SANTA ANA, Calif. — Heading into the new year, Small Business Development Corporation of Orange County’s team is bolstered by a new credit analyst’s position recently filled by a banking industry specialist.

Former banker Eddie Nevarez joined the development corporation on Dec. 1. His responsibilities as credit analyst include activities to ensure the overall quality of the agency’s lending portfolio, to assist with quarterly reports to the state, make recommendations pertaining to credit policies, assist in developing a loan scoring system for the Entrepreneur Loan Fund and develop business lines, among other things.

“Eddie’s role as credit analyst was created to support both our chief operating officer and our lending officers to allow an expansion of our lending capacity,” said Jim Ely, president of Small Business Development Corporation of Orange County (SBDC-OC).

“We’re excited to add this new position to our stellar team and grateful for Eddie’s expertise which will benefit our business expansion goals,” added SBDC-OC Chief Executive Officer Michael Ocasio.

Nevarez arrives from a stint as a small business banker with Wells Fargo in Foothill Ranch and previously worked for Poppy Bank as an SBA credit analyst and as a business banking specialist for US Bank for a total of four years. He also held various roles for Bank of America for 11 years. Nevarez holds certifications with Salesforce and a Bachelor of Science in business administration from the University of Phoenix.

At Poppy Bank, Nevarez worked under a long-time industry colleague of Ely’s who had mentioned to the colleague his interest in adding a position to the development corporation’s team, Nevarez said.

For Nevarez, SBDC-OC is a good fit with his values and goals. “I love the mission of this organization in helping underserved communities with working capital,” he said. “I love the family culture of this company. I love how much they’ve embraced me in such a short time. But mainly I love feeling that I want to learn, grow, and retire with this company.”

Nevarez’s daily tasks include updating reports, typing up loan guarantee, commitment, and default documents for approved loans as well as assisting in submitting any default claims. In the near future he will assist with financial spreads for the lending requests.

A resident of Corona, Nevarez spends time outside of work with his fiancé and friends, engaged in cross-fit training, playing tennis and giving free tennis lessons to children and others. “It’s fun to see the kids embrace what I teach them,” he said. “I used to be my daughter’s soccer coach when she was younger so I missed coaching kids.”

He also volunteers with Meals on Wheels which delivers meals to homebound seniors. “Eddie’s volunteerism with Meals on Wheels is indicative of his passion for cooking and he has also been unofficially appointed as our executive chef,” quipped Ely.

As Nevarez moves along in his career and through his work at SBDC-OC, the finance and lending industry continues to provide a kaleidoscope of experiences and knowledge. “[It] offers a great opportunity to learn about the many types of businesses along with the different challenges they face,” he said. “Every loan request is entirely different [and] that sheds new knowledge to my existing understanding of our lending policies.”