Webster Bank announced today that it plans to boost its New England business lending in 2010 by $400 million — the amount it received in a federal bailout a year ago.
The Waterbury-based subsidiary of Webster Financial Corp, said it expects to originate more than $850 million in new loans to businesses this year, in an effort to stimulate economic growth and job creation across the bank’s four-state region.
The new lending will be specifically targeted at small-and-medium sized business in the region, said the bank, which recently opened a Boston branch office.
“Our economy is at an inflection point and poised to resume growth,” said James C. Smith, Webster chairman and CEO. “As the largest independent commercial bank headquartered in New England, we believe we have a special responsibility to provide the credit that businesses in our region need to grow and get Americans back to work.”
The Hartford Business Journal reported in December that total lending by Connecticut’s 55 federally insured banks fell nearly a net $1 billion over the past year, with the state’s largest, regional lenders mostly responsible for the significant drop in loans.
Webster, which received $400 million in federal bailout money, accounted for $1.5 billion of that decline, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data.
Connecticut’s community banks partially offset the falloff by boosting their lending by more than $800 million, according to FDIC data.
