The Regional Development Company (RDC), headquartered in Valparaiso, Ind., announced their 2019 year-end accomplishments and lender awards at their Annual Membership Meeting held at White Hawk Country Club on November 7, 2018. The Regional Development Company is a non-profit organization and Certified Development Company (CDC) that administers the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 504 Loan Program for small business growth.
The Regional Development Company had forty loans approved by the U.S. Small Business Administration, which brought a total of $23,000,000 in U.S. Small Business Administration funding to local companies. Of those 40 loans, nine were to women owned businesses, two were to minority-owned businesses and six were to rural businesses. The Regional Development Company partners with local banking institutions to provide business financing for large capital projects. Through their efforts, the Regional Development Company helped bring $64 million of capital investment into communities throughout the states of Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. The Company closed thirty-seven loans, helping to create 216 jobs in the states of Indiana, Illinois and Michigan.
Awards were given at the event to the top referring lenders to the Regional Development Company. Centier Bank was awarded the Most Active Bank Partner with eight loans and $9,254,000 in referral dollars. The 2019 Most Active Lender awards were presented to Tim Spoelman of Centier Bank who referred $3,359,000 in SBA loan dollars and to Dan Duncan (Peoples Bank), Bill Winterhaler (Centier Bank), Ben Brown (First Financial Bank), Jesse Hunt (Wintrust Bank), and Kent Mishler (Horizon Bank), for each referring two loans to the RDC in 2019. Lenders inducted into the Millionaires Club, an exclusive group of lenders who have referred loans of $1 million or more, included Andrew Miedema (Mercantile Bank of Michigan), Heather Thompson (Old National Bank), John Ricciardi (Live Oak Bank), Mark Oganovich (First Midwest Bank), Paul Thiel (Centier Bank), and Tim Spoelman (Centier Bank).
“Ninety percent financing allows our customers to retain more of their funds for working capital needs, and the long-term fixed interest rate mitigates the risk of increasing payments during the life of the loan,” said Erica Dombey, President and Executive Director of the Regional Development Company. “Banks benefit from the collateral structure, which allows them to maintain a 50% loan-to-value on the project real estate or equipment. With a 25-year fixed interest rate under 4%, this is the best loan for any business owner looking to buy, build or refinance owner-occupied commercial real estate.”
For more information about the Regional Development Company or the U.S. SBA 504 Loan Program, please call the Regional Development Company at 219-476.0504 (Indiana and Michigan) or 708-960-3177 (Illinois) or visit www.rdc504.org.