SomerCor, a Small Business Administration (SBA) Certified Development Company (CDC), has appointed Manuel (Manny) Flores as president and Chief Executive Officer. Flores takes the reins at SomerCor after serving two years as a member of the nonprofit lender’s board of directors.
“Manny offers a transformative vision for SomerCor that promises to build our bench strength in SBA 504 lending and expand our reach to more small business owners from more walks of life—particularly women, minority and veteran-owned businesses,” said Margy Sweeney, a member of the executive committee of the SomerCor board of directors. “We are happy to enrich our partnerships with the Midwest banking and credit union communities by bringing someone with Manny’s depth of experience as a financial services professional, attorney, public servant and lifelong advocate for entrepreneurs.”
Most recently, Flores led all communications, marketing and business development as chief strategy officer for Glass Mountain Capital LLC, a national accounts receivables firm. He also practiced law at Kelleher & Buckley LLC as Of Counsel and at Arnstein & Lehr LLP as a Partner, where his role included representing financial institutions on regulatory matters.
In addition, Flores served on the Chicago City Council as Alderman of the 1st Ward, and went on to lead the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation as director and acting secretary, where he regulated and supervised state-chartered banks and credit unions. Flores sits on the Cook County Economic Development Advisory Committee and is a member of the board of directors of the Small Business Advocacy Council of Illinois, where he advances policies and initiatives to grow small businesses and strengthen the state’s entrepreneurial environment.
“I am honored and humbled to have been selected by my fellow board members to lead SomerCor,” said Flores. “Our team is committed to building on our long track record of success, because we know our continued focus on achieving operational excellence, creating an engaging and best-in-class experience for borrowers and customers, and providing exceptional support and service to our lending partners will grow SomerCor’s reach and impact. SomerCor is a mission-oriented, social impact enterprise that is poised for an exciting new chapter of growth as a leading, national CDC.”
SomerCor facilitates and processes SBA 504 loans, Community Advantage loans, Small Business Improvement Fund grants and Neighborhood Opportunity Fund grants. SomerCor focuses on economic development opportunities for businesses, entrepreneurs, employees and communities through partnerships with lending institutions and economic development agencies.
