The project consisted of a marina/restaurant/motel development. The Kajun Sportsman Marina is convenient to backwater fishing or access thru Port Fourchon to the Gulf of Mexico and often hosts the prestigious Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour. Anthony"s Restaurant and Bar serves the freshest shellfish and many specialty items, including an extensive wine list and full bar. Visitors can then retreat to the Kajun Motel to rest before enjoying another day of boating and fishing.

“The staff at Mercantile went above and beyond. They couldn"t have been more helpful or professional,” said Chris Moran, owner of Chris Moran Enterprises, LLC. For more information, visit www.TheKajunSportsman.com.

Mercantile Commercial Capital"s SmartChoice Commercial Loan Program (aka the SBA 504 loan) helps owners of small to mid-sized businesses, like Mr. Moran, have an opportunity to increase their net-worth through commercial property ownership. Mercantile"s specialization in SmartChoice Commercial Loans allows their borrowers to own their commercial property with one-third to half the down payment required by ordinary banks, while getting the least expensive capital available in the marketplace. This enables business owners to reduce their risk and stay more liquid, while gaining all the benefits of commercial real estate ownership.

For more information, visit www.TheSmartChoiceLoan.com and www.504Blog.com.

Contacts:
Chris Hurn, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Robin Lashley, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040

Christopher Hurn, chief executive officer of Mercantile Capital Corp., said Mohr formerly served as a senior account executive with G.E. Capital, and has more than 35 years of experience in lending and finance.

* * *

For more information contact
Chris Hurn, CEO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Geof Longstaff, Chairman, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Shannon D. Marks, President/COO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Larry Vershel or Beth Payan, Larry Vershel Communications, 407-644-4142

Visit http://www.504Experts.com or http://www.504blog.com for more information.

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By ROBB MANDELBAUM

The Small Business Administration has once more turned to its stimulus-supplied toolbox in the effort to open up the blocked spigot of capital. (That's the S.B.A.'s toolbox metaphor, not The Agenda's. We've simply extended it.) On Wednesday the agency gently loosened lending restrictions (pdf) for its underrated 504 loan program. The new policy aims to improve a small company's cash flow by restructuring existing debt — but only if that firm borrows new money to expand. What's unclear is how many firms are brave enough in this economy to take the government up on the offer.

In a 504 loan, the financing is split between the borrower, a conventional lender (such as a bank) and a nonprofit community development company. It's the community development company part that's unusual: These C.D.C.'s pool all the debt they issue nationwide into 20-year, fixed-rate bonds sold on Wall Street. (The bonds are guaranteed by the S.B.A.) "It's the least expensive capital that a small business can get out there,” says Christopher Hurn, president of Mercantile Capital Corporation, a conventional, for-profit 504 lender. "There's no 20-year fixed money in the commercial lending space.” Moreover, the borrower needs to only put 10 percent down, in contrast to, say, 30 percent in a conventional deal.

As the terminology suggests, a 504 loan is meant to stimulate community development, and must create or sustain a certain number of jobs. The proceeds may be spent only on fixed assets such as land, a building, or machinery. "It was a forward-looking program for new investment rather than looking backward at previous transactions,” says David W. Amick, executive director of Premier Capital Corporation, a C.D.C. in Indianapolis. The rules therefore greatly limited the ability to refinance as part of the project.

But note the "was” in Amick's statement. As of Wednesday, up to half of the proceeds of a 504 loan can now go to refinancing a previously purchased asset, so long as the new project constitutes an expansion of the business. The existing asset and the expansion must be related, but only loosely: New property and old must merely be deployed in the same line of business and owned by the same company. While other provisions of the stimulus law are set to expire within two years, the refinancing change is permanent. So is another 504-related provision, which took effect the day the stimulus law was signed and effectively lowers the job-creation threshold for the loans.

Yet the change is less drastic than it sounds. For one thing, it applies just to the C.D.C. portion of the debt. Bank lenders have always been able to structure some of their portion of the debt as refinancing, with some restrictions. And the C.D.C.'s have been able to refinance so-called "interim financing,” or any loan for the project obtained within nine months of the 504, according to Roslyn Goldmacher, chief executive of the Long Island Development Corporation, based in Bethpage, N.Y. "It won't bring more people to us, but it will just make it easier for us to deal with expansion projects, and give additional benefits to those borrowers.”

Indeed, none of the 504 financiers interviewed expect a surge of lending because of the new rule, which is predicated on expansion. "I don't know too many businesses that are in expansion mode right now, do you?” says Mr. Hurn.

To truly stimulate lending, Mr. Hurn proposes fully lifting the restriction on refinancing. He points out that so far this fiscal year, the S.B.A. has guaranteed less than $3 billion in 504 loans, far less than the $7.5 billion it is authorized to support. "We're going to leave billions of dollars on the table,” he says. But by broadening the refinancing rules, "you could soak up those S.B.A. dollars that sit there and never get used.”

Still, Mr. Hurn describes the move as a useful, if small, first step. "I really view this as getting the trunk of the elephant under the tent — it puts the 504 on par with the 7(a) loan,” he says. "It's been a travesty that for the last 26 years you've had one S.B.A. program, namely the 7(a), that allows for refinancing, but we've kept small businesses who need refinancing from the least expensive borrowing that's available.”

The major stipulation that concerns me is that this new rule requires businesses to use the funds for expansion purposes. Don't get me wrong — I think right now is a great time for companies to consider expanding, given all the discounted assets that are all around us. But the fact of the matter is that not too many business owners are truly in expansion mode right now. I really don't foresee many new loans being created because of this small change the SBA has announced.

This is a shame, because the total number of 504 loans the SBA has approved this fiscal year is down 41.5% from the same period last year. Total dollar amount funded has dropped 42.5% from last year. It's apparent that the SBA needs to do more than it did earlier this week to stimulate lending (and this minor change was announced back in February . . . not exactly quick action on stimulating the economy). We need to do something to soak up the billions of SBA dollars that are just sitting on the table right now rather than create a new loan program (like the new ARC loan program with $255 million to help maybe 10,000 businesses with only up to $35,000 per business). The ARC loan program is merely a drop in the bucket of capital for America's small businesses. Allowing the SBA to free-up some of the billions already approved could make a significant difference . . . only $255 million and only $35,000 per business is nearly an insult to the 6.5 million small businesses with over 5 employees . . . ground zero for economic growth in America.

This change to the SBA 504 loan program is a small step in the right direction — they've finally started to put the 504 on par with the 7(a) program in terms of refinancing, which is long overdue. But the SBA will have to fully lift the restriction on refinancing in order to have the impact they want (and we all need) to have for America's small businesses. I'll write about a possible, easy solution (H.R. 257) in my next post . . . so stay tuned.

CEO Tony Hsieh has created a culture that can barely be described as “corporate.” Zappos employees are encouraged to literally pour themselves into what they do — working there becomes an extension of who they are. I won"t go into everything they do here — I"m saving it for the next issue of our Newsmagazine. But I will tell you about their fascinating HR practice that"s a little revolutionary.

Every new hire is put through four weeks of training — two weeks in a classroom learning the history of Zappos and two weeks learning how to answer customer calls. At the end of the training period, every single new hire is offered $2,000 to quit. Paying them to quit saves the company money by weeding out the people who would “jump ship” anyway. The way Zappos sees things, they don"t want someone who would take the money and run. They want people who will stick around and make an indelible mark on their company.

I have a lot more to share with you from my tour of Zappos, so be sure to look for the next issue of our Newsmagzine — the July issue. You"ll be surprised, entertained and inspired by some of the things you"ll read about this online shoe retailer.

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Give a man a beer and he'll have a straight-razor shave and a haircut, but give him a membership and you'll have him for the life of his contract.

At least that's the premise behind Kennedy's All-American Barber Club.

Chris Hurn, CEO and co-founder of Mercantile Capital Corporation, wasn't content with just funding franchises, he wanted to own one — not as a franchisee, but as a franchisor. He had a long list of criteria for the right franchise: 15 points, actually. We'll only hit on a few here:

The ideal concept had to be a proven, simple turnkey operation that didn't compete with any of Mercantile's customers; offer above-average profitability; be ideally niched for "mass-affluents"; have the potential for introducing a synergistic line of products; and have the potential to develop a social responsibility component.

He found that in Carrs, a barbershop he frequented. One day he was sitting in the barber chair hearing the franchisee complain about the franchisor, and the next day he was phoning the franchisor to see about a possible sale.

After purchasing the chain, Hurn, a master marketer, changed the name to Kennedy's to better reflect the "affluents" he was going after as customers. "People aren't spending less money, they're looking to get more value for their dollars," he contends.

Memberships to Kennedy's range from $40 to $120. Services and frequency accelerate with the higher rates, but basically include unlimited haircuts and shaves with an old-fashioned straight razor. Since most men's hair doesn't grow at an alarming rate, that's a fairly safe offer. And frequent customers become great brand ambassadors.

Putting on his lender hat, Hurn also gave some advice on finding loans. He suggested franchisors, as well as prospects, interview lenders. "Ask them to show you awards or testimonials that attest to their expertise with these loans," he said. "Use experts, and ask, ‘How painless and fast will the process be?'"

Another question he hears a lot is, "How much do I need down?" – – noting that the least amount is the smartest move. "Notice I didn't say, ‘What's your rate?'" he said. "Most are right in line with each other. Price is not the only reason people buy — even when people are buying money." They buy with their emotions and support their decision with facts.

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What a difference a year can make.

A new Small Business Administration analysis of lending data released last week found that the value of small business loans made in the year ended in June 2008 increased 4 percent to $711.3 billion over the year-ago period.

But then the financial industry went into a free-fall in the months following the report's closing date as the economy soured after the real estate market collapse, causing small business lending to plunge.

"All bank lending has dried up, and it will be awhile before it comes back," said banking analyst and consultant Ken Thomas. "Small business lending has been hard hit."

Bankers argue that loan money is still available, but hard times make it difficult for applicants to qualify. BankFirst CEO Don McGowan, whose institution was the top small business lender in Florida in the year ended in June 2008 with $251,294 in loans of less than $1 million, said his bank has nurtured its small business lending division for the past decade, but many businesses are struggling.

"There are businesses that want to borrow money that are losing money," McGowan said. "They are hard to lend to."

TROUBLED LOANS CURB LENDING

The SBA study examined small- and micro-business lending, breaking out large interstate lenders from community banks. About 25 Central Florida community lenders were included.

Nationally, the SBA found that business loans of less than $100,000 rose by nearly 16 percent, while loans of $100,000 to $1 million fell by 23 percent. The study relied on call reports from the banks and Community Reinvestment Act data.

Thomas, an expert on the Community Reinvestment Act — which requires banks to invest in the communities where they operate — said many lenders have curtailed small business lending as they focus on creating reserves to cover the troubled loans already on their books.

"Banks are less concerned about CRA requirements and more concerned with just staying afloat," Thomas said.

Eunice Choi, regional director of the Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida, said she has seen a marked change in lending in the past year.

"Since the summer of 2008, really no banks have been lending to small businesses," Choi said. "This is not a time to be optimistic for those having trouble finding working capital."

Startup businesses, in particular, "can't get funding whatsoever."

"Banks only want to do business with profitable businesses looking to expand," Choi said. "This is worse than after 9/11 or the hurricanes of 2004."

Claudia Menezes, vice president of Pegasus Transportation in Orlando, is a case in point. Her 15-year-old business operates a fleet of 20 charter buses. The company — which has annual revenue of $8 million annually, 60 employees and good credit — is having a hard time finding money to build a new parking lot and a repair shop.

"Finding lines of credit for operating money is almost impossible," Menezes said. "Interest rates are so low that the banks don't want to lend. They want high yields, which are impossible right now."

CUTBACKS BENEFIT OTHERS

Even as the large lenders and community banks continue to struggle with loan issues, other businesses, such as Mercantile Capital Corp. in Altamonte Springs, are benefiting from the current lending environment.

Chairman Geoff Longstaff said his company's small business loan operation is growing, partly because banks are cutting back. The company writes SBA loans, which it sells to the government. Mercantile made $10 million in SBA 504 loans last month.

"Everyone is losing money. Banks are just trying to keep the regulators off their backs," Longstaff said.

Since Mercantile isn't a bank with a portfolio, Longstaff said it is in better shape, and potential customers know it.

"We've had three times the number of applications as last year," he said. "There are a lot of good applications, too."

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ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, FL — This past April Fool's Day, the management at Mercantile commercial Capital Corp. here played a little joke on the industry, claiming it had obtained the naming rights and become the exclusive originator for the Small Business Administration 504 loan program from the Obama administration.

But Behind the joke was an effort to raise the profile of the product in a time when funding for commercial real estate has become scarce.

The SBA 504 loan program offers business owners up to 90% financing to develop acquire, and remodel commercial facilities.

Overall, The market for small balance commercial has been tough for most lenders, but Mercantile has been doing well.

Christopher Hurn, Chief executive, noted the company finished 2008 closing only four fewer loans than in 2007, Which was the company's best year ever. The First two months of this year were slow, "But it has been a rampage ever since," he said, as right around the same time the stimulus bill took off, demand took off, "to the point where we've never seen this much deal flow. There are a lot of factors for it, I think. One, of course, is that there is just not a lot of folks that we compete against out there that are lending money, they are still frozen."

Mercantile has benefited as the borrowers have found it because it has been lending throughout, Mr. Hurn said.

The other thing that stimulated demand is the attitude the small businessperson, he said, declaring that they get tired of hearing doom and gloom all the time. These people tended to go against the grain and advice of their friends and family in starting their business in the first place. "So they don't exactly follow conventional wisdom. These tend to be a little more independent free thinkers, a little more contrarian," He noted.

From his clients, they are viewing right now as a huge opportunity. Assets have been discounted , commercial property can be acquired at a much better value than it was a year or two ago. Financing terms from those companies still lending are near historical lows. "So it is a great time if a small business owner has enough courage to go out and buy their own property and stop leasing. And that's what has been stimulating our growth these last few months," Mr. Hurn said.

Mercantile expects to be breaking per-month closing records this summer. And that success, he continued, is because the company has stuck to what it does best. It only finances commercial properties for business owners and entrepreneurs. It does not want to be the kind of lender that is all things to all people. "We wanted to be the best at our particular niche and we think we are."

Recently it expanded its office space, adding 2100 square feet, bringing it to a total of 7,000 square feet and has hired five people in the last six weeks, with more hiring's likely to come. The hiring's have increased the employee base 25%.

Further helping the company is that the SBA program in general has been in the spotlight the last few months. This is more attention the program has received than any time he has been in the business, MR. Hurn said.

SBA is being seen in the market as a source of funding and not as a lender of last resort. Mercantile has capital to lend, including large commercial warehouse lines and some of its product is sold in the secondary market "and that hasn't been a problem for us either," he said.

Right now the company is seeing increased demand for doctors and lawyers looking to own the buildings their offices occupy. That represents 30% of the deals closing over the next few months. And Mr. Hurn noted these are the clients that a bank would normally falling all over themselves to lend to, just for the relationships. There's also demand from limited service hotels, freestanding restaurants and day care providers.

At one point, the management of the company was looking to start a commercial bank, in part as a source of funding. It actually had received Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approvals but an apparent moratorium on approvals by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Scrapped those plans.

