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33 TheSouthShoreMagazine.com meetings every morning, and a virtual weekly town hall is called each week for all employees, board members and corporators. South Shore Bank has outdone itself with its expeditious enactment of the federal CARES Act initiatives. Ever since the government began issuing stimulus payments, South Shore Bank has made sure that the tremendous increase in direct deposits is handled skillfully. A team comes in early each morning to ensure all payments post. This dedication is also displayed in full force by South Shore Bank's formidable success with helping small businesses avail themselves of the Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP"). South Shore Bank sprang into action when the United States Small Business Administration implemented the PPP. The PPP provides potentially forgivable loans so that small businesses can keep their workforce employed during the COVID-19 crisis. Thanks to responsive leadership and tireless efforts, South Shore Bank helped save over 13,000 jobs by providing more than 950 loans that totaled an incredible $130 million dollars through both rounds of the PPP. Loans were provided on a first come, first serve basis for South Shore Bank clients and non-clients alike, with the average loan size being less than $140 thousand. "Given that the country allocated $350 billion nationwide to round one of the PPP, the fact that a local community bank provided $115 million of that funding is staggering," says Douglas Sanroma, Director of Strategic Process Improvements at South Shore Bank. Faced with rolling out a national, emergency response to a health crisis, banks were required to think fast on their feet and put a system into effect. "We needed a system that would handle everything from the application process to underwriting to getting the funds out, and we needed it right away. Much of the reason that South Shore Bank is responsible for getting so many PPP loans to so many people was its ability to rise to this unthinkable occasion." South Shore Bank acted so quickly that they were processing loans before other banks even started taking applications. Alicia Martell, Commercial Loan Administrator, hosted video trainings so that employees from any division would learn to run the applications. "We created teams, provided remote instruction and figured it out," Martell says. "It was all hands on deck." Almost 100 South Shore Bank employees pitched in, regardless of their practice area. "We had many people working eighteen-hour days, weekends, on Easter and some very late nights," says Sanroma. "We had to make a very rapid shift from our normal work habits to working in quarantine through text, chat, phone and video calls. In order to process all of the PPP applications, we had fourteen different teams functioning at all times, including data entry, quality control, underwriting, closing, funding, project management and client follow-up." To ensure clients' safety and to adhere to social distancing constraints, information and signatures were processed electronically. The Children's Museum in Easton