CUMU Conference 2019

The primary purpose of a commercial bank is to make loans, specifically, business loans. Making business loans stimulates the economy through growth and expansion, and creates jobs, important for economic prosperity. Marquette University recently established a new program in Commercial Banking to capitalize on the “applied” focus of business education at Marquette. Recognizing the importance of business loans, a curriculum was developed to educate students in the art of underwriting business loans. Because business loans create most of the revenue in a commercial bank, this becomes an important focus for the education of future bankers. With CUMU’s direction to strengthen the fabric of communities this program helps to align these goals with the urban areas served by both Marquette and Milwaukee. Students gain experience by analyzing “live” credits emerging from these communities. A loan fund of approximately $1,000,000 was established, through a local community bank and in conjunction with the Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative (WWBIC), a not-for-profit micro-lender, for the sole purpose of extending credit to start-up small businesses within the communities served by the university. Students, in the program analyze these requests, present them to a credit committee of bankers, and extend loans to the local community businesses. The objective is to build a functioning portfolio, managed by the students, which supports the needs of the community and integrates the university with the broader objectives of Milwaukee, as well as the overall economy through job creation, in addition to creating jobs for students and talent for the industry.