Percy Manson has built a career at the intersection of capital and community development. A longtime banker and campaign consultant, the Kenner native is leveraging his financial and political experience to help extend growth and opportunity to neglected neighborhoods.
Last year, after nearly a decade as a commercial banker working for Gulf Coast Bank & Trust Co., Manson joined Hope Credit Union as a senior vice president of community economic development and now manages a statewide team.
Hope was founded in 1995 in Jackson, Mississippi, by CEO Bill Bynum with a mission providing access to capital and financial products to underserved communities in the Deep South. In the decades since, the credit union has grown to include more than 40,000 members and $739 million in assets. Last year, it financed over $210 million of community development across Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.
In the first half of 2025, Hope has closed more than 400 home loans, 87% of which were lent to first-time homebuyers, and nearly 60 small business and community economic development loans, with 89% going to economically distressed areas.
In his spare time, Manson serves as a commissioner on the board of the Housing Authority of New Orleans, which he has led as president for the past year. He’s also involved in local elections, having recently worked for the campaigns of the incoming mayor and sheriff.
On the eve of the new administration, Manson believes New Orleans is at a pivotal moment and called on Mayor-elect Helena Moreno to follow through on campaign promises to prioritize economic development in New Orleans East and the Lower 9th Ward.
In this week’s Talking Business, Manson discusses what he’s been seeing in the local lending market and how community development financial institutions like Hope, combine flexible lending with education programs.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
How would you describe Hope Credit Union and what it does?
We service folk and communities that other institutions may not want to go into. For example: Selma, Alabama. It looks like Katrina, and nobody’s really reaching out to help people in that area. We are. A lot of institutions are getting away from small business. We’re not. We’re moving more toward it, and we’re able to do some unique things to help small businesses. Credit unions are able to do things, in terms of financing, that banks cannot. With other institutions, if you don’t have the tax returns, don’t have this, don’t have that, then they’re kind of not looking at you.
What are the biggest hurdles facing small business owners who are trying to secure capital?
We have clients that come to us and this is their first account, so we kind of hold their hands and walk them through the process from start to finish. I do a lot of lunch and learns, something I started here when I got here. It’s where we go out into the communities talking about things you would need to make you bankable, things that you would need to qualify you for a loan. Then, in every one of our markets, we have what’s called technical assistance providers. If a client is not ready, we will refer them to one of the providers, and then they help them get their finances together — their P and L’s, their balance sheets and things like that, and if the taxes aren’t done, they’ll walk them through some of that stuff. Once that’s done, they refer back to us, and we’re able to move forward with a loan.
What are some of the programs or the tools that are most helpful to extend financing to underserved communities?
The main tool is our technical assistance providers. Outside of that, it’s just education. A lot of times people say, “Oh, I got the business credit,” But we still look at your personal credit as well (when evaluating a loan risk), so you got to take both of those into account.
What do you see as the best opportunities for growth for Hope?
Because we’re a CDFI (community development financial institution), we do a lot of charter school lending, I see that increasing. We do hospital lending. We partner with other credit unions or institutions to get other larger deals done. And I do see, right now, an uptick in real estate investment. I’ve been getting a lot of calls in the last month or two about purchasing real estate for investment and flip opportunities.
How has the current state of the economy changed demand for borrowing and affected your business?
Small businesses right now really need to pay attention because I think they are suffering. It’s difficult, because some of our loans that we did maybe a year, year-and-a-half ago, are becoming delinquent. So we’ve got to work through some things with the clients, maybe make some modifications, and see what we can do to help them to sustain it. Because of the current economy, with people not spending as much because they’re unsure what’s going to happen, those small businesses are hurting. I’m seeing that across the footprint, but we’re doing what we can to mitigate and see how we can help them through it.
Do you think there is a risk of a structural credit crisis in the wider market, that we’re headed into a situation where you’re seeing a lot of defaults?
I’m not going to say it’s a lot, but like I said, we are seeing an uptick in some of those. I’m not sure how long that will continue to happen, but we’re seeing a little uptick right now that we hadn’t seen before.
What advice would you give to somebody who is beginning their entrepreneurial career?
Pay attention to what’s going on in the economy. Understand your market, because markets are different. That’s the great thing about a credit union: they understand the markets that they’re in. I’ve worked for larger banks, where they clearly did not understand the south or Louisiana or New Orleans in particular. And knowing your banker, I think, is important. You need to know your banker like you know your doctor. Your health is just as important as your finances. Knowing a banker, having a personal relationship — that’s going to be beneficial to any small business owner. I would advise them to really choose an institution wisely, and if your institution is not working for you, then change.