Huntington Reaffirms Its Commitment to Small Business Lending in the Midwest by Doubling Number of Business Bankers

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Huntington (Nasdaq: HBAN; www.huntington.com) has exceeded its commitment announced in February 2010 to hire an additional 150 business bankers to help small businesses navigate the lending process and drive job creation throughout Huntington's six-state service area.  

Since the beginning of this year, Huntington has hired 153 business bankers who will help the bank more effectively call on small businesses to offer financial solutions to help those businesses grow – helping to further drive job creation in the Midwest.  

"We have uniquely positioned ourselves to be the bank for small businesses and in doing so, we will continue to go above and beyond on all initiatives to support small business growth and ease resource challenges," said Huntington CEO Steve Steinour.  

While it is the 37th largest bank in the country, Huntington is currently the fifth largest Small Business Administration (SBA) lender in the country.  Huntington also was the number one SBA lender in fiscal year 2009 in four of the six states it serves – Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Indiana.

"Our business bankers are unwavering in their commitment to provide the right set of services to small businesses in their communities," said Mary Navarro, senior executive vice president and director of Retail and Business Banking. "With these additional team members, we'll now be even better able to serve our small business banking customers at a time when they need it most."

Also in 2009, Huntington entered into a unique, three-year partnership with the state of Ohio to provide $1 billion in loans to small businesses to retain and attract businesses, as well as generate jobs. This increased lending goal was expanded in February 2010 to include a commitment to provide $4 billion in small businesses lending in the Midwest over the next three years.

About Huntington

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated is a $52 billion regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Through its affiliated companies, Huntington has been providing a full range of financial services including checking, loans, savings, insurance and investment services to customers for 144 years. Huntington has more than 600 branches. Huntington also offers retail and commercial financial services online at huntington.com; through its telephone bank; and through its network of more than 1,300 ATMs.

SOURCE Huntington Bancshares Incorporated