OLNEY, Md., May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc., (Nasdaq-SASR), the parent company of Sandy Spring Bank, announced today its current results of its participation in the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which provides forgivable loans to small businesses to enable them to maintain payroll, hire back employees who have been laid off, and cover applicable overhead. The Bank quickly developed a new technology solution to facilitate the application process and deployed over 200 employees to this effort. As of May 15, 2020, the Company has processed over 4,900 PPP loans for a total of $1.12 billion to businesses with more than an estimated 106,000 employees. Roughly 20% of these loans went to businesses in low-to-moderate income neighborhoods and over 5% went to nonprofit organizations. The Bank's average loan size under the program was approximately $228,000 as of today. The Bank will continue to process applications until the second round of SBA funding has been fully depleted.

"Small businesses are the backbone of our local economy, and we have been honored to serve their needs throughout our 150-year history. We are grateful that we have been able to help so many of our clients secure funding through the Paycheck Protection Program, and we stand ready to continue to do more," said Daniel J. Schrider, President and CEO of Sandy Spring Bank. "We certainly appreciate the challenges that the SBA faced in rolling out a program of this size so quickly, but through it all, we remain focused on helping the thousands of people in need in the very communities where we live and work. We will continue to assist local businesses in any way we can during this unprecedented time, and I'm so grateful for our employees' extraordinary efforts."

Participating in the PPP is only one way that Sandy Spring Bank has been helping individual and business clients deal with the enormous financial impact of the coronavirus. The Bank has taken several additional steps to ease the financial burden of the COVID-19 pandemic on clients, including:

• Waiving Sandy Spring Bank fees for clients using an ATM, regardless of location.
• Waiving certain penalties for early certificate of deposit withdrawals less than $10,000.
• Eliminating fees for remote mobile deposits for business clients.
• Waiving the excess activity fee on savings and money market accounts.
  
• Working with clients who are experiencing financial hardship to provide fee waivers and structure loan payment deferrals or other accommodations.
  
• Informing clients about other financial assistance offered through programs in Washington D.C., Virginia and Maryland.

Last week the Sandy Spring Bank Foundation donated $600,000 to 12 community hospitals throughout the Greater Washington region.

For additional information about the Bank's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit sandyspringbank.com/update. To learn more about all of Sandy Spring Bank's business banking solutions, visit sandyspringbank.com/business.

About Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc./Sandy Spring Bank

For additional information or questions, please contact:

Daniel J. Schrider, President & Chief Executive Officer, or
Philip J. Mantua, Executive V.P. & Chief Financial Officer
Sandy Spring Bancorp
17801 Georgia Avenue
Olney, Maryland 20832
1-800-399-5919
E-mail: [email protected]
[email protected]
Website:  www.sandyspringbank.com  

Media Contact:
Sam Price
Vice President, Marketing
Sandy Spring Bank
301-260-3614
[email protected]