September Spotlight, Joanna Bruno

Time flies. Founding member Joanna Bruno of J.R. Bruno & Associates reflects on NAGGL's 20th Anniversary, "It's hard to believe that 20 years have passed. I have managed to make an entire career out of the 7(a) lending program."

"I got involved in SBA lending in 1972, back when Tom Klepee was the District Director in Los Angeles. I used to get together with Cy Fritz, Charlie Lum, and others, to discuss how an organized group of lenders would be received by the SBA. We wanted to understand how to present the concept of an independent trade organization in a non-threatening manner."

"I remember the hard work of the original board members – Biff Barnard, Catherine Lyons, Gary Youmans, Steve Mattern, Jim Whitney. While brainstorming an appropriate name for the organization, I suggested we focus on a name that reached beyond our immediate group of California lenders. We all  agreed on National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders."

Bruno's continuous 20-year membership means that she has been around through good times and bad. "NAGGL fulfills a role that is far too important, and that is far too personally rewarding, to abandon."