1-1 1 1-2 SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 507 1-3 WHEREAS, MetroBank, N.A., is celebrating its 10th year of 1-4 providing excellent banking services to the citizens of Houston, 1-5 and the Texas Senate is pleased to extend congratulations to this 1-6 noteworthy institution; and 1-7 WHEREAS, MetroBank opened its doors on April 15, 1987, at 1-8 a time when a fundamentally strong market was making an economic 1-9 recovery; Don Wang, chairman of the board, focused on borrowers 1-10 avoided by mainstream banks and was responsible for turning 1-11 minority banking into a highly successful business; and 1-12 WHEREAS, A native of Taiwan, Don Wang came to the 1-13 United States in 1969 to pursue advance studies in food processing 1-14 at Utah State University with plans to return to Taiwan, but he 1-15 dropped out of the doctoral program; after working at a number of 1-16 odd jobs in Houston and Los Angeles, the enterprising young man, 1-17 with the help of his father, invested in a motel in Houston and, 1-18 later, acquired two apartment complexes and a larger motel; and 1-19 WHEREAS, By 1982, Mr. Wang had grown tired of the motel 1-20 business and, with his partner, David Tai, he started a business 1-21 that made loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration; 1-22 focusing on Asians and other minorities as clients, the men learned 1-23 the technique of putting people and money together; in 1987 the 2-1 partners started MetroBank with 80 investors and $3 million in 2-2 capital; and 2-3 WHEREAS, In 1989, MetroBank increased its assets to 2-4 $100 million when it acquired the failed Industrial Bank in 2-5 Houston's East End and developed a solid Hispanic market; a third 2-6 bank was opened in 1991 in the Galleria Financial Center, a fourth 2-7 branch in Chinatown in 1993, and a fifth branch in Sugar Land in 2-8 1995; and 2-9 WHEREAS, MetroBank is the recipient of several awards 2-10 from the Houston community and special national recognition; 2-11 the United States Department of Commerce designated MetroBank 2-12 as regional winner of "Corporate Firm of the Year"; locally, the 2-13 bank was presented the "Local Corporation of the Year Award" from 2-14 the Texas Association of Mexican American Chamber of Commerce, 2-15 "Corporate Partner of the Year" from the Houston Hispanic Chamber 2-16 of Commerce, the "Business Consortium Star Award," and the Small 2-17 Business Administration's "Award of Excellence" and Preferred 2-18 Lender designation; Eximbank awarded MetroBank its Priority Lender 2-19 designation and recognized it as an "A-level" Eximbank Lender; and 2-20 WHEREAS, After receiving front page coverage in The Wall 2-21 Street Journal, in early 1996, MetroBank opened a sixth branch in 2-22 Clear Lake, MetroBank Dallas in Richardson, and its Harwin branch 2-23 in Southwest Houston; it has continued to expand, reaching out to 2-24 minority communities in Louisiana with its first Loan Production 2-25 office; and 3-1 WHEREAS, Don Wang and MetroBank have become community 3-2 leaders among multi-ethnic groups because of their willingness 3-3 to take risks where mainstream banks traditionally had hands-off 3-4 policies; Mr. Wang's leadership and knowledge of the people he 3-5 serves have provided minority business owners and individuals 3-6 with the assistance they needed to improve their communities; now, 3-7 therefore, be it 3-8 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 3-9 75th Legislature, hereby commend MetroBank and Don Wang for 3-10 the exceptional contributions they have made to the citizens of 3-11 Texas; and, be it further 3-12 RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared for 3-13 MetroBank as an expression of high regard from the Texas Senate. 3-14 Ellis 3-15 ______________________________________ 3-16 President of the Senate 3-17 I hereby certify that the above 3-18 Resolution was adopted by the Senate 3-19 on April 16, 1997. 3-20 ______________________________________ 3-21 Secretary of the Senate 3-22 ______________________________________ 3-23 Member, Texas Senate