David C. Darnell
By: Rick Handford
    
                          
David C. Darnell is president of Global Commercial Banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He leads a team of commercial banking professionals who provide integrated delivery of the bank's full capabilities to one in three mid-size businesses across the U.S. So began the introduction by Natalie English, who works with David in his capacity as the current Chairman of the Board of the Charlotte Chamber. He is based in Charlotte and is a member of the company's executive management team. Before assuming his current position in July 2005, Darnell led the bank's Middle Market Banking group for four years. Prior to that, he led the bank's consumer and commercial banking operations in the central region of the United States, based in St. Louis, and prior to that he served as executive vice president and Commercial Division executive for Bank of America in Florida. He joined the bank as a credit analyst in Greensboro, N.C., in 1979.
 
Active in the community, Darnell is a member of the Wake Forest University board of visitors for the Calloway School of Business and Accountancy and a board member of the Museum of Science and Industry, in addition to his work at the Chamber. A native of Charlotte, Darnell received an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an undergraduate degree in business from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.
 
Mr. Darnell began his remarks with thanks to Natalie and to Bob Morgan. Having served with Chambers in various parts of the country, he noted that the Charlotte Chamber has tremendous leadership and the best Chamber staff in the country. He also recognized Tony Allen, Communications Executive, and Tammy Gibson, as well as all of the Bank of America associates who are members of Rotary.
 
His talk covered three major areas: Bank of America's commitment to Charlotte; the state of the economy; and the Financial Regulatory Reform legislation currently being worked on in the Congress. As the home of the company that eventually grew to become the Bank of America, and its headquarters, Charlotte is very important to the Bank. They have recently added to their investment in Charlotte with an $800 million investment in One Bank of America Center (a thirty-story office building opened today) along with the new Ritz Carlton and required renovations to the Bank of America Corporate Center. In addition to the capital invested in Charlotte, the city is home to 15,000 associates out of the 18,000 in NC.
 
Support for small business is an important goal for the bank. Small companies tend to be thinly capitalized, and have been significantly impacted by the current recession. The support of small and medium sized businesses includes a commitment to increase lending to such companies from $81 billion in 2009 to at least $86 billion in 2010.
 
Additionally, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, issued $12 million in grants in NC last year. Grants are focused on housing and helping people get back to work. The Bank has provided $2.2 billion for community development throughout NC, helping to provide affordable housing. Support for Green Construction is a significant part of this effort. The Bank also support arts and culture, providing financial support to arts groups and lending parts of the Bank's corporate art collection where appropriate.
 
The Bank is deeply connected to the community of Charlotte both as a corporation and as a major employer of residents of this great city. In addition to efforts at the corporate level, associates of the Bank made individual contributions in 2009 of 96,000 hours of service and $1.8 million in personal donations (matched by the Bank). In spite of the current economic difficulties, Charlotte has a great quality of life; engaged, energetic and resourceful leadership; and a talented workforce. These are all reasons why Charlotte should come out of this recession with renewed vitality.
 
With regard to the current economic situation, the Bank is optimistic, and sees rays of hope on the horizon. Consumer spending and domestic demand are strengthening. Businesses have increased total hours worked and have hired some people, although not a great many. Construction continues to be weak and commercial real estate will continue to deteriorate in 2010. US businesses have been aggressive at cutting employment and reducing labor costs, and they get an 'A' for cutting costs and responding quickly to the downturn, rightsizing their businesses and improving their survival chances. They have been much better at this than many of our foreign competitors.
 
The Bank's credit earnings are up as credit losses are down in all areas except home equity. The sales and trading business that was added as a result of the Merrill Lynch acquisition is boosting profits. He expects positive earnings through the rest of the year. It appears that most companies agree that things are not getting worse, although not necessarily getting better. Bank lending is still strong, but many non-bank lending facilities that were providing capital in prior years are now gone. Bank of America is making every good loan they can, and is actively lending to qualified customers. Total loans outstanding are down as individuals and businesses have been deleveraging by paying down existing debt. Small business don't just need credit, they need more business, so the Bank has increased its purchases of goods and services from small business.
 
An important effort in supporting the housing market is mortgage modification, and over 56,000 permanent modifications have been made under the recently enacted Home Affordable Modification Program, and since January 2008 the Bank has made over 600,000 modifications through all available programs. While this is a priority for the Bank, it is a difficult process, partly because home mortgages are the most emotionally charged issue in finance.
 
The Bank is working with the Administration on Financial Reform, seeking to get the best, most effective and productive reform possible. They have three main goals: (1) Quickly identify and resolve crisis in financial institutions that might impact the broad economy; (2) Allow for a derivatives market that has greater oversight and transparency while allowing FDIC insured banks to continue to provide derivatives to their customers and compete with foreign banks; and (3) Provide for consumer protection from unsavory borrowing or lending practices on a national level, with one set of rules instead of 50.
 
Bank of America seeks to be a part of the solution not only on the national level but also on pressing issues in the communities in which they operate. They are optimistic, the economy is improving and the Bank is helping to push the process in order to help their customers and clients achieve their financial goals. The bank is very happy to be engaged in the business economic and civic life of Charlotte, their headquarters, partnering with all of us in serving our great community.

•  Rotarians speaking out on behalf of education…Mary Lynne Calhoun, dean of the College of Education at UNC Charlotte; Bill Anderson, executive director of Communities in Schools of Charlotte-Mecklenburg; and Mark Erwin, trustee at Sugar Creek Charter School. WW II veteran, Tom Burgess, was included in the Observer's coverage and tribute to Armed Forces over Memorial Day.
     
• Remember with cards and best wishes: John Johnson as he continues cancer treatments; Phil Van Hoy, who is having a bout with dizziness and of course Sylvia Van Hoy, who is at home receiving treatments for her blood infection.
  
• HOST FAMILIES NEEDED! Plans are underway to host exchange students from Thailand (boy) and Germany (girl) this fall. The students will attend Charlotte Country Day and Myers Park and host families are needed. Please contact Matt Joyner for the details.