a lot of support. But I do feel like
32:41
Speaker 3: what you see is not only Kai benefiting from the
32:45
Speaker 3: support around him, but the people that support him benefiting
32:48
Speaker 3: from you know, his presence and the joy that he brings,
32:53
Speaker 3: and so you know, his h his needs and what
32:59
Speaker 3: he needs in the future for housing is something that
33:01
Speaker 3: I think about a lot. It drives me, It drives
33:06
Speaker 3: you know, my efforts and what I do. And yeah,
33:09
Speaker 3: so I think in a way, you know, you can
33:11
Speaker 3: tag that back to one person, and you know kind
33:16
Speaker 3: of the inspiration he is to people around him, one
33:19
Speaker 3: of which is me and helps drive drive me forward.
33:22
Speaker 3: And we're just getting started. I think there's probably a
33:26
Speaker 3: lot of stories about how Kai and what he brings
33:30
Speaker 3: to the world impacts our community in bigger ways in
33:34
Speaker 3: the future. So I'm excited for that.
33:37
Speaker 2: And when I think about my own children, Rama and Bodie,
33:40
Speaker 2: I think about you know, it really opened my eyes
33:45
Speaker 2: to think about compassion and injustice differently. It was a
33:51
Speaker 2: stark confrontation to what so many other people in their
33:55
Speaker 2: own lives are up against and so just having a
34:00
Speaker 2: different view of how like more depth of compassion from
34:05
Speaker 2: my perspective, and it really changed my world in a
34:09
Speaker 2: lot of different areas, So you know, we're still learning
34:14
Speaker 2: even though we've been around for decades and decades, we're
34:18
Speaker 2: all still learning in this together. And you know, sometimes
34:22
Speaker 2: our children are teaching us instead of just us teaching
34:26
Speaker 2: our children.
34:27
Speaker 3: That's an area that you know, until Kai was part
34:32
Speaker 3: of our family, you know, we probably didn't fully understand
34:37
Speaker 3: that depth of compassion that should have can have. And
34:40
Speaker 3: my wife, Erica, and our children are you know, just
34:45
Speaker 3: great supporters of Kai. And I also think we all
34:49
Speaker 3: benefit from being around him. And you know, what he
34:53
Speaker 3: does for us is more than we do for him
34:56
Speaker 3: and always will be.
34:59
Speaker 2: Well, Jason, And as we close out here, is there
35:03
Speaker 2: something that we missed such you'd like to highlight or
35:06
Speaker 2: maybe something that makes you really optimistic that can actually
35:12
Speaker 2: move the needle in affordable housing or tax credit or
35:17
Speaker 2: any of the community development finance world. Sort of like
35:21
Speaker 2: a pie in the sky kind of question here, But
35:24
Speaker 2: I want to close out and give you another chance
35:27
Speaker 2: to to give hope in that space or what you're
35:33
Speaker 2: seeing is on the horizon that you're excited for anything.
35:37
Speaker 3: One of the takeaways I've had from working in banking
35:41
Speaker 3: and affordable housing primarily for most of my career is
35:46
Speaker 3: that you know, sometimes small products or developments or you know,
35:53
Speaker 3: one unit or two units is life changing for the
35:59
Speaker 3: residents that ultimately occupy, you know, that housing. And so
36:06
Speaker 3: I think, my my, my hope for what we're doing,
36:09
Speaker 3: and it's kind of the momentum across the state of
36:12
Speaker 3: Michigan is that more, more banks, you know, as we
36:17
Speaker 3: play our role in the ecosystem of housing, will become involved.
36:23
Speaker 3: We've recently had a conference the Federal Homeland Bank of
36:27
Speaker 3: Indianapolis arranged ABT with with our bank and and a
36:33
Speaker 3: credit union and another bank in Michigan that they're kind
36:35
Speaker 3: of more the leaders of affordable housing amongst the you know,
36:41
Speaker 3: the Michigan banks, bringing together smaller banks throughout the state
36:46
Speaker 3: of Michigan other credit unions to try to help, you know,
36:51
Speaker 3: provide more information or guidance on how other banks can
36:56
Speaker 3: come into this ecosystem and help. And so my feeling
37:02
Speaker 3: is that there's like no part that's too small to play.
37:06
Speaker 3: If you can be involved some way as a financial
37:09
Speaker 3: institution like we are, but maybe on a smaller scale,
37:13
Speaker 3: it's going to make an impact. And if you're a
37:15
Speaker 3: developer and you're building one unit that's an important unit.
37:21
Speaker 3: And so we don't need every project to be sixty
37:24
Speaker 3: units or eighty units. We need all sizes. Everyone that
37:29
Speaker 3: can be supportive and involved, we need them to help
37:34
Speaker 3: solve the the housing shortage in Michigan. So that's what
37:37
Speaker 3: I'm optimistic about is I think there's momentum. I think
37:41
Speaker 3: there's a lot of people who care and a you know,
37:44
Speaker 3: Independent Bank, but you know others in our space that
37:48
Speaker 3: are coming to the table and trying to help.
37:52
Speaker 2: Right again, I've been talking with Jason Blaine, the senior
37:56
Speaker 2: commercial banker with Independent Bank, who is leading community development
38:02
Speaker 2: focused on expanding affordable housing across Michigan. Jason, thank you
38:07
Speaker 2: so much for your time and the team and all
38:10
Speaker 2: the great things that you were doing.
38:12
Speaker 3: Thanks Katie, it's about a pleasure.
38:14
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to change Makers with Katie Gore. To
38:18
Speaker 1: find out more about Katie, go to quadel dot com.
38:21
Speaker 1: That's qu A d E l dot com. This has
38:26
Speaker 1: been a production of Forbes Books Radio