So mercantile went to Plan B, and it kept doing what it had been doing with no distractions on its focus, which is good right now as demand has never been better for the company.

As for the prank, "we caused quite a ruckus, more so than we expected," he said, adding that most people took it in stride.

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For small businesses looking for loans, banks that focus on specific communities and industries have become the most reliable financing source.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Here's something you probably haven't heard a lot these days: Despite an industrywide credit clampdown, many banks have sustained their lending to small businesses, and some are even making more loans now than they ever did before.

They aren't household names and they don't often show up on high-volume lender lists, but community banks and specialty lending companies have kept their coffers open even as the vault doors at bigger banks swing shut.

"Those that are doing SBA loans on the sidelines are more willing to walk away. In top commercial banks, SBA lending is not a big part of their business," says Bob Judge, Partner at Government Loan Solutions, a firm that analyzes activity on loans backed by the Small Business Administration. "But for others it's a major part of their business and if they pull out, their whole business would come undone."

The number of loans made through the Small Business Administration's flagship program is down 57% in the first three months of the year, with participating banks lending $1.59 billion, almost half as much as they did in the same quarter last year.

The biggest pullback has come from some of the largest lenders: Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) and Capital One (COF, Fortune 500) have essentially stopped making new SBA loans, and nine of last year's ten biggest lenders have sharply cut their loan volume.

The cuts have come for a variety of reasons, including the reduced creditworthiness of small businesses struggling against a recession. But small business owners still need loans and credit lines, and for many, the best place to find them right now are smaller lenders with specific geographic or industry expertise.

Talk back: Have you had trouble getting a loan?

"Community banks may not look at the underwriting criteria the way a big business does," Judge says. "It's now about getting back to basics - the community bank has an invested interest in making sure the community succeeds."

That's been the case at Seattle-based Fortune Bank, which lends in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. In the SBA's 2008 fiscal year, the bank made 20 loans totaling $8.5 million, which was quickly topped by the $10.3 million in loans the bank made within the first five months of the 2009 fiscal year.

Fortune recently funded an expansion loan for the Perio Institute, a dental surgery training business in Snoqualmie, Wash., that borrowed from Fortune to buy two companies. Those acquisitions will help Perio expand its offerings and boost sales. (For more stories from business owners who have gotten loans from banks that have increased their lending this year, see "Startup stories: ‘How we got the cash.'")

"This shakeup is changing banking back to what it was traditionally - relationships," says Scott Harvey, executive vice president of Fortune Bank. "A lot of lenders have expanded into areas where they see dollar signs, but they don't know what they're doing. The real future is having a bank actually work with customers."

Live Oak Bank in Wilmington, N.C., knows its customers' business models thoroughly because it lends to clients of just one kind: veterinarians.

"We asked the SBA, ‘Who pays the best?' Vets," says Live Oak chief founder Chip Mahan. "Vets are diligent. We were comfortable with that subsegment."

Since receiving its banking charter in May 2008, Live Oak has originated 125 loans totaling just under $150 million.

The secondary market meltdown

Live Oak originally planned to fund its operations by reselling bundles of its loans to investors. That's a common way for banks to raise capital to issue the next round of loans: 45% of the guaranteed portion of SBA loans issued last year was resold on the secondary market, according to a recent Government Accountability Office audit of SBA data.

But after Lehman Brothers' failure, that market quickly fell apart. Banks were stuck holding loans they couldn't profitably sell, and several major lenders stopped making new loans.

Live Oak decided to find other funding sources and maintain its lending volume. "We didn't want to tell customers no because the secondary market is frozen," Mahan says. "We just had to deal with it and raise more capital."

For banks that don't rely on the secondary market, its collapse left them in a stronger position than their competitors. Huntington National Bank (HBAN), a large regional lender that keeps all the loans it originates, is likely to be one of the few large banks to increase its SBA lending volume this year. Executives there say their tight geographic focus is key to the bank's success: Huntington, based in Columbus, Ohio, only originates loans in areas of the Midwest where it has a local office.

"It's critical to see where the business has been and where it's going," Jeff Rosen, Huntington's business banking director, says of his bank's emphasis on getting close to the business owners it lends to. "Our bankers are local. Our SBA specialists are local."

Other lenders have developed expertise not in a geographic or industry niche, but in a specific type of loan. Mercantile Capital Corporation specializes in the SBA's 504 lending program, which backs loans for commercial property purchases.

For Mercantile, other banks' lending pullback is an opportunity to grab market share. CEO Christopher Hurn says he's raising additional capital, increasing his marketing, and hiring some of the SBA loan officers laid off by other financial institutions. Mercantile won't reveal how many small business loans it has made this year, but as of April, Hurn says the total is up 31% compared to last year, with a 22% increase in the dollar volume lent.

He's also able to be pickier about the loans he funds. "We're seeing a lot of physicians and lawyers buying property right now," he says. "They're coming to me, a specialist firm, because there's no credit elsewhere."

Credit squeeze

Specialist lenders across the board say they're seeing increased demand as customers that once got loans from national banks get turned down and go searching for other options. Superior Financial, based in Walnut Creek, Calif. specializes in SBA express loans, which are capped at $25,000. Its loan volume is down about 20% from last year, but it's still a robust lender: The company issued 560 loans in the first three months of 2009.

"From established businesses, we're seeing a lot of businesses that have equity lines that have been canceled or reduced. These borrowers have good credit, but the bank has shut down [their credit line] because equity has evaporated," Superior CEO Tim Jochner says. "We doubled the applications we've received over the past year."

It's a change community banks welcome. In recent years, with credit flowing freely, critics say that big banks cherry-picked their borrowers, making loans to the most attractive candidates and forcing local banks that rely on small business lending to hunt for riskier deals. Now, those banks can choose more carefully from among a broader applicant pool.

That's a tough reality for entrepreneurs seeking financing, but it's a transformation those in the industry hope will strengthen the nation's banking system. The lending standards community bankers embrace are better for businesses and better for the nation's economy, proponents say. "We do not have a past-due loan in the bank today," boasts Live Oak founder Chip Mahan.

"Big banks intruded into areas they had never been before," says Keith Ward, CEO of United Central Bank in Garland, Texas, a 20-year-old bank that specializes in serving Asian business owners. "Liquidity is tighter than ever, and the competitive playing field is so uneven. Small banks are paying for the mistakes of larger banks."

In the first quarter of 2008, United Central originated 57 SBA-backed loans, totaling $33.4 million. But in this year's first quarter, its volume dropped to just eight loans, worth $3.2 million, a plunge Ward attributes entirely to the secondary-market freeze.

Unable to sell its existing loans, United Central began looking elsewhere for the funds to keep making new ones. In late February, the bank collected a $22.5 million investment from the Treasury's bailout program, which it plans to use to increase its small business lending.

This crisis may give small banks an opportunity to level the playing field and finally compete with the large national lenders, Ward says - an shift that he believes can help prevent the current economic crisis from recurring. He is looking forward to recapturing some of the customers his bank has lost to larger rivals.

"I've been in banking many years now, but right now is very unique. We have strengthened our standards. We're receiving applications from people who [have good collateral] and can make extraordinary purchases," he says. "Interest rate is not an issue. They just want a bank."

If “40” is the new “30” and “60” is the new “45,” then I guess I'm about “25” right now, despite being chronologically “37.” It's not all bad, despite being closer to “40.” Plus, “37” has always been my favorite (lucky?) number. So I'm planning on this being a VERY BIG year for me. Look Out!

Now, my wife was a little shocked by my email late Friday (apparently she opted-into my database long ago – who knew?). Her comment with the first direct email she received was, “Does this mean I'm going to get hundreds of these?!?” Ah… no, dear, of course not.

Turns out, she only got about a dozen (dozens more only responded to me – sparring her and me, thankfully – they're on the blog now and many are very funny). But in that dozen she got, were about 4 different offers for Orlando MAGIC tickets. She went ahead and contacted a couple of the offerees, selected one, and bought the tickets (thank you, Alan). She still paid quite a bit more than I would have, but my veto powers were stripped from me with only 24 hours to go before my birthday and no other shopping having been done. To truly understand the magnitude of this situation you must first come to appreciate that my wife is one of those people who normally get their Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving. Yes, she's one of them. To say she was in panic mode Friday night is a supreme understatement.

Her and my kids came back Saturday morning from getting the tickets with a bag of “goodies”: a MAGIC drum (noise-maker); a Superman bobble-head; gift wrapping paper; and so on. Of course, I knew what was going on – my wife and I were in on it, but we dared not tell the kids. They LOVE to surprise Daddy! When my son showed me his bobble-head, I promptly asked him where he got it (just to test him thinking fast on his feet). “Got it at Target, Dad.” Oh… and is that where the wrapping paper came from too? “Yep, Target…you know we just LOVE Target, Dad.” Very suspiciously put, hmmm.

On Sunday morning, I was allowed to sleep-in until 9:30 (oh, for the days in college when I could get up and just roll out to lunch!). At that precise moment, I was handed cards and a gift-wrapped envelope with the tickets in it. I feigned surprise – the kids loved it! From there, it was mostly just family time the rest of the day. Lots of basketball playing in the pool, and Winston (our black lab puppy) FINALLY learned to stop barking when we don't want to let him into the pool to swim – he'd stay in the water all day if we let him.

My wife and I left the house Sunday night around 6:30 for the 8:00 game as we'd heard about the carnival atmosphere outside Amway Arena. We were NOT disappointed. Pictures will follow later this week (you really ought to subscribe to our RSS feed now, so you don't miss these).

The noise in the arena was RIDICULOUS! The MAGIC themselves, however, were a bit of a disappointment. They started the game well, but quickly fell behind in the 2nd and 3rd quarters and didn't start making 3-pointers until it was too late in the 4th. No one was able to truly contain Kobe the entire series. While his supporting cast was slightly better than LeBron's in Cleveland, they will be hard-pressed to repeat next year if their free agents do what I expect them to do. As for Orlando, we have most everyone locked-up (Hedo is the lone exception) and the average age of our starters is around 27. With a new arena being build for next season, I think the “agony of defeat” will motivate our young guys into the Finals again next year. Just a hunch.

And by the way, I'm so glad you folks in California have learned to “just get along” – only 5 police officers were hurt and about 25 people arrested in the “celebrations” last night. I'd say that's marginally better than 7 years ago, when you won it last and burned police cars, vandalized 70 cars and 11 people were arrested. Anyway, “enjoy” it while it lasts. I think Master Phil is headed back to Montana on his motorcycle to end on a “high”-note – pun intended.

While many in Orlando (myself included) are still mourning the near-collapse of our beloved MAGIC last night at the hands of "Evil Kobe," as my almost 6-year old son calls him…my dear, sweet wife continues unabated to try to secure me game tickets for my birthday (37th one this Sunday, Flag Day - yeah, don't forget to hang your American flag out on Sunday and through Independence Day…that's the proper "flag etiquette" this time of year) and/or an early Father's Day present. I know. I know. Virtually impossible these days as they are Orlando's only major professional sports team…but she has great intentions and has been trying for weeks.

See, we used to share season tickets with another family, but as our children got older (in other words, they weren't babies that I could simply hold on my lap, whether they fell asleep at the game or not), we ditched them…the tickets that is, not the babies!

At least that's the rational I repeat to myself when I think about "those days." That and the terrible 21-win season of 2003-2004 (Superman didn't arrive until the 2004-2005 season). It just became too difficult to try to go to all those mid-week home games, and giving most of them away started to make me wonder why I had such expensive tickets at all (yeah, the seats we had were awfully good ones, too).

Now, my wife has been realizing the consequences of letting our "participation" lapse, and she's been frantically trying to buy me tickets as a gift. I've vetoed several of her bids on eBay, "too much for a game I can watch in my underwear in front of my big screen TV." I've even heard from friends of mine that she's asked about buying their tickets…seems they want to attend the NBA Finals a bit more than they want our money.

SO…if you've read this far and you happen to have decent tickets you want to part with, contact my wife at her email address (eshurn@bellsouth.net) and tell her so. I'm happy to have her accept a "slight mark-up" over face-value and if you want more, then let her write a check to your favorite charity - let's try to be capitalists AND philanthropists!

Yes, I'll pretend I don't know anything and that you just "magically" heard she was trying to buy me the "perfect gift" for Father's Day (I already own Kennedy's All-American Barber Club, so getting me a membership there has already been taken care of long ago). She'll be very grateful, as I will be too, even though it's for my own gratuitous benefit.

I really don't want to keep hearing it from my friends in LA! "Yeah, we KNOW Kobe's AMAZING, but an earthquake may one day send your awful state into the Pacific…so there! And our Mickey palace is better than yours!"

Anyway, we still BELIEVE…Now, if the MAGIC don't blow it Sunday night…that'll be a very special birthday present for me, regardless of whether my wife gets a rush of ticket offers this weekend or not. And if she doesn't, you know where I'll be on my birthday…just sitting there in my…okay, I'll spare you the visual. Let's just say I hope to be enjoying my birthday and getting ready to enjoy the following weekend's Father's Day. Now you know how you can help her and me.

Thanks again for indulging a very rare "personal" message from us and me at Mercantile. Have a great weekend and
GO MAGIC!

• The consensus of forecasting economists still expects a return to positive (not impressive, but positive) U.S. economic growth during this year's third quarter.
• Between 1980 and 2007, total emissions of major air pollutants within the U.S. dropped by 52%.
• The number of people who have quit smoking (46 million) now exceeds the number who still smoke (45 million). Roughly 21% of adults smoke today, versus nearly half in the early 1950s.
• A recent poll of more than 12,000 global business figures conducted by the World Economic Forum ranked the U.S. as the world's most competitive economy.
• Traffic deaths per 100 million miles traveled during 2008 were the lowest on record.
• Conventional thirty-year fixed-rate mortgages have been between 4.75% and 5.15% in recent weeks, some of the lowest levels on record
• The number of new cancer cases and deaths are falling for the first time since the government began compiling a report on long-term trends.
• Incomes for the poorest one-fifth of all earners have grown an average of 3.9% annually since 1994, slightly outpacing the 3.4%-3.6% average gain of those in the middle three-fifths of incomes.
• Average U.S. life expectancy has reached 78 years (men 75, women 80), the highest ever. This compares to 76 years in 1995, 68 years in 1950, and 47 years in 1900.
• For every dollar of U.S. economic output generated today, we burn less than half as much oil as 30 years ago.
• U.S. military deaths in Iraq during 2008 plunged by two-thirds versus the prior year.
• The U.S. trade deficit with the world fell for the seventh straight month in February to a nine-year low of $26 billion.
• Men's contribution to housework has doubled over the past 40 years, while their time spent on child care has tripled.
• A record 29% of men have earned a bachelor's degree or higher, versus 26% of women, also a record. This compares to a combined 7.7% in 1960. A record 84.6% of adults over age 25 now have at least a high school diploma, versus 24.5% in 1940.
• Violent crime declined 3.5% during 2008's first half versus the prior year. Violent crime overall is down 55% since 1993, with violence by teens down 71%. School violence has declined by half from a decade ago.
• Donations to charity set an all-time high in 2007, with more than $300 billion donated by individuals, foundations, and corporations. As a percentage of GDP, Americans gave twice as much as the next most charitable nation…England.
• Productivity of the average U.S. worker rose an average of 2.6% annually during the past 10 years, the largest gains in 40 years. Rising productivity is a long-term key to higher standards of living.
• Air pollution declined 25% over the past 30 years even as the population and the economy grew. Water quality also continues to improve. More progress will occur in coming years as companies see rising value in "going green".
• Alcohol-related traffic fatalities in the most recently reported year dropped by more than half versus 20 years ago.
• During the early 1960s, the five-year survival rate from cancer for Americans was one in three. Today it is two in three…continuing to climb…and the highest in the world.
• Substantiated cases of childhood sexual abuse have fallen 49% since 1990. Physical abuse of children is down by 43%.
• The number of abortions performed in this country has declined by one-third since 1990 and is now at a record low.
• The U.S. rate of home ownership reached 69.2% of households in recent quarters, the highest ever, before declining slightly.
• Women earned nearly 60% of all bachelor's degrees awarded in recent years, versus 43% in 1970 and 24% in 1950. Women earned a similar share of master's degrees.
• Illicit drug use among U.S. teenagers hit a five-year low of 9.8% in 2006, down 16% since 2002.
• U.S. teen pregnancy and birth rates plummeted to all-time lows in recent years, before a slight rise. The reasons? More widespread use of birth control, more work opportunities, and more girls who "just say no".
• The Consumer Price Index (CPI) has actually declined 0.4% during the most recent 12-month period—the first 12-month decline since 1955—helping to stretch consumer incomes.
• The upward "mobility" of the typical American remains the greatest in the world. Why? The U.S. economy "rewards" the combination of hard work and educational achievement more than ever before…and more than any other country in the world.
• The U.S. role of dominance in the global economy in recent years has been as clear-cut as at any time since the 1950s.

