Grant Bennett

Project Manager, CDFI Veteran Collaborative

Grant joined the PeopleFund team as intern in August of 2014. Grant was hired full time as the Lending Support Officer in October 2014 after showing tremendous aptitude and a desire to further PeopleFund’s mission. He was a Senior Underwriter from March 2016 to April 2018.

Grant now manages the national CDFI collaborative Veteran LLC. Veteran LLC works to increase access to capital, business education, and training for military veteran small business owners and their families.

Grant grew up in Jackson, Ohio and joined the Army after high school. He served two combat deployments in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Grant then served in the Texas National Guard as a Non-Commissioned Officer in an Airborne Infantry unit.

He has a BBA in Management from St. Edward’s University and a MS in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas at Austin.

Michael Hetzel

Director of Lending - WWBIC

Michael specializes in micro and small business lending, commercial lending, Retail Banking Sales Management, Sales Training, Banking Direct Sales, Product Development, Mortgage, presentation of various seminars including those that address credit repair, affordable housing, budgeting, writing small business plans and ID theft held at workplaces, banks and community organizations.

Joseph Armstrong

Director of Lending - ECDI

Joseph Armstrong serves as the Director of Lending for ECDI where he supports small businesses and entrepreneurs throughout Central and Southern Ohio.  Prior to ECDI, Joseph spent over a decade working in the personal and commercial banking industry.  He holds a MBA from Capital University and a BA from The Ohio State University.

Ray Pennie

President of Business Development - ACE

Pennie is the President of Business Development for ACE and serves as the leader of lending activity and program services. He heads up the lending team with an emphasis on growing the portfolio while enhancing a strong entrepreneurial education and support culture.  Prior to joining ACE, Pennie was Vice President of Business Development for Clearpoint, and was responsible for managing a national business development team that expanded Clearpoint’s mission of financial capability, education and counseling outreach to underserved economic groups. The agency had a special interest in serving low- to moderate- income populations, Hispanics, veterans, and older Americans. His team was instrumental in developing new and diverse revenue streams by forming strategic alliances with national corporations and non-profits to further expand the agency’s footprint and reach. Prior to joining Clearpoint, Pennie was Director of Sales at Dividend America Commercial Lending, where he led the business development team. Pennie has more than 28 years of experience in the banking sector working in commercial, residential lending and asset management. Pennie currently serves on the Board for Better Business Bureau of Metro Atlanta, Athens & North Georgia and previously served as Vice President for the PTSA of Chamblee Charter High School.  He is a past member of the board of Quest 35 Advocacy, a program for ending veteran homelessness. Before beginning his career, Pennie proudly served for six years in the U.S. Navy as a Cryptologic Technical Operator.  Pennie attended Capella University where he studied Business Management.

Bruce Trimble

Senior Business Advisor - Pathway Lending

Pathway Lending welcomed Bruce Trimble to the team as Senior Business Advisor in Middle Tennessee in 2021. Prior to joining Pathway Lending, Bruce served as Executive Vice President at SunTrust, Vice President of Finance at Dixie Graphics, and Senior Vice President of Commercial Banking at Synovus Bank. As Senior Business Advisor, Bruce lends his financial expertise to support and educate small businesses on operations and finance.

Lamont Jackson

Director, Business Technical Assistance - BBIF

Lamont is a seasoned professional with 20 plus years of banking, finance and business experience. His experience includes small business consulting, community engagement, branch management, loan review, commercial lending, credit administration, audit/compliance and CRA. Lamont currently serves as the Director, Business Technical Assistance with BBIF Florida (Black Business Investment Fund) where he helps support efforts to provide capital and business education to black and minority owned businesses throughout the state of Florida. Prior to this, he was consultant and business development professional focused on helping small to midsized businesses with strategic planning, plan execution, infrastructure development and access to capital. Lamont has worked with Automotive Finance Corp providing funding and resources to independent car dealerships, and with the DEO to help brand and implement the State Small Business Credit
Initiative (SSBCI) Program.

Lamont has a BS degree in Public Finance and Economics from Indiana University and an MBA in
Finance and Marketing from the University of Illinois. Lamont has ties to the Central Florida business community, as founding member and past president of the CFL Chapter, National Black MBA Association and various community boards. He is also a
member of the Winter Park Alumni chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.

Alan Ramirez

Director of Lending - CEF

As the Director of Lending at Colorado Enterprise Fund (CEF), Alan is responsible for statewide loan production and strategic loan initiatives dedicated to helping business owners create income or wealth via micro and small business loans.  He also oversees the Business Acceleration Services team, providing consulting services to business needing guidance on financial, operations, marketing, and legal support.

The Colorado Enterprise Fund was founded over 40 years ago and since that time the organization has been committed to helping underserved businesses start and grow.

He is a graduate of Regis University and serves as an advisory board member with the Colorado Office of Economic Development, Minority Business Office.

Paola Garcia

Vice President - Pursuit Lending

Paola Garcia serves as a Vice President for New York Business Development Corporation (NYBDC) and its affiliate Pursuit Lending. Her role is that of a business development officer, loan officer and business advisor combined. Her focus is to provide small business financing in New York State, as well as oversee community lending relations with banks, non-bank lending institutions, technical assistance providers and other lending professionals.

Ms. Garcia joined NYBDC in May 2013. Prior to NYBDC, she worked at NYC Business Solutions – Lower Manhattan Center as a Finance Account Manager. NYC Business Solutions is a program run by the Department of Small Business Services of the City of New York. They offer a set of no cost services designed to help start, operate and expand small businesses in New York City and count on seven locations throughout the 5 boroughs. Ms. Garcia also served as Senior Loan Officer at Accion USA.

She is a graduate of Hunter College, where she received her B.A. in Psychology, with a minor in Chemistry and Biology.

Metta Smith

Chief Lending and Client Experience Officer - DreamSpring

Metta is a member of DreamSpring’s executive team, overseeing the organization’s lending program performance, and has spearheaded development of DreamSpring’s credit culture as the organization has expanded its portfolio. She was selected in 2013 as an Emerging Leaders in Microfinance Fellow by The Aspen Institute’s FIELD program. She joined the DreamSpring team in 2008 as an underwriter after serving as a member of the Take Accion Task Force, an innovative volunteer group of bankers and business development specialists who helped DreamSpring expand lending capabilities into larger loan products.  Since taking over leadership of the lending team in 2012, Metta has supported the team’s efforts to grow the loan portfolio from $8MM to $45MM.  Prior to DreamSpring, Metta was a banker, specializing in commercial credit analysis at Bank of Albuquerque. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in biomedical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.