Call to Order and Roll Call
The 2nd meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Banking and Insurance was held on Tuesday, September 22, 2015, at 10:00 AM, at the Marriott Griffin Gate in Lexington, Kentucky. Representative Jeff Greer, Chair, called the meeting to order, and the secretary called the roll.
Present were:
Members: Co-Chair; Representative Jeff Greer, Co-Chair; Senators Jared Carpenter, Chris Girdler, Christian McDaniel, Morgan McGarvey, Dennis Parrett, Dorsey Ridley, Albert Robinson, John Schickel, and Dan "Malano" Seum; Representatives Ron Crimm, Mike Denham, Joseph M. Fischer, Jim Gooch Jr., Mike Harmon, Chris Harris, Dennis Horlander, James Kay, Dennis Keene, Thomas Kerr, Adam Koenig, David Meade, Michael Meredith, Russ A. Meyer, Brad Montell, David Osborne, Sannie Overly, Ruth Ann Palumbo, Ryan Quarles, Steve Riggs, Bart Rowland, Jonathan Shell, Kevin Sinnette, Fitz Steele, Wilson Stone, and Ken Upchurch.
Guests: Kevin Smith, President and CEO, Sharon Bird, Public Policy Director, and Shannon Smith, Community Ventures; Commissioner Charles Vice, Depart of Finance Insurance.
LRC Staff: Sean Donaldson, Dale Hardy, Dawn Johnson, and Rhonda Schierer.
Approval of Minutes
A motion was made by Representative Keene and Representative Stone seconded the motion to approve the August 25, 2015, committee meeting minutes. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote, and the minutes were approved.
Review of DFI Regulations
Commissioner Charles Vice discussed the following DFI regulations: 808 KAR 12:020, 808 KAR 12:021, 808 KAR 12:110, 808 KAR 9:010, and he added KAR 10:500 regarding crowd funding. There was no opposition to these regulations.
Community Ventures Presentation
Kevin Smith, President and CEO of Community Ventures gave a PowerPoint presentation on Community Ventures. Mr. Smith stated that Community Ventures (CV), is a nonprofit organization that started in 1982, has five regional offices, 45 employees, and the main headquarters is located at 1450 North Broadway, Lexington, Kentucky. The mission of CV is to build stronger communities, one home owner at a time. The company makes loans when banks cannot. It makes micro loans for starting or expanding businesses or simply helping a welfare mom with a $500 loan to buy an air compressor. CV is a one-stop homeownership center, helping clients understand their credit, how to budget and save, find the right mortgage, and prevent and avoid foreclosure. CV helps people achieve their dreams of home and business ownership. From education to financing, their areas of focus offer the opportunity to enhance the quality of life for people across Kentucky. CV has helped over 600 people purchase a home, helped 100,000 get educated and trained, and provided counseling to over 2,000 people. CV has helped over 5,000 entrepreneurs start or expand their businesses, and has have helped create 10,500 jobs as a result of this process. CV has built small business incubators in Lexington and Louisville, serving 36 businesses. The incubators provide affordable space for people and supply administrative assistance and small business training, business financing, and ongoing support.
In rural areas, CV helps build and rehabilitate homes. Mr. Smith stated that CV buys, inspects, and helps with budget to save and maintain the homes for families. CV builds and rehabilitates rental apartment complexes. CV is involved in revitalization of neighborhoods, having revitalized or built 26 homes in the blighted Russell neighborhood in Louisville. CV hopes to bring in new businesses to turn the neighborhood around. CV will start construction in November on Cedar Street vacant lots.
CV has helped with community projects from healthy food projects to disaster relief. It focuses on areas of greatest need and the ways it can do the most good for communities. Some of the past projects include a healthy food kitchen in Louisville, a sports complex in Bowling Green, real estate development in Lexington, and a wellness center in Barbourville. CV has helped rebuild Magoffin County schools following extensive tornado damage. CV saved 1,100 homes from foreclosures last year.
Mr. Smith discussed a kitchen incubator that will be opening this fall in Louisville. Located at 1812 W Muhammed Ali Boulevard, this commercially-licensed kitchen has space available with state-of-the-art equipment and business support services. It has 13,000 square feet, membership-based pricing plans, and member exclusive benefits, and is open 24/7.
Sharon Bird announced that a tour of the Lexington neighborhood that CV is renovating and lunch would be provided immediately after the meeting.
In response to a question from Representative Carpenter, Mr. Smith stated that CV receives capital from many private donations, banks, federal government, the Treasury Department, HUD, clients who pay for courses in the program, grants, and the legislature. CV is working on an annual budget of $11 million, and hopes to increase the budget to $15-$20 million a year.
Representative Kay stated that he had seen how CV has helped save homes and families in despair that were not only low income families but middle class families who had simply struggled to make ends meet. He said that CV kept families from going into foreclosure and from uprooting their children from their homes.
In response to a question from Representative Crimm, Mr. Smith stated that to save blighted neighborhoods, CV is striving to sustain neighborhoods by incorporating 70 percent people who can become home owners and help them become qualified, and to attract people with higher incomes to the neighborhood as well as businesses to supply the needs and places that home owners can walk to.
In response to a question from Representative Stone, Mr. Smith stated that CV is hoping to add another location in western Kentucky and would appreciate his input on areas of need.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.