If you're not already smiling, you should. You should also feel blessed for living in a time like this and be proud of playing a major part in it. Entrepreneurs and those that work with and help entrepreneurs have played a significant role in helping make our Country Great. Never let anyone tell you otherwise. The work that people, such as ourselves, do is priceless to our society and matters tremendously.

By the way, you can read part of my recent interview with Jeff for our Small Business Success Strategies® TeleSeminar Series in our recent May/June Newsmagazine. If you want to read the whole thing, you can become an SBSS Subscriber at www.SmallBusinessSuccessStrategies.com. The investment is minimal, and more than worth it. Ask yourself: "What else am I doing to continually learn and improve in this Changing Economy?"

The firm, which specializes in U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loans for small business owners who want to acquire or develop their own facilities, reported it closed on loans that total more than $10 million in May, up more than 66 percent over the same period last year.

Geof Longstaff, co-founder and chairman of Mercantile Capital Corporation, said May lending activity included $3.3 million to acquire and renovate a marina in Golden Meadow, La., and two loans that totaled $7 million to acquire Best Western hotel properties in Winslow and Cottonwood, Ariz.

Longstaff said the firm"s commercial property loans in May, 2008 totaled just over $6 million.

* * *

For more information contact
Chris Hurn, CEO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Geof Longstaff, Chairman, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Shannon D. Marks, President/COO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Larry Vershel or Beth Payan, Larry Vershel Communications, 407-644-4142

Visit www.504Experts.com or www.504blog.com for more information.

Click Here To View Article in PDF Format

Southeast Real Estate Business
Volume 10, Issue 1

May 2009

Groundbreakers
Mercantile Capital

Altamonte Springs, Fla. – Altamonte Springs-based Mercantile Capital Corporation has hired Dwayne Hamner as senior credit officer. Hamner has worked in the banking industry for more than 14 years and has more than 10 years of residential real estate development experience. He is a graduate of the University of Maryland.

Business Watch
Mercantile Capital Rebrands, Goes National

Altamonte Springs, Fla. – Mercantile Commercial Capital, a firm that focuses on providing SBA 504 loans, has rebranded itself as Mercantile Capital Corp. and is gearing up for a nationwide sales effort based at its headquarters in Altamonte Springs. The company"s senior management staff has also been reorganized to meet its new goal. Christopher G. Hurn, president of Mercantile Commercial Capital, has been appointed CEO of Mercantile Capital Corp., and Shannon Marks will join the rebranded firm as president and COO.

Click Here To View Article in PDF Format

Seminole Voice

May 1 – May 14, 2009

Notes

Mercantile Capital Corporation, one of the nation's leading providers of U.S. Small Business Administration 504 loans for small businesses, recently appointed Monica Perez senior loan officer. Perez, a graduate of UCF, has more than five years of commercial loan experience.

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Orlando Business Journal
May 29, 2009

Small business stimulus help just weeks away

SBA programs aim to help firms survive recession
By: Richard Bilbao

Eddie Diaz knows firsthand about the economic recession's toll on local businesses both large and small.

More than $200,000 in cash flow has dried up at Diaz's 6-year-old entertainment and events marketing firm, Encore Creations Inc., since the beginning of 2009. “When you lose that much, it sets you back,” said Diaz, CEO of the Belle Isle-based company.

As a result, he's been hunting for any help he can find. Enter the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, signed by President Barack Obama in February.

Of the hefty $787 billion plan, $730 million is expected to go to the U.S. Small Business Administration to support small businesses, which drive much of the nation's economy.

Nearly 99.7 percent of all firms in the U.S. are considered small businesses, which employ half of all non-farm private-sector workers and make up most of the 10.6 million minority and women owned businesses.

Among the help available:

• The American Recovery Capital loan program, offering up to $35,000 in deferred-payment loans backed 100 percent by the SBA for businesses needing help to make payments on an existing, qualifying loan for up to six months.
• An SBA loan program to temporarily help broker-dealers who buy guaranteed 7(a) loans, which are long-term capital loans for small businesses.
• Temporary loan fee elimination and 90 percent guarantee provisions to about $8.7 billion of 7(a) loans and $3.6 billion in SBA 504 loans, which help small to midsize businesses buy or expand.
• Expansion of the Surety Bond Program helping small businesses compete for contracts related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“This program could be a big help for those who need extra funding to straighten out their cash-flow situations,” said Eunice Choi, regional director at the University of Central Florida's Small Business Development Center, which works with small firms in Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake, Brevard, Volusia, Flagler and Sumter counties.

Many of the provisions are already in effect, but others, such as the American Recovery Capital loan program, are still in the works as officials seek to secure participating lenders. That program will take effect June 15.

In addition, UCF's Small Business Development Center is helping businesses that want more information on the SBA programs and how to decipher them.

However, while the American Recovery Capital loan program is a good start, it's still not nearly enough for the area's thousands of small businesses, said Chris Hurn, CEO and co-founder of Orlando based Mercantile Capital Corp., a commercial real estate lending firm that provides SBA 504 loans.

The small business community “is such a critical part of the U.S. economy and it's getting 1 percent of the stimulus funds. That seems like a horrible disparity,” he said.

Hurn hasn't gotten many calls from clients inquiring about the SBA's American Recovery Capital loans, probably due to the fact that most need more than the $35,000 limit.

But Diaz said he's anxious to tap into any help. “We are still not out of the woods, so it wouldn't hurt to apply.”

Stimulus safety net

A few of the $787 billion stimulus package programs created to attack small business troubles include:

- American Recovery Capital (ARC) ican program
- Providing temporary loan fee elimination and 90 percent guarantee provisions
- Expanding the Surety Bond Program
- Expanding the SBA's microloan program
- A new Section 504 refinancing program

For more SBA information, see www.sba.gov/recovery/
For UCF's Small Business Development Center, see www.bus.ucf.edu/SBDC/

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Orlando Business Journal
May 22-28, 2009

Biz Digest

Expansions

Mercantile Capital Corp. added 2,100 square feet and hired five new employees at its offices in the Oasis Office Building in Altamonte Springs. The firm employs 24 workers in about 7,000 square feet. MCC specializes in U.S. Small Business Administration 504 loans.

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Orlando Business Journal
orlandobusinessjournal.com
May 8-14, 2009

FDIC Putting New Banks on Ice?

People with the nerve and enough cash to start a new bank in this recession are being thwarted by delays and scrutiny from federal regulators, causing many to withdraw applications for startup charters.

“If you want to enter the banking system in the next 12 months, it's not [through a startup],” said Jack Greeley, a banking attorney with Smith Mackinnon PA in Orlando.

Even well-funded, experienced investor groups have been left in limbo.

Take Mercantile Capital Corporation of Longwood, which wanted to create Emergent National Bank. The company withdrew its Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) application in February and returned its $37 million in capital to the shareholders, Greeley said.

“We spent well over $1 million on this application, and we just had to write it off,” said Geof Longstaff, Mercantile's chairman. “It was very deflating.”

Longstaff said he won approval last September from the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency which charters national banks, and expected FDIC approval soon after – but it never came. “We were probably the first bank where the door slammed shut. The FDIC seems so dedicated to its other troubles that it doesn't have time for new applications.”

Longstaff is not alone.

Greeley represents eight investor groups: four that wanted to charter a new bank and four seeking to buy an operating institution. And all the charter seekers have given up. “Any one of these groups easily would have won approval for a charter not long ago,” said Greeley.

But now, buying an institution, or investing heavily in one, is the only viable course for those who want to get into the business, he said.

FDIC spokesman David Barr said his agency is getting few applications. Standards for approval haven't changed, he said, but market conditions have.

All proposed banks need clearance from the FDIC, which insures deposits. “If you don't get approval from the FDIC, you're not going anywhere,” said Bruce Ricca, financial administrator for the Florida Office of Financial Regulation.

Florida regulators have gotten six applications for state charters since March 2008. Only one of those applicants, First Green Bank in Eustis, has opened.

That's a big change from past years. State regulators got 12 applications in 2007, down from 21 in 2006 and 25 in 2005.

Fewer start-up banks

As shrinking number of investors in Florida are seeking state charters to start new regional banks, largely due to increased federal red-tape.

It's an unfortunate turn of events, said Ken LaRoe, CEO and chairman of First Green Bank, because the slowdown in lending at many larger and older banks has created an opening for new lenders – at least those that got charters in the past couple of years.

After 10 weeks in business, First Green Bank has $40 million in assets, $20 million in deposits and $10 million in loans. “We're helping so many people who have been turned down by other banks,” he said. “And there are other [potential startups] out there that could help that are not getting their charter, and it's a shame.”

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Florida Real Estate Journal
May 16-31, 2009
Vol. 17, No. 3

Property Finance

In Brief

Mercantile reorganizes for national expansion

Altamonte Springs – Mercantile Commercial Capital, LLC, the six-year-old firm that ranks as one of the nation's leading providers of U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loans for small business owners who want to acquire or develop their own facilities, has reorganized and refocused its efforts on a nationwide expansion.

Geof Longstaff, chairman of the firm, said the expansion will substantially enhance the firm's volume and its impact on the national economy.

“We have developed a highly successful strategy to deliver commercial financing to growing small business enterprises that are creating job growth in the economy,” Longstaff said.

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Done Deals
www.donedeals.com
Sunday, May 31, 2009

Mercantile Capital Corp. Reports 66 Percent Jump in Commercial Property Loans

Altamonte Springs, FL – Mercantile Capital Corporation in Altamonte Springs reports it is seeing a big increase in commercial property loans.

The firm, which specializes in U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loans for small business owners who want to acquire or develop their own facilities, reported it closed on loans that total more than $10 million in May, up more than 66 percent over the same period last year.

Geof Longstaff, co-founder and chairman of Mercantile Capital Corporation, said May lending activity included $3.3 million to acquire and renovate a marina in Golden Meadow, La., and two loans that totaled $7 million to acquire Best Western hotel properties in Winslow and Cottonwood, Ariz.

Longstaff said the firm's commercial property loans in May, 2008 totaled just over $6 million.

For more information, contact:
Chris Hurn, CEO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040.

Click Here to View Article in PDF Format

Lake & Sumter Real Estate
Daily Commercial/South Lake Press

Friday, May 1, 2009

PEP talk
People, Events and Places in Real Estate

Mercantile Capital makes appointment

Altamonte Springs – Mercantile Capital Corporation, formerly known as Mercantile Commercial Capital, LLC, the nationwide firm that provides U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loans for small business owners who want to acquire or develop their own facilities, has appointed veteran lender Dwayne Hamner senior credit officer.

Geof Longstaff, chairman of the firm, said Hamner is a graduate of the University of Maryland and has more than 14 years of experience in the banking industry and more than 10 years in residential real estate development. “Dwayne Hamner is one of the brightest lending executives in the southeast and we are delighted to have someone of his experience on board,” said Longstaff.

For more information call (407) 786-5040.

Click Here To View Article in PDF Format

Florida Commercial Properties
Southeast Real Estate Business
April/May 2009

In the News: Central Florida

Business Watch

Mercantile Capital Rebrands, Goes National

Altamonte Springs – Mercantile Commercial Capital, a firm that focuses on providing SBA 504-loans, has rebranded itself as Mercantile Capital Corp. and is gearing up for a nationwide sales effort based at its headquarters in Altamonte Springs. The company's senior management staff has also been reorganized to meet its new goal. Christopher G. Hurn, president of Mercantile Commercial Capital, has been appointed CEO of Mercantile Capital Corp., and Shannon Marks will join the rebranded firm as president and COO.

With his permission, I've reprinted most of the articles here and added some of my own comments (always in the brackets, highlighted, and in italics). While it's a little long, it's written very conversationally and in a story format, so it's definitely worth your time and trouble to get through it. Plus, this is truly the kind of thing that you ought to comment on at the end of this blog post, whether you agree, had no idea, or have suggestions for the new SBA Administrator. Let us know where you stand. Something HAS to change. Bailing out old, dying industries with nearly $800 billion while the source of 70% of America's net new jobs every year only gets about 1% of that figure is a travesty. It's time America's entrepreneurs have a tireless advocate in Washington and not merely another bureaucrat using the SBA as a stepping-stool to bigger and better things. America's businesses are working harder than ever to stay in business and trying to get ahead these days, why should we expect anything less from our civil servants?

Why I threw Karen Mills under the Bus
My CNN Interview

SBA Administrator Karen Mills had been in her position for just over a month when I taped my CNN interviews in New York on May 7.

My criticism of her was based on the fact that in her first 30 days she had not made any public appearances or made any statements discussing the crisis in small business lending. [THIS is kind of what you'd like to see from the new Administrator!]

CNN Money anchor Poppy Harlow challenged my criticism. She said even the President knows this will take time.

However, I said Ms. Mills needs to be out there, talking to the small business lending community. I said she is the voice of small business.

We need to hear her solutions to getting capital for Main Street.

The previous week I had attended the NADCO conference for SBA 504 lenders. Ms. Mills had sent her chief of staff to address these critical private sector partners that were experiencing a 45% drop in 504 lending. [She should have been there herself – making it a priority… what could possibly be MORE important?]

The day I taped my interviews in New York coincided with opening night of the NAGGL Conference in Boston. The situation for 7(a) lenders was even more dire, with that industry suffering a 57% drop in lending.

Ms. Mills chose not to appear at that SBA lender conference either. [What WAS she doing either week?!?]

My underlying frustration was based on what was happening to Main Street in my own town – a suburb of 23,000, 12 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles. Every week that goes by without the full force of SBA's stimulus package brings the closure of more small businesses.

