The BlackBook

Broadway Financial Corporation (the “Company”) is a bank holding company based in Los Angeles, California that conducts its operations through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Broadway Federal Bank, f.s.b. (the “Bank” and collectively with the Company, “Broadway”), which is the leading community-oriented savings bank in Southern California serving low-to-moderate income communities.

The Bank traces its origin to Broadway Federal Savings and Loan Association, which was founded in 1946 by a group of civic minded men and women, including H.A. Howard, a real estate broker, Dr. H. Claude Hudson, a dentist and community leader, and Paul R. Williams, a noted architect. These leaders had identified the need for conventional loans to minority consumers, many of whom were returning veterans. They observed that minority consumers were being ignored by the then existing financial institutions, and loans, if available at all, carried high interest rates.

Under the leadership of Mr. Howard and then Dr. Hudson, the Bank grew quickly by serving the needs of consumers and small businesses located within low-to-moderate income communities, primarily in South Los Angeles. In 1954 the Bank acquired a building at 45th and Broadway, which was redesigned as a flagship headquarters for the Bank by Mr. Williams.

After 23 years of leadership Dr. Hudson retired in 1972 as Chairman, and the Board selected Dr. Hudson’s son, Elbert T. Hudson, a lawyer, long time Board member and community activist, to serve as Chairman of the Board and CEO. Mr. Hudson continued to grow the Bank and added a third branch in the City of Inglewood in 1984. He served as CEO until March of 1992, when after a ten year apprenticeship, Paul C. Hudson, also a lawyer and community activist, was named the bank’s Chief Executive Officer.

On April 30, 1992, a fire destroyed the Bank’s headquarters during the civil unrest that beset Los Angeles following the Rodney King verdict. Management immediately announced the Bank’s intent to rebuild, and renewed its commitment to continue to serve the affected communities within South Los Angeles.

In December of 1995, the Bank’s members approved the conversion of the Bank from a federally chartered mutual savings association to a federally chartered stock savings bank. As part of the conversion, the Company was incorporated under Delaware law for the purpose of acquiring and holding all of the outstanding capital stock of the Bank, the Bank’s name was changed to Broadway Federal Bank, f.s.b., and the Company completed an initial public offering. Today, the Company is publicly traded on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol “BYFC” and is regulated as a savings and loan holding company by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The Bank is regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”) and the Bank’s deposits are insured up to applicable limits by the FDIC. The Bank is also a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco.

The Company is currently managed by Mr. Wayne-Kent A. Bradshaw, who joined the Bank as President and Chief Operating Officer in 2009, and became Chief Executive Officer of the Company and the Bank in 2012. Under Mr. Bradshaw’s leadership, Broadway has continued its focus on serving low-to-moderate income communities, with a particular focus on lending for multi-family housing. This focus addresses the chronic need for affordable housing that exists throughout all of Southern California, especially for those families living within low-to-moderate income communities. The Bank also offers a variety of other residential and commercial real estate loan products for consumers, businesses, and non-profit organizations, other loan products, and a variety of deposit products, including checking, savings and money market accounts, certificates of deposits and retirement accounts.

Values

Tagged as: Banks, Black Owned Banks, Business Services, Community, Local Black Business Directory