With more than 28 years in banking – and the last 12 focused specifically on community banking – I have seen firsthand the powerful role that local financial institutions play in helping people and businesses turn opportunity into reality.

My experience has taught me that community banks are not just lenders. We are connectors, problem-solvers and partners. This perspective shapes how I view our responsibility – we exist to serve and show up where it counts most. That is what makes this conversation about the future of community banks in Los Angeles timely and essential.

Los Angeles knows how to sell a dream. But there is a part of that L.A. story no one puts on billboards: dreams need funding. And big banks are not picking up the phone.

Forget the glitzy towers in downtown L.A. and the flashy quarterly promotional ads. Real transformation often happens in branch lobbies, local storefronts – and loan applications.

That is where Los Angeles’ community banks step in. Small, neighborhood-focused and powerful, they are the financial players giving thousands of Angelenos not just lines of credit, but access to equity, opportunity and dignity.

Throughout Los Angeles, many business owners demonstrate remarkable resilience and ingenuity in navigating during a crisis. These success stories serve as an example of how planning, adaptability and a proactive approach to leveraging resources like partnerships with community banks can help these businesses find a financial lifeline.

By the numbers in L.A. County:

  • Roughly 30 state-chartered community banks remain headquartered in L.A. County, providing local leadership and relationship-based lending.
  • Over 600,000 residents in 46 neighborhoods live in banking deserts – ZIP codes with no access to a single bank or credit union.

Big banks often say “no.” Community banks say “Let’s talk.”

Community banks do more than fund small business loans. Through the Mission Valley Bank’s philosophy of Bank Local, Build Local, our Community Development and Reinvestment (CRA) efforts support the nonprofits doing the work that holds communities together – providing financial literacy, youth programs, shelters and arts initiatives.

We back these organizations with capital – delivering impact that national banks often chose to pass on. And we do it while offering relationship-based service, real people answering phones and decisions made right here in L.A. County.

Consider a charter school in Los Angeles that struggled to secure expansion funding through traditional lenders. A local community bank stepped in, understanding the value not only of test scores, but of community impact – and helped them grow enrollment and resources.

Or Carousel Ranch in Santa Clarita, which provides equestrian therapy to over 100 children with special needs each year. A community bank helped them expand their facility and stabilize operations with a real banking relationship. Or a family-run manufacturing company in Burbank facing a seasonal cash crunch. A flexible line of credit – delivered by a community bank – kept their production moving and their workforce intact.

On Capitol Hill and in local government, the message is clear: we need this ecosystem to endure.

Between 1994 and 2024, community banks across the U.S. have shrunk from over 10,000 to fewer than 4,000 – a dangerous consolidation that reduces access to capital and financial services in places that need them most.

For L.A.’s entrepreneurs, access can mean everything. Community banks provide the kind of early capital and trust that big institutions often overlook. It is a critical infrastructure.

Los Angeles lives on creativity, diversity and resilience. Our community banks reflect that spirit. We invest in people before profit, in neighborhoods before numbers. If we want a future where every small business can dream big – and start small – then keeping community banking alive is more than a conversation, because in this city, the dream only works if it’s funded. And right now, community banks are the ones still writing the check.

This is not transactional – it is foundational.

Justin Stewart is senior vice president of community banking at Mission Valley Bank, a financial institution based in Sun Valley that attained Community Development Financial Institution status in 2007. He joined Mission Valley in March.