No one is speaking for them – even though small business accounts for 70% of the GDP and 50% of new jobs in the American economy.

I am angered by SBA's failure to follow Congress' 15-day emergency regulatory implementation language for parts of the stimulus that were due to roll out March 4th and 19th – 504 and 7(a) secondary market liquidity programs – and of course the $35,000 ARC loan program designed to help small businesses get through this recession.

I'm not alone. Senator Snowe, the ranking member on the Senate Small Business Committee, urged Ms. Mills at her confirmation hearing to get these programs moving. She understands the cost of delay. [Are we sure? She's a former venture-capitalist NOT a former small business lender – there's a canyon-sized gap of a difference.]

Every week of delay results in more lost jobs, reduced local sales tax revenues – and failed entrepreneurial dreams.

Since December, more than 15 small businesses have failed on my Main Street. A Union 76 gas station that had been family owned and run for more than 60 years. A sandwich shop. My wife's hair salon. A gym. Real estate brokers. Small gift shops. A loan broker. A management company. An art gallery. A small clothing store. Even the shipping store where I drop off my UPS packages is now gone.

One of the sadder stories was one of the local gift shops. Next to a "For Lease" sign in the shop's front window is a handwritten note that reads, "Thank you for shopping with us, whether it was for one day or 60 years – Pam and Pete."

"For Lease" signs litter the two-mile stretch of my Main Street.

If all these workers were employed by a Fortune 500 company that was threatening to close the local branch, there would be an outcry to save the jobs and the factory. Politicians would try to cut deals. Bailouts would be proposed. [Exactly!!!]

Not so with my local small businesses. Every week that goes by with an incomplete SBA stimulus package results in more lost jobs and failed entrepreneurs.

The secondary market must be fixed. It needs SBA's stimulus program for liquidity so small business lenders can make loans. Small businesses need access to the ARC $35K loan program.

So, when I was asked by Ms. Harlow how I felt about Karen Mills, that's why I said she needs to be out there. She needs to talk to lending partners. She needs to move bureaucratic inertia to get these programs launched and get the flow of capital back to Main Street.

Off camera, I said she should have been the one interviewed by CNN, not me.

She must be the voice for small business. [Or she should step aside, go back into the private sector or move on to something else. These are critical times and America's small business community needs a strong, tireless Advocate… not someone merely going through the motions.]

CNN

I was invited to New York by Emily Maltby and Stacy Cowley. Emily writes about small business issues for the CNN Money website. Stacy is the site's editor. [Emily has interviewed me several times as well – very competent and nice.]

It was a heady experience and everyone there went out of their way to make me feel comfortable.

I was met by a friendly, calming producer, Robert Walker, and he escorted me to Makeup.

When I was booked, I reached out to Chris Hurn of Mercantile Capital, a 504 lender out of Florida. Chris is a marketing genius and recently did a great live piece on SBA lending for "Fox Business News." I asked him for some tips. He said: 1) Button my coat so my gut doesn't hang out – Chris obviously knows me; 2) Lean forward at a 15-degree angle; 3) If you are asked two questions at once, stay focused on your talking points and only answer one. Allow the anchor to follow-up; 4) Make sure you get makeup, or you will look really, really funny. [You'll now see if he followed my advice…]

Make-up

Although I worked in Hollywood for a number of years, I have never worn makeup – never even thought about it. When I told my wife my problem, she got very excited. She was ready to take me out shopping and teach me all about her wonderful world. Needless to say, I did not share my wife's enthusiasm.

I emailed Emily and Stacy on the makeup situation. They politely said they were CNN, and they could find somebody to take care of me.

That somebody was in a room with three other makeup artists. Each one had a barber shop style chair with hundreds of little bottles stacked neatly all around. Unfortunately, I have forgotten her name, but this lady was a real pro who obviously has taken care of a lot of people more important than I.

She went right to work dabbing my face with something (I have no clue what it was). I talked to her about her work and she was very formal, until I confessed that this was my first experience with makeup.

She immediately warmed to the challenge, telling me that she was going to give me "the full treatment."

After finishing the dabbing of stuff all over my face, I figured she was done. I started to get out of the chair when I noticed that she had some type of instrument in her hand that looked suspiciously like something a proctologist would use.

She said, "Relax sir."

It was an air brush! I knew that from a painting job I had during college. And I'm not talking a little air whooshed out here and there. She was laying it on in a continuous stream as if she was covering a canvas.

I wasn't expecting this and needed to take a deep breath. She said, "Don't breathe! Hold your breath!"

After what seemed to be a very long time, she told me it was safe to breathe again. She combed my hair real quick and pointed me over to the Green Room. I was in and out of Makeup in less than 5 minutes. I thanked her profusely and walked over to the Green Room.

The Green Room

Of course, the first thing I did was look into a mirror. Not bad! A little pasty, but all the natural redness in my face was gone – only to reappear on camera! And the makeup seemed to clog my pores, so I didn't think I would sweat that much – more on that later.

My observations on the Green Room. Well, it was green. More of a hospital washed-out lime green. I was the only one in the room. I guess it was soothing.

The big screen TV was turned on to CNN news, of course. CNN Atlanta had just cut to New York, where Poppy Harlow was finishing a live report. There were a couple of couches and chairs with magazines strewn about on a coffee table. I grabbed some ice water and started gulping.

After about 10 minutes, Robert came into the room and took me to the set.

CNN Money

The CNN Money set is in the Time Warner building at Columbus Circle in New York. It sits in the middle of a room with about 50 staffers on each side of the set staring into state-of-the-art computer screens.

Approximately half of the staffers support CNN's on-air segments, while the rest are assigned to its Web site.

The room is cavernous. At the end of the room are Anderson Cooper's and CNN's "American Morning" sets.

The CNN Money set is elevated and surrounded by cameras and several banks of bright lights. Robert brought me in and introduced me to Poppy Harlow, the stereotypical female cable anchor. Blonde, young, talented, beautiful and smart.

I made my first gaffe by calling her "Polly," which brought a sharp rebuke from both Robert and her!

Poppy it was then.

The three of us went over her questions and she quickly honed in on my criticism of Karen Mills. She said that we'd have two segments running approximately five minutes each. The first segment was "Jump-starting SBA Lending." [It should have been Bob AND me there…we could have tag-teamed those CNN types… oh well.]

CNN Producer Robert Walker left the set and settled in behind his monitor. Camera personnel quickly appeared – I should know this, but I don't remember how many cameras were used. Robert told me not to worry about the cameras and not to look at the monitor – of course I then took a quick peek and saw some old fat white guy sitting in my chair. That extra 15 pounds seemed like a lot more. Time to put in some more gym time.

I put my water bottle behind the screen and we were off.

I made my second gaffe when I said that it was tough to be a small business banker these days. Mangling Fullerton Community Bank SVP and SBA Manager Joan Earhart's line, I asked, "How can a banker trust lending to small business when GM and Chrysler are bankrupt?"

Eventually, I'll be right, but as of May 7, I was wrong. That line ended up on the cutting room floor, which saved me and CNN from a possibly massive lawsuit. Also cut was Poppy's questions about how I felt SBA was doing with the stimulus package. I gave a vanilla answer that I respect the bureaucrats; they have a tough job but they are missing some deadlines. Poppy wouldn't let me off the hook. She looked me in the eye and asked how I felt about the new SBA Administrator.

I said, "Very clearly she needs to become the voice of Main Street and I am a little bit critical of her right now because she hasn't done that. Now I know she has only been on the job for three to four weeks but all she has done is announce her appointments and the ability for lenders to grant money to dealerships." [That should have only taken a few days… what ELSE has she accomplished?!?]

Poppy and Robert liked my answer – not necessarily for the content, but for the opinion.

We ended the first segment and went right into the next one. "Befriending Your Small Business Lender."

I was a little more at ease with this segment and I don't remember anything being cut. The questions were all softball and I tried to give passionate, succinct answers without pauses interspersed with the dreaded "you know."

During one of my responses, I felt a drop of sweat running down my face. Poppy sees it. Mercifully, Robert cuts to a graphic.

We finished, Robert and Poppy said I did a good job – I'm sure they say that to all guests. I assume an invitation to come back will be the final arbiter of my performance.

Afterwards I met up with Emily and Stacy and we talked for about 10 minutes. I took off my coat to discover my blue shirt was drenched through like Albert Brooks' character in Network News. Robert, Stacy and Emily laughed it off, saying that it happens all the time and the lights are awfully hot. They were being kind.

My third mistake occurred when Robert asked me if I want to go back to Makeup to have my makeup removed. I thought to myself, "Nah, I'm a guy. I want to spend the least amount of time possible in that room." So I simply said, "Nah, thanks anyway. I'll clean it up myself when I change for my train trip to Boston." [Uh oh… forgot to tell Bob about this…]

He shrugged, but I'm sure he was laughing to himself at my rookie mistake. [Yep!]

As I left the set, a tour group of about 10 to 15 people were walking in and I overheard the tour guide say that they just finished a segment. The tourists were all looking at me, trying to figure out who I was. I should have told them to ignore me and check out the true star, Poppy Harlow. [Reminds me of the New Era commercial with the regular guy wearing a Boston Red Sox baseball cap at a Japanese airport and people thinking he's David "Big Papi" Ortiz… Bob should have played along and acted like some big head-of-state. "President Medvedev! President Medvedev!"]

I grabbed a cab, went back to my aunt and uncle's apartment in New York, and started taking off the makeup. I promptly ruined three of their white hand towels by staining them with some horrible brown stuff that will probably never wash out. I gave up trying to get the rest of the makeup off my face and wore the itchy, uncomfortable stuff to Boston.

Conclusion

Many have asked if I was nervous. Not really. I was a little nervous before the first question, but quickly got over it. I know this stuff cold. I'm passionate about the subject of getting capital to Main Street. I'm comfortable speaking to crowds. It could have been intimidating on the set, because there were about 100 people in the room, but that didn't bother me. Poppy was a great interviewer and CNN treated me very nicely.

The problem I had was watching the final, edited product. For some reason, watching my performance made me very nervous and uneasy. It was very difficult for me to watch those segments. I wonder if Karen Mills had a similar reaction. [Let's hope so… we think you did a very nice job, Bob.]

Christopher G. Hurn, president and chief executive officer of Mercantile Capital Corporation, said the 2,100 square foot addition was necessary to accommodate the firm"s new employees.

“We"ve hired five new employees over the past six weeks to expand our staff by 25 percent,” Hurn said.

Currently, Mercantile Capital Corporation employs 20 full-time and four part-time professionals in about 7,000 square feet of office space.

Mercantile Capital Corporation ranks as one of the nation"s most successful providers of U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loans for small business owners who want to acquire or develop their own facilities.

* * *

For more information contact:

Chris Hurn, CEO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Geof Longstaff, Chairman, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Shannon D. Marks, President/COO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Larry Vershel or Beth Payan, Larry Vershel Communications, 407-644-4142

Visit www.504Experts.com or www.504blog.com for more information.

Visit www.TheLawMan.net for more information.

Please visit www.MyFloridaLaw.com for more information.

Please visit www.mississippiembroidery.com for more information.

Please visit www.enorthshore.com/sushi for more information.

Please visit www.enlighteneddebt.com for more information.

Please visit www.cdsbmi.com for more information.

Please visit www.34teeth.com for more information.

“Our Small Business Success Strategies® TeleSeminars provide America's small business owners with the information and inspiration they need to take their businesses to a new level,” said Chris Hurn, CEO/Cofounder of Mercantile, who also facilitates the monthly TeleSeminar calls. “This month's call with Tony Rubleski will give them insight into how to effectively market right now.”

Some of the topics this month's Small Business Success Strategies® TeleSeminar call will cover include:
• The two critical things businesses must possess to have a fighting chance in these trying economic times.
• The #1 mistake 99% of business owners make in their marketing, and how to fix it.
• Ways to find and implement ideas into your marketing and sales efforts for maximum profits.

The Small Business Success Strategies® TeleSeminar Series was created in January 2007. TeleSeminar Subscribers receive LIVE monthly access to today's best-selling and leading business authors, consultants, business gurus, and other successful Entrepreneurs. Past Special Guests have included authors Michael Gerber, Bo Burlingham, Tim Ferriss, Harv Eker, Keith McFarland, and Dan Kennedy, among others. Each call features over an hour of each Special Guest being interviewed about his area of expertise, often including in-depth information not detailed in their books. Additionally, Subscribers get to ask the Special Guests their questions during a LIVE Q&A segment. To find out more about the Small Business Success Strategies® TeleSeminar Series, as well as past and future guests, visit www.SmallBusinessSuccessStrategies.com.

About Tony Rubleski:
Tony Rubleski is currently president of Mind Capture Group, based in Spring Lake, Michigan, and focuses on direct marketing consulting, copywriting, advanced public relations and sales and marketing training for business groups and sales team. His work has been featured by many news outlets including Bottom Line Magazine, CNN Radio, FOX TV network and ABC TV.

About Mercantile Capital Corporation:
Mercantile Capital Corporation ranks as one of the nation's leading providers of SBA 504 loans for small business owners who want to acquire or develop their own facilities. Headquartered in Altamonte Springs, Florida, the firm provides financing for projects nationwide. Please visit www.TheSmartChoiceLoan.com for more information.

Media Contacts:

Chris Hurn, Mercantile Capital Corporation (407) 786-5040
Robin Lashley, Mercantile Capital Corporation (407) 786-5040

While American "exceptionalism" is under attack in some quarters, we at Mercantile firmly believe that America is indeed a "special" place, for us and for the world. And our motivation to help America's small business owners and entrepreneurs stems directly from our deep desire to assist this backbone of the American economy: those business owners and entrepreneurs yearning to create their own destinies. We are fully cognizant, however, that none of this would be possible were it not for our brave military personnel protecting our freedoms and way of life . . . and it is why charities supporting veterans' causes have always taken precedent around Mercantile when we give back.

Earlier this week, my daughter's 1st grade class did a presentation on the Statue of Liberty, including a recitation of a poem from Myra Cohn Livingston in response to the poem, "The New Colossus," by Emma Lazarus which appears on a plaque at the base of the statue. It reads:

"Give me your tired, your poor, she says,
Those yearning to be free.
Take a light from my burning torch,
The light of Liberty.

Give me your huddled masses
Lost on another shore,
Tempest-tossed and weary,
These I take and more.

Give me your thirsty, your hungry
Who come from another place.
You who would dream of freedom
Look into my face."

The most profound words in the above poem, to me at least, are those in the last sentence. I reread them every time. One of our newest hires (Yelena Sulyagina) just got her citizenship earlier this week, and we all celebrated it with her. It was really our honor. Two other employees on our team are not natural-born citizens, but also chose to become citizens. By the grace of God, I am an American, and that means something profound to me . . . hopefully for you, too. Despite the world-wide turbulence of the past 18 months, America is still a beacon of liberty and hope and greatness in a not always kind world.

I hope you'll join me this Memorial Day in remembering what America represents and all our fallen heroes that strived ever-valiantly to create and to preserve it. And if you happen to know someone currently serving in the military or retired from service, please do what I ask my children to do when they see someone in uniform: thank them sincerely from all of us. To be forgotten would be the greatest casualty.

Make Your Memorial Day a Memorable One!

