Dorothy M. Thomas Named Main Street Lender of the Year
December 7, 2020
Caity Roach
Contributing Editor
Coleman’s 2020 SBA Lender Professional Awards — Dorothy M. Thomas Named Main Street Lender of the Year
Congratulations to Dorothy M. Thomas, Coleman’s 2020 SBA Main Street Lender of the Year.
“Dorothy has had a positive impact in her profession,” says Frank Gallegos, Executive Director at Cen Cal Business Finance Group. “Her strong sense of purpose in her professional and personal life has inspired her teammates to want to be better, inspired her customers to appreciate her commitment and inspired her friends to love her and want to do more to make our community a better place to live.”
As SVP, SBA Department Manager at Central Valley Community Bank, Thomas is an expert in SBA lending and goes above and beyond to serve the California Central Valley area. Over the past 30 years, she has been responsible for the production of over $600 million dollars in SBA funded projects, with an estimated 8,000 jobs created or retained in the Valley.
Thomas started her career as a loan clerk at an independent bank in Michigan and has risen to the position of Senior Vice President for one of the largest local banks in the Central Valley. Thomas has managed three bank SBA departments and one SBA loan production office. In her current role, she sources her own loans and underwrites them while managing and training her team.
In addition to her work and family obligations, Thomas has been a part of several economic development and social justice organizations including the Cen Cal Business Finance Group board of directors, Fresno Metro Black Chamber, CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women), her local CDFI (Access Plus Capital), Fresno West Coalition for Economic Development, Valley Small Business Development Center, and SCORE.
Previous Main Street Lender of the Year Winners
John Kropf, Growth Capital Corporation (2019)
Tareasa Harrell, Signature Bank of Georgia (2019)
Pat MacKrell, CEO, New York Business Development Corporation (2018)
Kurt Chilcott, President & CEO, CDC Small Business Finance (2017)
Gary Griffin, Capital Growth Solutions (2017)
Barbara Morrison, TMC Development (2017)
Ami Kassar, Multifunding (2017)
About the 2020 Coleman Small Business Lending Professional Awards
The Coleman Report is awarding 2020 small business lending professional awards in ten categories.
-
Coleman Main Street Lenders of the Year
-
Coleman Woman Lender of the Year
-
Coleman SBA 7(a) Lender of the Year
-
PPP Lender of the Year
-
Coleman Mission-Based Small Business Lender of the Year
-
Coleman Emerging Leader Awards for Small Business Lending Professionals Under 40
-
SBA 504 Lender of the Year
-
Coleman Rural Small Business Lender of the Year
-
Coleman SBA Secondary Market Person of the Year
-
Coleman Business Development Officers of the Year
Winners are chosen from community nominations.
Our top award, Coleman 2020 Main Street Lender of the Year is announced today for one well-deserving small business lending professional.
Winners will be honored at a luncheon, date, and location TBD.
Award winners are only eligible for one award per year.
We will be announcing the winners for other categories on these dates
-
Coleman Woman Lender of the Year – Tuesday, December 8, 2020
-
Coleman SBA 7(a) Lender of the Year – Wednesday, December 9, 2020
-
PPP Lender of the Year – Thursday, December 10, 2020
-
Coleman Mission-Based Small Business Lender of the Year – Thursday, December 10, 2020
-
Coleman Emerging Leader Awards for Small Business Lending Professionals Under 40 – Thursday, December 10, 2020
-
SBA 504 Lender of the Year – Friday, December 11, 2020
-
Coleman Rural Small Business Lender of the Year – Friday, December 11, 2020
-
Coleman SBA Secondary Market Person of the Year – Friday, December 11, 2020
-
Coleman Business Development Officers of the Year – Friday, December 11, 2020
Congratulations to this year’s 2020 Main Street Lender of the Year!