Pasadena reaps the benefits of a reorganization at Bank of America.

Bank of America has just finished centralizing one of its most important and fastest-growing divisions - small business lending - in Pasadena.

The San Francisco-based bank formerly had the small business loan processing division spread across three places: Las Vegas, Fremont, Calif., and Pasadena.

Jerry Bowman, executive vice president of small business lending, said he decided to consolidate the department in a five-story building that BofA leases at 101 S. Marengo Ave. in part because the area has a deep, qualified labor pool.

There were about 200 people employed in the small business lending division in Pasadena before the consolidation, and no Pasadena jobs were immediately affected by it, said Shannon Jones, BofA spokeswoman. However, BofA cut 70 jobs in states outside of California as a result of the decision to headquarter the division in Pasadena, she added.

In the next year, bank officials anticipate hiring about 30 more employees in Pasadena, she said.

Bowman said that Los Angeles County is an area where new, small businesses are booming and the bank wants to have its center near its customers.

Bowman also cited the Pasadena building itself, which formerly housed the bank's credit card processing center, as a reason for centralizing small business loan processing there. "It's all wired for computers," he said.

Bank of America came under fire from Pasadena city officials in 1992, when it moved most of its credit card processing center operations and 1,000 of 1,300 credit card jobs from Pasadena to Phoenix.

But in February 1996, because of the small business centralization and BofA moving other functions there, the number of the bank's jobs in Pasadena has swelled to about 1,000, said Jones.

Numerous jobs

There are about 300 credit card processing jobs in Pasadena and about 220 small business lending jobs there. In addition, a number of other divisions, including student loans, consumer lending and auditing, have employees in Pasadena, Jones said.

Bowman said that although small business lending is a growing business at BofA, that doesn't necessarily mean the bank will increase staffing at the Pasadena center in the future. Because of computerization and a more efficient loan application process, the small business loan work force has been declining, even though loan volume is rising, Bowman said.

He said the center's staffing may be boosted in the future but "I can't make a commitment like that."

Pasadena city officials are happy about BofA's move, said Yvonne Walkup, the city's business development manager. She said, however, city officials have not yet had a chance to meet with BofA officials to find out what it means.

"The important thing is ... this is centralizing the business loan divisions of America's (second) largest bank in Pasadena," Walkup said. She added that small businesses in the city "could benefit in this kind of arrangement."

Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., also said the move was good, regardless of the number of people BofA employs at the Pasadena facility.

"The evidence that we are seeing is there is a rapid growth in small businesses in the Los Angeles area," he said. "By having a facility here, it means a quick turnaround (in servicing) business here."

It is also "a stamp of approval" for the small business environment in Los Angeles, he added.