Nearly three years ago to the day, Dan's first story, The Da Vinci Code, was spoofed by our marketing team in a series of postcards. In our revised story, I searched all over Europe (following the same trail Robert Langdon did in the movie) trying to find the secrets of smarter small business financing and wealth creation . . . the 504 Code.

It was our most popular marketing campaign ever, and we've posted the series on our website so you can retrace my steps. Just go to www.tinyurl.com/504Code. I think you'll get a kick out of these.

If you go out to see the movie tonight, I hope you enjoy it, and I hope you have a great weekend.

- Chris

P.S. You'll see a photo of our staff on the final postcard in the series, but we've done a little growing since the 504 Code marketing campaign. We've actually doubled in size, which is evidence of our continued commitment to provide Smarter financing for our Clients' commercial property purchases. I feel like a broken record sometimes, but it's so important and I just can't help myself: WE'RE STILL LENDING. So many other lenders simply aren't these days, and I want you to remember us when you, your Clients or anyone else you know decides to make a smart investment in their commercial property. Just let me know how we can help — call 1-866-622-4504, email info@mercantilecc.com or visit www.TheSmartChoiceLoan.com.

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A new lease on life.
by Emily Maltby

Borrower: Kip Bennett
Owner, Lake Powell Furniture
Page, Ariz.

Lender: Mercantile Commercial Capital

Lending volume: Mercantile has made 31% more small business loans this year than last year, with a 22% increase in the dollar volume of those loans.

Their story: Kip Bennett took over Lake Powell Furniture six years ago, but quickly outgrew the old location and needed to find a new showroom. On the corner of Page's main street, he saw opportunity in a vacant building available for sale. Seeking a commercial mortgage loan, Bennett began bank shopping - but the first bank he tried to work with went under, taking with it the $7,000 Bennett had already invested in his application.

At the recommendation of another business owner in town, he approached Mercantile. Based in Orlando, Mercantile is a nationwide non-bank lender that relies heavily on the Small Business Administration's loan programs: 95% of Mercantile's loans are SBA-guaranteed "504" loans. If the business owner defaults, the SBA pays the lender back for the insured portion of the loan.

Mercantile CEO Christopher Hurn says he saw a slowdown in deal flow starting in September, when Lehman Bros. collapsed and sent shivers through the global financial markets. But in mid-February, the pace began to pick up again.

"I believe the total universe of owner-user commercial property deals has shrunk, but because so few lenders are actually lending these days, we're getting a much larger share of the fewer deals that are out there," Hurn says. "The creditworthiness of our deals is increasing, as only the strongest and healthiest transactions are getting done these days. Deals that would have ordinarily gone to a large regional bank are now coming to us."

Getting a commercial loan is a slow process. Bennett started signing papers in September, but bringing the old building up to code took months. Mercantile stayed in touch throughout: "If I called and left a message, I'd get a call back that day," Bennett says.

As the recession deepened, sales at Bennett's store slipped - a problem that has killed off many a pending small business loan. But Mercantile stayed committed, and by the first week of January, Bennett had $500,000 of the money he needed to buy and renovate the building. His new store opened within the month.

Lake Powell Furniture is now on track to match its 2007 sales, its best-ever year. Bennett credits the new location for his sales turnaround.

Altamonte Springs, Fla. – May 12, 2009 - Chris Hurn, CEO of Mercantile Capital Corporation, which specializes in U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loans for small business owners who want to acquire or develop their own facilities, has been hosting a popular teleseminar series called Small Business Success Strategies® for over two years.

The Small Business Success Strategies® TeleSeminar Series, hosted by Chris Hurn, offers Subscribers LIVE monthly access to today's best-selling and leading business authors, consultants, marketing gurus and other successful Entrepreneurs. Some of the featured authors have included: Tim Ferriss; Michael Gerber; Bo Burlingham; Harv Eker; Dan Kennedy; Rich Sloan; and many more.

Each call features over an hour of each Special Guest being interviewed by Chris about his or her area of expertise, often including information not detailed in their books. After that, the phone lines are open and subscribers get to ask the tough nagging questions that pertain to their businesses.

Recently, Chris Hurn has begun to make available 5-minute podcasts of each of these teleseminars. Each podcast follows a "Three Questions With…" format, allowing listeners to get an idea of the content of these teleseminars, as well as get to know some of the accomplished guests that Hurn invites to be a part of them.

"With these new podcasts available, we are hoping to shed some light on the incredible talent that has been a part of these teleseminars. The conversations between myself, our special guests and our subscribers during each of these calls, have proven to be an invaluable asset to small businesses and entrepreneurs everywhere. We are always trying to find new and innovative ways to grow their businesses, and these teleseminars are a great place to ‘gather' and share innovative ideas," remarked Chris Hurn.

For a complete list of past guests, and to download free podcasts as they become available, please visit http://www.SmallBusinessSuccessStrategies.com

To subscribe to Small Business Success Strategies®, please visit http://www.504experts.com/documents/SBSS_Subscription_Form.pdf

About Mercantile Capital Corporation:

Recently named to the Inc. 500 list of America's Fastest Growing Companies, Mercantile Capital Corporation has been called the "Fastest Growing Commercial Lender in America," the "most unique and entrepreneurial bankers around," and the "fun bankers." From its start in late 2002, MCC has focused on providing SBA 504 loans for small business owners to acquire or enhance their own facilities.

Additional information on MCC and its commercial loan offerings is available at http://www.TheSmartChoiceLoan.com

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Orlando Sentinel
Business
Thursday, April 16, 2009

SBA Help Not Getting Through To Businesses

The parts of the federal government's stimulus program aimed at small-business owners aren't working as they should, say local owners and small-business experts who are trying to figure out what to do about the problem.

Claudia Menezes said there's a barrier between the government aid allotted for small businesses and companies like hers, Pegasus Transportation, which runs tours for international travelers. And she isn't alone in that opinion.

"We can't get a loan out of anybody to help these people," said Rich Jaeckle, chairman of the Orlando chapter of Score, a business-counseling group. Entrepreneurs approach the nonprofit organization for help, he said, but it can't provide it. "They're good ideas and they can't go anywhere."

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the stimulus bill, included several provisions aimed at loosening up lending for small businesses. The law includes money to temporarily eliminate fees on loans backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration, as well as a provision to that allows the SBA to guarantee as much as 90 percent of a small-business loan.

At a meeting Wednesday between area lenders and the local small-business community, banks said the new programs have issues that prevent them from handing out loans.

"There's really a gulf between what politicians and the public want to see happen . . . versus what we know is occurring," said Chris Hurn, chief executive officer of Mercantile Capital Corp. in Altamonte Springs. "We need to see some easing from the regulators if, in fact, we're going to properly deploy some of these programs."

Small-business lending has plummeted in recent months, as lenders have become more selective. Some small-business experts have suggested that those banks with money to lend are cherry-picking only the best loan applicants, said Ralph Ross, the SBA's deputy district director for North Florida, which includes the Orlando area.

"We just went into total free fall in SBA lending," Ross said.

Lawmakers hoped to solve that problem in part by offering enhanced loan guarantees, which were supposed to reduce the risk for financial institutions and encourage renewed lending.

But some banks said they fear the SBA will subsequently deny claims for repayment of loans made to businesses that are already losing money because of the recession. Other lenders said an interest-rate cap on guaranteed loans – based on a prime rate that is currently extremely low – results in margins that are too thin to justify the risk of lending to small businesses and startup companies.

Bankers did praise the elimination of fees on SBA loans, which they say has made deals much more affordable for clients.

U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D-New Smyrna Beach, who arranged Wednesday's meeting at the Disney Entrepreneur Center in downtown Orlando, said she wanted to "bring together the forces from all perspectives."

"We opened a dialogue between the small-business community and the lenders," Kosmas said. "At the same time, we heard from the lenders that they had some speed bumps along the way."

By Sara K. Clarke
Sentinel Staff Writer
skclarke@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5664

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Orlando Sentinel
Sunday, April 19, 2009

Opinion

Light Amid The Dark For Small Business

Thursday's article in the Sentinel on the shortcomings of the federal stimulus program for small businesses certainly made several important points, but recent developments suggest that the darkest days might be behind us.

Just last week, one of the largest Small Business Administration lenders in the country reported a 68 percent increase in loan volume in March. Less-dramatic increases were also seen in other areas.

A recent nationwide survey of SBA lenders has even suggested that the bottom has been reached. Though this may be overly optimistic, the survey showed a noticeable increase in lender confidence and willingness to lend.

In addition, many SBA loan offerings have money to lend for small businesses that wish to grow and create jobs. Every year in recent memory, the 504 program in particular has had excess money available for small businesses. This year will be no exception. And the reduced fees for these and other SBA loans under the stimulus plan create ideal opportunities for businesses to access the capital they need at costs they can afford.

Though it is true that small business financing relief can't arrive too soon, bright signs exist which shouldn't be ignored.

- John Hanrahan, Orlando

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Orlando Sentinel
Central Florida Business

Small Businesses

Lender's work picking up

A local small-business lender says anticipation about the stimulus plan and the lack of lenders in the market is boosting its business.

Mercantile Capital Corp., which specializes in U.S. Small Business Administration 504 loans, said it is seeing as many loan proposals now as it did during its peak in mid-2007.

The small-business community is "shaking off the doom-and-gloom attitude" and starting to take a practical approach to severely discounted commercial property in the marketplace, Mercantile Chief Executive Officer Christopher Hurn said in a written release.

The Altamonte Springs-based lender said it is also benefiting from the turmoil in the financial markets because deals that ordinarily would have gone to a larger, regional bank are now winding up with local lenders.

Progressions, etc.

Finance

Monica Perez has joined Mercantile Capital Corp., Altamonte Springs, as a senior loan officer.

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Orlando Sentinel
Central Florida Business
April 20-26, 2009

Progressions, etc.

Finance

Dwayne Hamner has joined Mercantile Capital Corp., Altamonte Springs, as senior credit officer.

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Florida Real Estate Journal
April 1-15, 2009
Vol. 16, No. 24

Exec: U.S. Recovery Program Needs New Category For Loans

Altamonte Springs – Geof Longstaff, chairman at Mercantile Commercial Capital, LLC, recently said a small regulatory change could eliminate many of the problems that banks currently face with their loan portfolios.

"We need a new category to classify loans that are currently viewed as substandard but whose borrowers are still making payments," Longstaff said.

The problem now, put simply, is this: Among other criteria, banking regulators gauge a loan's merit against the value of the collateral pledged to secure the loan. If the collateral – an office building or retail center – declines in value, the loan can be considered "substandard" and subject to reserves.

"Regulators see banks that loaned $1 million against $1.5 million in collateral as sound," Longstaff, who has more than 37 years of experience as a banking executive, explained. "But if the asset value drops to $900,000, regulators call that a non-performing asset - NPA – or substandard loan, and tell banks they can either post reserves to cover the collateral deficiency or demand additional money from the borrower," he said.

"We do this at a time when borrowers need to preserve liquidity to handle volatility in their business. Making these cash demands can cause businesses to fail and thus promotes job losses," Longstaff said.

Assets have been dropping in value all over the country, Longstaff said, and NPAs are a major challenge to the nation's economic recovery.

"If the bank takes the additional reserve, that increases the need for capital and subjects the bank to further capital impairment," Longstaff said.

But many borrows have continued to make payments on loans even though their assets have been devalued. "They are confident the real estate market will come back and they know their asset value will improve," Longstaff said. "They are employing the sort of long-term investment strategy our economy has been built on," he said.

The solution, Longstaff said, is to create a new category for NPAs that are actually performing – whose borrowers are making their payments on time.

"We need a new category called a "performing under-margined loan" to describe a loan that is performing, but whose collateral assets have suffered a short-term devaluation as a result of the national economy," Longstaff explained.

Such classification would reduce demands on the bank's reserves without adding to the cost of recovery, Longstaff said.

"Bank regulators shouldn't require increased reserves against these loans when the borrower shows the ability to make the payments." he emphasized.

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Florida Real Estate Journal
April 16-30, 2009
Vol. 17, No. 1

Property Finance

SBA Lender: Initiatives may boost CRE lending
By Robert Pitts

Several recent initiatives announced by the U.S. Small Business Administration have the potential to impact commercial real estate lending guaranteed by the agency, but the federal government could be doing a lot more to incentivize economic activity in the small business sector, said the chief executive of a leading SBA program lender.

Chris Hurn, president, CEO and co-founder of Mercantile Commercial Capital in Altamonte Springs, said the Obama administration's announcement that the Treasury Department would commit up to $15 billion to purchase small business loan securities – in an effort to unlock frozen credit markets – could be one of the most effective measures yet announced.

Hurn said securities based on small business loans are a solid investment compared to the toxic bank assets the government will be forced to buy as the national recovery plan moves forward.

"It will increase liquidity for lenders and present a better value for taxpayers," he said, adding it should free up bank capital for more SBA 504 program lending, which can be used for commercial real estate purchases.

Other measures, announced as part of the most recent federal economic stimulus package, will likely have mixed results for 504 lending, Hurn said.

"In the stimulus bill, one of the big things they touted is eliminating lender fees and borrower fees. I think that's okay, but I don't think it's going to have quite the stimulative effect they're expecting. It's never been about the cost of capital. Most of those fees are financed in, so I doubt it will get anyone off the sidelines," he said.

However, a decision to set aside money to guarantee pools of 504 first-lien loans could have a profound impact, Hurn said. The guarantees are designed to make the first-lien loans more attractive to secondary market investors.

In 504 program lending, a first-lien, conventional loan for 50% of a project's value is held by a private lender or securitized and sold into the secondary market – which has been virtually frozen since the subprime mortgage crisis began. Until now, these loans have not been guaranteed.

A second mortgage for up to 40% of the project's value is fully guaranteed by the SBA and becomes a bond that is generally purchased by institutional investors.

"This has brought 504s on par with 7(a)'s in terms of their guarantees. That's profound," he said.

Other noteworthy measures, Hurn said, include changes allowing 504 funds to be used for refinancing loans on fixed assets and a measure that allows owners of small businesses to exclude 75% of profits from capital gains taxes if they've owned the company for at least five years.

More to do

The above is a good start toward economic recovery, Hurn said, but the feds can take more meaningful action on many fronts.

"All they've done up to this point is tweak existing government programs. That's good. But we're living in unprecedented times. We have to understand the last two bubbles we've had," he said.

That is, the government needs to target and support the next growth industries: small business and energy independence, he said.

Hurn added that President Obama and his administration need to focus on the psychological aspects of the down turn as well.

"The only way you engender confidence is to convey stability and strength. Until recently, Obama hasn't been very optimistic. He needs to be a rock out there," he said, adding that the president needs to signal to the market such things as a tax freeze and new tax incentives for hiring and consumption.

"The political class doesn't understand that the productive class – when they get the reward of their hard work – is going to spend it or invest it. They're going to invest it to maximize their gains again. When they use this ‘soak the rich' rhetoric, they're shooting themselves in the foot," he said.

Hurn added that the "rich" are on the sidelines because they're afraid to take risks in a volatile economic and political environment.

"Investors are much more likely to invest in smaller companies, but they need an incentive to do that," he said.

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Coleman Report
www.colemanpublishing.com

Mercantile Capital Corporation Appoints Two New Executives

Altamonte Springs, Fla. – Mercantile Capital Corporation, (formerly Mercantile Commercial Capital, LLC), which ranks as one of the nation's leading providers of U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loans for small businesses, recently appointed two new executives.

Christopher G. Hurn, chief executive officer of Mercantile Capital Corporation, said Dan Eshbaugh has been named Director – National Real Estate Group, in the firm's Chicago office.

Eshbaugh has more than 19 years experience in the real estate finance industry, including service as an executive at GE Capital, and is a graduate of Southern Methodist University in Texas. Hurn said Eshbaugh will lead Mercantile's efforts to forge long-term relationships with real estate firms and associations throughout the US. "We're excited to add him to the Mercantile Team", said Hurn. "Dan's extensive network and understanding of commercial lending should help us continue our rapid expansion plans."

Monica Perez, a graduate of the University of Central Florida, was named senior loan officer at Mercantile Capital Corporation, Hurn said. Perez has more than five years of commercial loan experience. She was formerly with GE Capital as well, and she will be working in the firm's Altamonte Springs, FL headquarters.

For more information contact:

Chris Hurn, CEO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Geof Longstaff, Chairman, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Shannon D. Marks, COO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Larry Vershel or Beth Payan, Larry Vershel Communications, 407-644-4142

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Daily Commercial/South Lake Press
Lake & Sumter Real Estate
Friday, April 24, 2009

Pep Talk
People, Events and Places in Real Estate

Stimulus Program contains promising elements

Altamonte Springs – The U.S. Economic Stimulus program has many good elements that will help small businesses but some miss the point, according to Christopher Hurn, chief executive officer of one of the nation's leading providers of U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loans for small business owners.

Hurn, CEO of Mercantile Capital Corporation based in Altamonte Springs and a popular speaker at banking conferences and seminars who posts his own blog at www.504blog.com, said the U.S. Economic Stimulus program deserves kudos for promising to buy up to $15 billion worth of guaranteed SBA loans.

Hurn said the stimulus package also eliminates all SBA fees on both SBA 504 loans and the agency's SBA 7(a) loan program at a cost of $245 million.

In addition, the administration has announced it will waive capital gains taxes for small business owners who hold or have held their shares for a minimum of five years. "Those are positive signs for small business owners," Hurn said, "The Treasury buys in the secondary market will add liquidity to the banking environment and thaw out the secondary market, commercial lending, and small business lending," Hurn explained.

But, Hurn cautioned, temporarily eliminating fees on SBA loans won't have much effect on economic stimulation or job growth.

"Fee elimination, even on a temporary basis, doesn't impact small business owners that much because these aren't out-of-pocket fees. These fees are actually financed in the loans, so even though it sounds good rhetorically, I don't know that it's going to have much of a stimulative effect," Hurn said.

Hurn said the stimulus program fails in some other regards as well.

"We haven't addressed any taxation at all," he said. "There are no new higher tax credits for 2009, which I think would help grow the job base if properly incentivized. There is no mention of a payroll tax holiday for 2009. That would put more dollars in employees and employers pockets, and these are the kinds of elements that would have an immediate effect and jump start the economy," Hurn said.

For more information call 407-786-5040.

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Daily Commercial/South Lake Press
Lake & Sumter Real Estate
Friday, April 17, 2009

People, Events and Places in Real Estate

Lending Activity Now Approaching Historic Levels For Leading Orlando-Area Firms

Altamonte Springs – Commercial property mortgage lending activity is now approaching historic highs for Mercantile Capital Corporation, which specializes in U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loans for small business owners who want to acquire or develop their own facilities.

Christopher Hurn, chief executive officer of Mercantile Capital Corporation, said the six-year old company is seeing as many loan proposals as it did during its peak in mid-2007.

"We attribute the increase in deal flow to stimulus plan anticipation," Hurn explained. "I think the small business community is shaking off the doom and gloom attitude and starting to take a more practical approach to severely discounted commercial property assets that represent enormous opportunities for business owners," he said.

"The Obama administration is doing some things to help the small business community, and we think leading small business owners are starting to act on the situation," Hurn said. "Lower commercial property values and near historic lows in financing rates won't last much more than the next eighteen months. Innovative entrepreneurs within the small business community have a tendency to be leading indicators in my opinion, so we're starting to see a shift," Hurn said.

Hurn said Mercantile Capital Corporation's increase in lending activity is also attributed to the fact that few lenders are actually lending these days. "The financial crisis has never been one of cost of capital, it's been an issue of access to capital," Hurn said.

"We think the universe of owner-user commercial property deals has shrunk, but we're getting a much larger share of the fewer deals that are out there. The creditworthiness of our deals is increasing, only the strongest and healthiest transactions are getting done these days, and deals that would have ordinarily gone to a large regional bank are now coming to us," Hurn said.

For more information call 407-786-5040.

And just so we're crystal clear: WE at MCC were created to help America's small business owners and entrepreneurs. We haven't jumped out of the market only to jump back in, like some hop-scotcher on a schoolyard on a cool autumn day. We've proudly been your small business advocate through thick and thin. Associating with a firm like ours is what forward-thinking business owners should be doing now. Sympathy for Big, Dumb Companies is hard to find in the small business quarters that I traverse. The Big Banks got what they deserved. They probably DO need to be nationalized, gutted, and then resold into the private sector. Us…we're just chugging along and picking up the pieces. Lots of good, profitable pieces, mind you. Hopefully, we can help YOU next. We will come out of this national malaise shortly…and I sense there's a LOT of pent-up demand out there – – people inherently understand assets are “on sale” in this economic downturn. We'll be around, ready and willing to finance your investments. Just don't wait too long, or the best bargains will be gone.

Some people wonder why I care so much about taxes, and my answer has always been that tax policy has a tremendous impact on virtually every other policy we put in place. It's the “glue” that keeps everything together or pulls it apart.

Recently-released Federal Reserve data (from the most current year, 2006) shows that 39.89% of all income taxes paid in America come from the top 1% of income earners — people earning more than $388,806 annually. 60.14% come from the top 5% of earners, or those making more than $153,542 a year. 70.79% of all income taxes paid come from the top 10% of earners (making over $108,904 per year), while 86.27% of all income taxes paid come from the top 25% (that would be people making over $64,702 per year). And even more shocking, 97.01% of all income taxes paid come for the top 50% of income earners, which you join once you cross the $31,987 threshold annually. To put it another way, we now have half of all workers (those showing a positive AGI) paying only 2.99% of the total income taxes in America…that's nearly 68 million people…and yet, we allow those folks' ballots to count as much as yours or mine. You might just want to re-read this paragraph slowly so this sinks in some.

I find this deeply troubling, especially among much talk of our new Administration raising tax rates on the top 5%…and we all know that more than just that group will have to “contribute” with the way spending in Washington is going these days. If half the people eligible to vote aren't paying much in income taxes (actually, 23 million Americans of working age paid nothing, yet still received federal “refunds” totaling $45 billion), then isn't it easy to essentially “buy” their vote? What do they care if we teeter into socialism or worse? Why would they care if government continues to grow…they were getting all of the benefits with none of the “sacrifices” in the first-place.

I still believe this is the most upwardly-mobile country in the world, yet we have a political class that wants to keep squeezing what I call the “productive class.” I suppose that's where the money is, but eventually you can no longer get blood from a stone. And in the middle of a recession, this is economic suicide. Maybe when the ratcheting-up of taxes begins again, we can refer to it as the “Success Tax” — at least let us keep some dignity about it. And by the way, for all the talk of the “rich getting richer,” recent Federal Reserve data shows the top 1% held 33.38% of the nation's wealth in 2007, actually DOWN from 33.9% in 1995 — and that was BEFORE the $11 trillion in household net worth was lost in the past 18 months.

Sure, there are people among the top 5% of income earners that are undeserving and even some that are even immoral, probably. But there are also people there that are the source of many of the jobs in America. The people that make business a source for good in this country and around the world. The people that make America go. Among this group are the people that took the risks that were available to everyone else, but that few others ever take…to start a business, against the criticism of everyone who said it would be foolish. The Many don't take the risks…not because they cannot, but mostly because they convince themselves they cannot.

I guess I'm still reeling from our Vice President's comments on the campaign trail that I'm somehow “un-American” for working so hard to earn what I do…I kind of thought that WAS American. At least that's what my friends who were born in foreign lands tell me when asked why they moved here. I also happen to think there's probably a direct correlation between the amount of television watching one does with their income: more hours, less dough. And I'm pretty sure there's a correlation between the number of books, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, etc. read, to income. I see entrepreneurs every day that don't do what “everyone” else is doing…and I think they ought to keep more of the rewards they earn, not have the desire taxed out of them. But maybe all of this makes me old-fashioned and resistant to “change.” I'm just a little sick of the class warfare.

Based in Orlando, the Umansky Law Firm provides criminal defense services to individuals throughout Central Florida, in Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Brevard, Lake, Polk, and Hillsborough counties. “Our contact at Mercantile was great. He had awesome knowledge of the product and was accessible well beyond work hours. The team at Mercantile worked tirelessly to make the loan process a breeze,” said William Umansky, owner of the Umanksy Law Firm. Visit www.TheLawMan.net for more information.

Mercantile Capital Corporation"s SmartChoice Commercial Loan Program helps owners of small to mid-sized businesses, like Mr. Umansky, have an opportunity to increase their net-worth through Commercial property ownership. Mercantile"s specialization in SmartChoice Commercial Loans, also known as SBA 504"s, allows their borrowers to own their Commercial property with one-third to half the down payment required by ordinary banks, while getting the least expensive capital available in the marketplace. This enables business owners to reduce their risk and stay more liquid, while gaining all the benefits of Commercial real estate ownership.

For more information, visit www.TheSmartChoiceLoan.com and www.504Blog.com .

Contacts:

Chris Hurn, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040

Robin Lashley, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040

Ah…those were the days. I'd say, “Look who's laughing now,” but there have been simply too many people hurt by the incompetence of these corporate “bigwigs” to make light of it now. It IS a bit ironic that here we stand with a 2008 net income greater than the combined profits of: Bear Stearns; Lehman Bros; National City; Regions Bank; Wachovia; Washington Mutual; Morgan Stanley Trust; Citibank; Colonial Bank; Fifth-Third Bank; Royal Bank of Scotland; UBS; and AIG.

And yes, we're raising capital right now, as you may know, but unlike they are, we're NOT doing it to shore-up our balance sheet for past mistakes and poor judgments. We're raising it to take advantage of the numerous opportunities that are all around us — we've hired five new employees in the past six weeks alone, with more being interviewed as I type this. The small guy is now becoming the predator. David is picking up more rocks.

I would be disingenuous with you if I didn't also explain that we're raising capital because, despite prominent economists like Paul Romer (husband of the President's Council of Economic Advisors Chairwoman, Christina Romer, who is also credited with co-authoring the ARRA) suggesting we need “good banks” to counter-balance the “bad banks” our government is presumably creating to “restart” lending, apparently no one in Washington really wants to restart lending or knows how to do it. I've heard at least two occasions of FDIC regulators (one in Georgia and one in Pennsylvania) sternly chastising suggestions of an unannounced and unofficial moratorium on new bank charters. Yet I challenge you to show me any new charters approved in the past five months. I know of none. Hmmm…

There has been much written about the shake-up in small business lending over the past 6 to 9 months, and I've been asked for my opinion and comments numerous times. America's small businesses are the backbone of America's job creation engine, yet window-dressing is mostly being done these days in Washington about it. Approximately 10% of the ARRA addressed small business needs. That's right, the sector responsible for about 70% of net, new job creation got only 10% of the largesse. Amazing how truly out-of-touch these folks are.

It will be interesting to see how long the memories of small business owners are when the Big Banks jump back into the fray, as they surely will. I'd said for years that most Big Banks' advertising slogans about “being there for their customers” didn't match reality, and I've certainly been proven correct, again. In recent weeks, there have even been countless stories of small businesses staging protests against the Big Banks for harmful lending practices, for trying to put them out of business. I'm sure this isn't the last of it.

I find it amazing that Congress (the House of Representatives, in this case) can act so quickly (and be so incredulous) to enact legislation (unconstitutional, by the way) a few weeks back in a matter of mere days to tax the $165 million in AIG bonuses (less than 1% of what we've invested in AIG to "bail-them-out"), yet most of President Obama's much-vaulted small business initiatives speech in mid-March was just a rehashing of some of the few provisions in the ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) that directly affect small businesses. The ARRA, sadly, is long on social engineering and short on much that's immediately stimulative. How come our elected officials can't show the same speed and deftness in passing meaningful legislation that might actually have a substantial impact on the growth of small businesses in America? Perhaps it's time you ask your local Representative this question.

If you're like me (and most of our readers here are either business owners or advisors to business owners), then you'll admit to yourself that somewhere, deep down, you're angry at these Big Banks that got TARP funds. You're irritated at the Wall Streeters who created this House of Cards. And you're frustrated that no one is knocking on your door to bailout your business. The Big Banks, AIG, and the auto industry should have had to choose between bankruptcies or receivership, not bailouts. We don't need the "rule of politicians" (screaming about the few people that made profits at AIG and actually give us a slim chance to get out of it, maybe nearly whole); we need and needed the "rule of law": chapter 11 or chapter 7 of U.S. bankruptcy law. The primary reason the Big Banks didn't declare is because Wall Street (where Geithner and Paulson once worked) would have been left holding the bag — they wouldn't have done as well as under the current bailout program. Sad, but irrefutable.

It may be public schizophrenia…people wanting programs they don't want to pay for…but people like us KNOW this is faulty logic, completely untenable in the Real World. Never-ending budget deficits cannot exist forever for small business owners. We can't raise the cost of our services indiscriminately. And we certainly can't print more money. While most people in America are belt-tightening, Congress is giving most departments and agencies double-digit percentage budget increases. Amazing!

The Small Business Success Strategies® TeleSeminar Series was created in January 2007 by Mercantile Capital Corporation CEO/Cofounder, Chris Hurn. TeleSeminar Subscribers receive monthly LIVE access to today's best-selling and leading business authors, consultants, marketing gurus and other successful Entrepreneurs. Past Special Guests have included authors Michael Gerber, Bo Burlingham, Tim Ferriss, Harv Eker, Keith McFarland, and Dan Kennedy among others. Each call features over an hour of each Special Guest lecturing about his or her area of expertise, often including in-depth information not detailed in their books. Additionally, Subscribers get to ask the Special Guests their questions during a live Q&A segment.

“As an SBA 504 lender, we work with small and mid-sized businesses every day. The Small Business Success Strategies® TeleSeminar series is just another way we can help America's small businesses succeed,” said Hurn. “Launching the website will allow even more business owners across the country to have access to these vital resources, and in light of the current economic struggles were facing, the timing couldn't be any better.”

The Small Business Success Strategies® TeleSeminar Series is the newest service Mercantile Capital Corporation provides to owners of small and mid-sized businesses, entrepreneurs, and their advisors. Mercantile Capital Corporation ranks as one of the nation's leading providers of SBA 504 loans for small business owners who want to acquire or develop their own facilities. Headquartered in Altamonte Springs, Florida, the firm provides financing for projects nationwide.

Media Contacts:
Chris Hurn, Mercantile Commercial Capital, LLC 407-786-5040
Robin Lashley, Mercantile Commercial Capital, LLC 407-786-5040

Dan Eshbaugh and Monica Perez

Altamonte Springs, Fla. - Mercantile Capital Corporation, (formerly Mercantile Commercial Capital, LLC), which ranks as one of the nation's leading providers of U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loans for small businesses, recently appointed two new executives.

Christopher G. Hurn, chief executive officer of Mercantile Capital Corporation, said Dan Eshbaugh has been named Director - National Real Estate Group, in the firm's Chicago office.

Eshbaugh has more than 19 years experience in the real estate finance industry, including service as an executive at GE Capital, and is a graduate
of Southern Methodist University in Texas. Hurn said Eshbaugh will lead
Mercantile's efforts to forge long-term relationships with real estate firms and associations throughout the US. "We're excited to add him to the Mercantile Team", said Hurn. "Dan's extensive network and understanding of commercial lending should help us continue our rapid expansion plans."

Monica Perez, a graduate of the University of Central Florida, was named senior loan officer at Mercantile Capital Corporation, Hurn said. Perez has more than five years of commercial loan experience. She was formerly with GE Capital as well, and she will be working in the firm's Altamonte Springs, FL headquarters.

For more information visit http://www.TheSmartChoiceLoan.com or contact:

Chris Hurn, CEO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Geof Longstaff, Chairman Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Shannon D. Marks, COO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, LLC 407-786-5040
Larry Vershel or Beth Payan, Larry Vershel Communications, 407-644-4142

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — The U.S. Economic Stimulus program has many good elements that will help small businesses but some miss the point, according to Christopher Hurn, chief executive officer of one of the nation"s leading providers of U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loans for small business owners.

Hurn, CEO of Mercantile Capital Corporation based in Altamonte Springs and a popular speaker at banking conferences and seminars who posts his own blog at www.504blog.com, said the U.S. Economic Stimulus program deserves kudos for promising to buy up to $15 billion worth of guaranteed SBA loans.

Hurn said the stimulus package also eliminates all SBA fees on both SBA 504 loans and the agency"s SBA 7(a) loan program at a cost of $245 million.

In addition, the administration has announced it will waive capital gains taxes for small business owners who hold or have held their shares for a minimum of five years.

“Those are positive signs for small business owners,” Hurn said.

“The Treasury buys in the secondary market will add liquidity to the banking environment and thaw out the secondary market and commercial lending—small business lending,” Hurn explained.

But, Hurn cautioned, temporarily eliminating fees on SBA loans won"t have much effect on economic stimulation or job growth.

“Fee elimination, even on a temporary basis, doesn"t impact small business owners that much because these aren"t out-of-pocket fees. These fees are actually financed in the loans, so even though it sounds good rhetorically, I don"t know that it"s going to have much of a stimulative effect,” Hurn said.

Hurn said the stimulus program fails in some other regards as well.

“We haven"t addressed any taxation at all,” he said. “There are no new higher tax credits for 2009, which I think would help grow the job base if properly incentivized. There is no mention of a payroll tax holiday for 2009. That would put more dollars in employees" and employers" pockets, and these are the kinds of elements that would have an immediate effect and jump start the economy,” Hurn said.

For more information, please contact
Chris Hurn, CEO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Geof Longstaff, Chairman, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Shannon D. Marks, COO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Larry Vershel or Beth Payan, Larry Vershel Communications, 407-644-4142

Park West Dental, based in Chicago, emphasizes the prevention of dental problems before they arise and treatment of dental problems in the most conservative manner possible. They offer cosmetic dentistry, teeth whitening, and porcelain veneer services, in addition to regular checkups and cleanings. “My contacts at Mercantile were very knowledgeable and prompt in anything from returning phone calls to addressing my concerns,” said Dr. Akhil Jagadeesh, owner. Please visit www.34teeth.com for more information.

The SMARTChoice Commercial Loan Program helps owners of small to mid-sized businesses, like the Park West Dental, have an opportunity to create wealth and financial freedom. Their specialization in SMARTChoice Commercial Loans, also known as SBA 504"s, allow borrowers, like Dr. Jagadeesh, to own their commercial property with the highest cash-on-cash return financing available, without tying up their precious capital, so they can grow even faster.

For more information, visit www.504Experts.com and www.504Blog.com.

Contacts:

Chris Hurn, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040

Robin Lashley, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040

Geof Longstaff, chairman of the firm, said Hamner is a graduate of the University of Maryland and has more than 14 years of experience in the banking industry and more than 10 years in residential real estate development.

“Dwayne Hamner is one of the brightest lending executives in the southeast and we are delighted to have someone of his experience on board,” said Longstaff.

For more information contact
Geof Longstaff, Chairman Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Chris Hurn, CEO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Shannon D. Marks, COO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, LLC 407-786-5040
Larry Vershel or Beth Payan, Larry Vershel Communications, 407-644-4142

I'm proud to announce that effective April 1st, 2009, Mercantile Commercial Capital, LLC changed its name to Mercantile Capital Corporation. We'd appreciate it if you'd take just a second to update your records to reflect our new identity. We value the opportunity to do business with you and those you know, and look forward to our continued association.

In other news, we were featured in a story on CNNMoney.com about how several businesses got the cash they needed for their entrepreneurial endeavors. The article tells the story of one of our Clients – – Lake Powell Furniture – – and how we helped owner Kip Bennett finance his new showroom. Also, SBTV.com mentioned us in their Daily Newscast this morning. You can go here to see the entire clip – – our blurb begins at 1:40 and ends about 2:32.

Don't forget: we ARE still lending, and RIGHT NOW is the perfect time to purchase commercial property. If you're not convinced, call me at 1-866-622-4504, email me at info@mercantilecc.com or simply leave me a comment below. I would love the chance to talk with you one-on-one about the opportunities that exist for smart, forward-thinking business owners. The government-guaranteed portion of our loans (nearly 45% of the loan amount) just reached an all-time low of 5.25% fixed for 20 years! Our SmartChoice commercial loans have many advantages over ordinary bank financing (if you can find a bank who's actually still lending, that is).

Hurn recently returned from Dallas, where he was the keynote speaker at the SBA's 5th Annual 504 Lenders Conference, which drew more than 175 major lenders from across the southwest.

"Bankers don't like to talk about the SBA 504 program even though it's such a powerful resource for small business owners," Hurn said. "The loans are a bit more cumbersome to execute, but banks make less money on them than they do on traditional financing programs," Hurn said.

The SBA 504 loan program is a powerful economic resource for borrowers, for lenders and for the national economy, Hurn told the group.

"From the lender's perspective, from the borrower's perspective and from the national economy perspective, the SBA 504 lending program is reducing costs, generating jobs and making small businesses more productive, while creating wealth for business owners," Hurn said.

SBA 504 loans offer small business owners up to 90 percent financing at substantially reduced rates to develop, acquire, and remodel commercial facilities.

Mercantile Capital Corporation, formerly Mercantile Commercial Capital, ranks as one of the most active providers of SBA 504 loans in the nation.

For more information contact:

Chris Hurn, CEO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Geof Longstaff, Chairman, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Shannon D. Marks, COO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Larry Vershel or Beth Payan, Larry Vershel Communications, 407-644-4142

Visit www.theSmartChoiceLoan.com or www.504blog.com for more information.

Christopher Hurn, chief executive officer of Mercantile Capital Corporation, said the six-year old company is seeing as many loan proposals as it did during its peak in mid-2007.

“We attribute the increase in deal flow to stimulus plan anticipation,” Hurn explained.

“I think the small business community is shaking off the doom and gloom attitude and starting to take a more practical approach to severely discounted commercial property assets that represent enormous opportunities for business owners,” he said.

“The Obama administration is doing some things to help the small business community, and we think leading small business owners are starting to act on the situation,” Hurn said.

“Lower commercial property values and near historic lows in financing rates won't last much more than the next eighteen months. Innovative entrepreneurs within the small business community have a tendency to be leading indicators in my opinion, so we're starting to see a shift,” Hurn said.

Hurn said Mercantile Capital Corporation"s increase in lending activity is also attributed to the fact that few lenders are actually lending these days.

“The financial crisis has never been one of cost of capital, it's been an issue of access to capital,” Hurn said.

“We think the universe of owner-user commercial property deals has shrunk, but we're getting a much larger share of the fewer deals that are out there. The creditworthiness of our deals is increasing — only the strongest and healthiest transactions are getting done these days — and deals that would have ordinarily gone to a large regional bank are now coming to us,” Hurn said.

* * *

For more information contact
Geof Longstaff, Chairman, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Chris Hurn, CEO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Shannon D. Marks, COO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Larry Vershel or Beth Payan, Larry Vershel Communications, 407-644-4142

http://www.504Experts.com

First of all, I'm happy to be featured on the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur's recent list of “115 Marketing Strategies For Small Business”. Go check out the list to see which of my nuggets of wisdom they chose to include (tip # 90). I'm sure you'll see another tip or two you can implement in your own business while you are there.

On Thursday, April 9th at 1 PM EST I'll be making a guest appearance on B-E-S-T Business Radio. B-E-S-T (which stands for Business-Owners & Entrepreneurs Success Tactics) specializes in providing small business owners and entrepreneurs with the information, systems, tools, strategies and education they want and need so they can better provide their families with the lifestyle they deserve. The show will be broadcast online at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/BESTBusinessRadio. You can also call-in to 646-716-7932 during the show to ask any questions, or email them to listener@BestBusinessRadio.com.

The next day, Friday, April 10th at 6 PM EST, I'll be on the Franchise Show to talk about the financing MCC offers to franchisees, as well as my new franchise concept, Kennedy's All-American Barber Club. You can listen to this one online, too, at http://www.wsradio.com/internet-talk-radio.cfm/shows/Franchise-Show.html. I think you'll get a lot out of these shows, and it would be great to hear some familiar voices call in to ask questions.

If you're able, take the time to listen in on these calls — it'll be time well spent. Here's to another productive week!

Click Here to View Article in PDF Format

Message Mogul

Marketer gets word out on multiple concepts

By Jonathan Maze
As published in: Franchise Times - April 2009

Chris Hurn loves attention. Or at least he loves it when his businesses get attention, because attention frequently translates into sales.

So over the years, the marketing pieces he's sent to prospective customers of his lending company, Mercantile Commercial Capital, have included prescription bottles, fake wallets, bank bags and even sealed popcorn bags. "All to basically get my message out," Hurn said. "Whatever your message is, it doesn't matter if it doesn't get read." The point: As outlandish as they can seem, attention-getting packages at least ensure that a message is read.

So it's not entirely surprising that Hurn has brought this marketing sensibility to his franchise, Kennedy's All-American Barber Club. Hurn and his partners have been aggressive in marketing the hair care membership concept despite an economy that would seemingly make any perceived luxury a difficult sell.

That marketing plan is highlighted by a big, black box that the company sends to all serious candidates. Inside the box is a straight razor - without the blade - a shaving brush, DVD of company information, a booklet, a copy of the company's FDD and a plaque with the prospect's name on it. "That's our piece that competes against (most companies') two-pocket folder that may or may not have a DVD in it," Hurn said. "That's the push-them-over-the-edge piece."

Hurn has a simple, yet shrewd reason for what he calls his "shock-and-awe box," which easily takes up a large chunk of space on whatever platform on which it is resting. "What usually happens if you don't want to do the two-pocket folder franchise, you just throw that folder in the garbage," Hurn said. "But that box is difficult to throw away. It's a nice looking piece. It's going to sit on your desk a while, staring back at you.

"It gives us a better chance to work with them. They might even give us another look because we went to that extent."

Marketing is a vital component in a franchise's growth prospects, but with so many franchises out there looking for owners it can be difficult to stand out. But whether flashy or eye-catching marketing strategies work has generally been a matter of debate.

Hurn, however, says that such promotional materials should be part of a broad marketing strategy that takes advantage of numerous mediums. When a company has a strong marketing plan, he said, it could often be difficult to measure the different components. "Sometimes it's a cumulative effect," he said. "You're not sure what one thing tipped them over. If you're creative, disciplined and send things regularly through different multimedia, it's difficult to track the one thing that worked. And it's probably not one thing, but the accumulation of all the things that you do."

Despite that, Hurn said, marketing should be viewed as an investment. Perhaps the response rate may not seem good, but the item you're selling is big enough that price paid for a marketing campaign would still have a strong return. Hurn added that, when something works, companies shouldn't limit themselves to budget constraints.

"Say you budget 9 percent of revenue for marketing," Hurn said. "But you've found something that really works and has a really strong return on investment. Are you going to say that once you hit your 9 percent of revenue, you're done? Of course not. You're going to keep doing it. That's what a smart business person does."

Hurn said that franchisors have generally been good at franchise sales, but not so much when it comes to marketing. "If you can't make people walk in the door, you don't have much of a business," he said.
He spends 80 percent of his time at his businesses on marketing matters. "I guess I'm a banker," he said, "but I tell people that I market our commercial lending services. That's what I do.

"I could be the world's greatest banker, but if I didn't have the ability to tell people about my specialized knowledge and skills, it wouldn't matter. There are plenty of broke geniuses out there who have no idea how to market their abilities and talents. The same thing applies in the business world."

Marketing 101
Given the steady stream of interesting marketing ideas coming from the offices of Mercantile Commercial Capital, we figured that its CEO, Chris Hurn, would have some tips. He did. The bigger question is whether we have enough room in the magazine to fit them all.

What are they thinking about?
Some of the best marketing pieces take advantage of what people are thinking about at a given time. So a direct-mail piece from Mercantile late last fall - amid discussions about how to rescue banks - was designed to look like a wallet with a "note" that said, "In this wallet you'll find your financial rescue plan."

Tell people the benefits
Many marketing pieces focus on a business talking about how great it is, Hurn said. The message should be the other way around. "What do I care if 80 percent of the Fortune 500 are your clients?" Hurn said. "What's in it for me? You've got to convert the message into how it's a benefit for me."

Personalize your marketing
Yes, a marketing piece with a lot of personality may turn some people off, but it'll turn others on. "And the people you attract will be your rabid fans," Hurn said.

More information, please
Remember: Not everybody does e-mail. And some people - gasp! - don't even like the Internet. So include multiple methods of communication in an ad or marketing piece, including phone number, address, fax and, yes, the Web site.

Differentiate yourself
Many prospects look at multiple brands and get inundated with mailings, many of which look similar. And a lot of direct mail pieces are little more than a single-page letter in an envelope. Do something with that piece to stand above the clutter. "You can send four pages in an envelope with the same, 42-cent stamp," Hurn said. "Use them."

Be consistent
Marketing should be consistent and steady. But not everybody has the patience or wherewithal to do it. "If you arrive in someone's mailbox every month like clockwork, pretty soon they'll come to expect it," Hurn said. Yes, it might take you time for the message to work, but in the end it'll be worth it.

Variety helps
Don't limit yourself to a single medium. Use ads, TV, radio, the Internet, e-mail, DVDs, publications. And don't forget newsletters, which many businesses don't do even though they are highly successful at getting a message across. And direct mail also works. "You can't do just one thing and expect it to work," Hurn said. "You've got to do lots of things."

Geof Longstaff, chairman of the firm, said the expansion will substantially enhance the firm's volume and its impact on the national economy.

“We have developed a highly successful strategy to deliver commercial financing to growing small business enterprises that are creating job growth in the economy,” Longstaff said.

“Our objective is to take our strategy nationwide and we have reorganized our senior management staff in order to achieve this goal. In addition, we are significantly expanding our capital base to support this new initiative,” Longstaff said.

Longstaff said the firm has rebranded itself Mercantile Capital Corporation, with a nationwide sales effort to be based in Altamonte Springs.

Longstaff said plans are under way now to expand Mercantile's sales nationally and to take advantage of the lack of active lending capacity presently in the marketplace.

Christopher G. Hurn, co-founder and president of the firm, has been appointed chief executive officer of Mercantile Capital Corporation. Hurn, who created the firm's highly successful marketing and communications strategy and guided it since its inception, will focus his efforts on expanding the company's nationwide scope.

Shannon Marks, who is a graduate of Notre Dame University and has over 19 years of commercial banking experience, has been appointed president and chief operating officer at Mercantile Capital Corporation, Longstaff said.

Over the past six years Mercantile has provided commercial loans valued at more than $346 million and currently ranks as the largest provider of SBA-504 loans in the southeast region.

“All of us are proud of the success we have enjoyed and excited about our new direction and the opportunity to have a real and positive impact on the national economy,” Longstaff said.

For more information contact
Geof Longstaff, Chairman Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Chris Hurn, CEO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Shannon D. Marks, COO Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Larry Vershel or Beth Payan, Larry Vershel Communications, 407-644-4142

Click Here to View Article in PDF Format

Orlando Sentinel
Central Florida Business
April 6-12, 2009

Banking

April Fool"s

Small-business lender Mercantile Capital Corp. of Altamonte Springs shocked everyone last week with an announcement that it had basically swung a deal with the Obama administration to take over the government"s SBA 504 lending program.

The company would also assume “hundreds of millions of dollars” of SBA 504 loans that had been originated by now-defunct giants Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, officials said in a statement last Wednesday.

It was meant to be a humorous, tongue-in-cheek announcement on April Fool"s Day.

But someone apparently didn"t think it was so funny.

Only hours after releasing the spoof, Mercantile Capital issued a 10-point retraction and apology.

“There"s been so much tension, anxiety and uncertainty over the past several months in the financial services industry, that we played an innocent practical joke,” said CEO Chris Hurn. “This is the very first time we"ve ever fabricated something, and we would never do so on any other date.”

“We hope this joke did not cause anyone too much heartburn,” he added.

“Anyone who knows us knows that we take our work very seriously . . . but occasionally we like to be a little irreverent.”

Click Here to View Article in PDF Format

Done Deals
04/01/2009

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Mercantile Capital Corp. claims commercial property mortgage lending activity now approaching historic levels for leading Orlando-area firms

Altamonte Springs, FL — Commercial property mortgage lending activity is now approaching historic highs for Mercantile Capital Corporation, which specializes in U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loans for small business owners who want to acquire or develop their own facilities.

Christopher Hurn, chief executive officer of Mercantile Capital Corporation, said the six-year old company is seeing as many loan proposals as it did during its peak in mid-2007.

“We attribute the increase in deal flow to stimulus plan anticipation,” Hurn explained..

“I think the small business community is shaking off the doom and gloom attitude and starting to take a more practical approach to severely discounted commercial property assets that represent enormous opportunities for business owners,” he said.

“The Obama administration is doing some things to help the small business community, and we think leading small business owners are starting to act on the situation,” Hurn said.

“Lower commercial property values and near historic lows in financing rates won"t last much more than the next eighteen months. Innovative entrepreneurs within the small business community have a tendency to be leading indicators in my opinion, so we"re starting to see a shift,” Hurn said.

Hurn said Mercantile Capital Corporation"s increase in lending activity is also attributed to the fact that few lenders are actually lending these days.

“The financial crisis has never been one of cost of capital, it"s been an issue of access to capital,” Hurn said.

“We think the universe of owner-user commercial property deals has shrunk, but we"re getting a much larger share of the fewer deals that are out there. “The creditworthiness of our deals is increasing – only the strongest and healthiest transactions are getting done these days – and deals that would have ordinarily gone to a large regional bank are now coming to us,” Hurn said.

For more information, please contact:

Geof Longstaff, Chairman, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Chris Hurn, CEO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Shannon D. Marks, COO, Mercantile Capital Corpration, 407-786-5040
Larry Vershel or Beth Payan, Larry Vershel Communications, 407-644-4142

Click Here to View Article in PDF Format

Done Deals
04/05/2009

Sunday, April 05, 2009

Altamonte Springs, FL - For Christopher Hurn, CEO of Mercantile Capital Corporation in Altamonte Springs, one thing is clear: the U.S. Small Business Administration"s 504 loan program for small business owners is the best-kept secret in commercial lending today.

Hurn recently returned from Dallas, where he was the keynote speaker at the SBA"s 5th Annual 504 Lenders Conference, which drew more than 175 major lenders from across the southwest.

“Bankers don"t like to talk about the SBA 504 program, even though it"s such a powerful resource for small business owners,” Hurn said.

“The loans are a bit more cumbersome to execute, but banks make less money on them than they do on traditional financing programs,” Hurn said. The SBA 504 loan program is a powerful economic resource for borrowers, for lenders and for the national economy, Hurn told the group.

“From the lender"s perspective, from the borrower"s perspective and from the national economy perspective, the SBA 504 lending program is reducing costs, generating jobs and making small businesses more productive, while creating wealth for business owners,” Hurn said.

SBA 504 loans offer small business owners up to 90 percent financing at substantially reduced rates to develop, acquire, and remodel commercial facilities.

Mercantile Capital Corporation, formerly Mercantile Commercial Capital, ranks as one of the most active providers of SBA 504 loans in the nation.

For more information, please contact:

Chris Hurn, CEO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Geof Longstaff, Chairman, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Shannon D. Marks, COO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — Mercantile Capital Corporation (formerly known as Mercantile Commercial Capital, LLC) has retracted an earlier story about its new public-private partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the U.S. Treasury.

“Often times it"s better to laugh, than cry,” said Chris Hurn, Chief Executive Officer of Mercantile Capital Corporation. “There"s been so much tension, anxiety and uncertainty over the past several months in the financial services industry, that we played an innocent practical joke. This is the very first time we"ve ever fabricated something, and we would never do so on any other date.”

There are several things Mercantile wishes to recant:

• There have been no closed-door sessions with the Obama Administration and Mercantile officials, nor has Mercantile paid the Treasury an “undisclosed sum” of money for a portfolio purchase of SBA 504 loans or for naming rights to the program.

• To the best of Mercantile"s knowledge, Bear Stearns never originated or held a portfolio of SBA 504 loans.
• Lehman Brothers, while originating tens of millions of SBA 504 loans, did not sell these assets to Mercantile, nor were Mercantile officials aware of any of Lehman"s SBA 504 loans being considered “toxic.”

• Mercantile is not in the business of assuming and/or servicing loan portfolios – they only originate SBA 504 loans nationally, one small business owner at a time.

• The U.S. Government, the Treasury Department, nor the SBA have granted any exclusivity or other “preferential status” to Mercantile in regard to being the only private-sector lender making SBA 504 first mortgages, much to Mercantile officials chagrin.

• Mercantile does not have license to rename the SBA 504 loan program, despite its re-positioning of the program as “The SmartChoice commercial loan” over the past year.

• Acting SBA Administrator Hairston and soon-to-be confirmed SBA Administrator Mills have not been in contact with Mr. Hurn regarding a name change for the SBA 504 loan program… but perhaps they should.

• Messrs. Hurn and Longstaff did not travel to the G-20 Summit this morning – in fact, Mr. Hurn traveled to Cleveland, a far cry from London.

• While Messrs. Hurn and Longstaff would be happy to educate governmental officials (both domestically and internationally) about small business growth and small business wealth creation through smart commercial property ownership, neither men have been contacted by the Administration to do so.

• Dr. Lopo Flairs is a fictional Treasury spokesperson with a name that is an anagram, spelling out “April Fool"s.”

“We hope this joke did not cause anyone too much heartburn. Anyone who knows us, knows that we take our work very seriously and believe we really are the best at providing SBA 504 loans to America"s small business community… but occasionally we like to be a little irreverent. Life is much too short to always be serious,” said Hurn.

“If the Administration wants to seriously consider any of the provisions in this morning"s press release to thaw-out the small business lending environment, we would be happy to do our part,” said Geof Longstaff, Chairman of Mercantile.

Mercantile officials are reportedly working on giving all of the hundreds of people who went out of their way to call in and/or email in to congratulate them on their “fake” news some gift of appreciation for being such good sports.

SBA 504 loans offer small business owners up to 90 percent financing at substantially reduced rates to develop, acquire, and remodel commercial facilities. Really, it"s true!

Mercantile Capital Corporation, formerly Mercantile Commercial Capital, LLC, really does rank as the one of the most active providers of SBA 504 financing in the nation and really has become quite well-known and decorated in their industry with such honors as being a member of the Inc. 500 list of America"s fastest-growing companies, being named “Banker of the Year,” and just last year, being named “Best Small Company in Central Florida.” Who else could have pulled an April Fool"s stunt like this anyway?!?

* * *

For more information contact
Chris Hurn, CEO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Geof Longstaff, Chairman, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Shannon D. Marks, President/COO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040

Visit www.504Experts.com or www.504blog.com for more information.

Happy April Fool's Day from the MCC Family,

Chris

******************

NEWS RELEASE

Mercantile Capital Corporation Retracts Earlier SBA 504 Announcement

"Just an April Fool's Day Prank to Release Some Tension," says CEO

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — Mercantile Capital Corporation (formerly known
as Mercantile Commercial Capital, LLC) has retracted an earlier story about
its new public-private partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration
(SBA) and the U.S. Treasury. 

"Often times it's better to laugh, than cry," said Chris Hurn, Chief
Executive Officer of Mercantile Capital Corporation.  "There's been so
much tension, anxiety and uncertainty over the past several months in the
financial services industry, that we played an innocent practical joke. 
This is the very first time we've ever fabricated something, and we would
never do so on any other date."

There are several things Mercantile wishes to recant:
-  There have been no closed-door sessions with the Obama Administration
and Mercantile officials, nor has Mercantile paid the Treasury an "undisclosed
sum" of money for a portfolio purchase of SBA 504 loans or for naming rights
to the program.

-  To the best of Mercantile's knowledge, Bear Stearns never originated
or held a portfolio of SBA 504 loans.

-  Lehman Brothers, while originating tens of millions of SBA 504 loans,
did not sell these assets to Mercantile, nor were Mercantile officials aware
of any of Lehman's SBA 504 loans being considered "toxic."

-  Mercantile is not in the business of assuming and/or servicing loan
portfolios - they only originate SBA 504 loans nationally, one small business
owner at a time.

-  The U.S. Government, the Treasury Department, nor the SBA have granted
any exclusivity or other "preferential status" to Mercantile in regard to being
the only private-sector lender making SBA 504 first mortgages, much to Mercantile
officials chagrin.

-  Mercantile does not have license to rename the SBA 504 loan program,
despite its re-positioning of the program as "The SmartChoice commercial loan"
over the past year.

-  Acting SBA Administrator Hairston and soon-to-be confirmed SBA
Administrator Mills have not been in contact with Mr. Hurn regarding a name
change for the SBA 504 loan program . . . but perhaps they should.

-  Messrs. Hurn and Longstaff did not travel to the G-20 Summit this
morning - in fact, Mr. Hurn traveled to Cleveland, a far cry from London.

-  While Messrs. Hurn and Longstaff would be happy to educate governmental
officials (both domestically and internationally) about small business growth
and small business wealth creation through smart commercial property ownership,
neither men have been contacted by the Administration to do so.

-  Dr. Lopo Flairs is a fictional Treasury spokesperson with a name that
is an anagram, spelling out "April Fool's."

"We hope this joke did not cause anyone too much heartburn.  Anyone who knows
us, knows that we take our work very seriously and believe we really are the
best at providing SBA 504 loans to America's small business community . . . but
occasionally we like to be a little irreverent.  Life is much too short to
always be serious," said Hurn.  

"If the Administration wants to seriously consider any of the provisions in
this morning's press release to thaw-out the small business lending environment,
we would be happy to do our part," said Geof Longstaff, Chairman of Mercantile.

Mercantile officials are reportedly working on giving all of the hundreds of
people who went out of their way to call in and/or email in to congratulate
them on their "fake" news some gift of appreciation for being such good sports.

SBA 504 loans offer small business owners up to 90 percent financing at
substantially reduced rates to develop, acquire, and remodel commercial
facilities.  Really, it's true!
 
Mercantile Capital Corporation, formerly Mercantile Commercial Capital, LLC,
really does rank as the one of the most active providers of SBA 504 financing
in the nation and really has become quite well-known and decorated in their
industry with such honors as being a member of the Inc. 500 list of America's
fastest-growing companies, being named "Banker of the Year," and just last year,
being named "Best Small Company in Central Florida."  Who else could have
pulled an April Fool's stunt like this anyway?!?

* * *

For more information contact
Chris Hurn, CEO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Geof Longstaff, Chairman, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Shannon D. Marks, President/COO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040

Visit www.504Experts.com or www.504blog.com for more information.

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — Mercantile Capital Corporation (formerly known as Mercantile Commercial Capital, LLC) chose its first operating day as a new entity to announce a landmark new federal program for the nation's small business owners.

After months of closed-door negotiations with government officials, the Orlando-area based commercial lender has agreed to assume and service the small business loan portfolios of now defunct Wall Street firms, Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns – both of which originated hundreds of millions of SBA 504 loans over the past decade. Moreover, for an undisclosed sum, Mercantile will be granted “preferential status” in providing SBA 504 loans nationwide and given “naming rights” for the SBA 504 loan program. In a unique “swap-arrangement” that demonstrates the Obama Administration's creative spirit in working with the private sector and a need to raise revenues for the Treasury, Mercantile will maintain the servicing for these 504 loans, while the SBA confers to Mercantile the option to provide all SBA 504 first mortgages for the remainder of fiscal year 2009 and all of fiscal year 2010. Along with this groundbreaking exclusivity, Mercantile has 30 days in which to change the poorly named “504” moniker.

“This is obviously a very big day for Mercantile,” said Chris Hurn, Chief Executive Officer of Mercantile. “We spent a considerable amount of time and capital to negotiate this deal – to service what may turn out to be 'toxic' assets from failed financial institutions, but in exchange we'll become the SBA's exclusive provider of 504 first mortgages and get to rename the program for the next 18 months,” Hurn stated.

Hurn's business partner and the Chairman of Mercantile, Geof Longstaff, was equally effusive, “Our standing as one of the nation's leading 504 lenders positioned us as the 'go-to players' to get this deal hammered out. The government wanted experts like us to take care of these specialized loans and was willing to let us take the lead in thawing-out the frozen small business lending industry.”

“The fact that we'll get to rename the SBA 504 within the next 30 days was simply icing on the cake for us,” said Hurn.

Treasury spokesman, Dr. Lopo Flairs, commented, “The new Administration has chosen to be more creative – to throw the proverbial box out the window. This deal with Mercantile is a good example, as it accomplished our administrative needs while raising needed funds. The fact that the 504 loan program will get a new name for a few years is actually a plus for all parties involved. No one really knows why it was ever called that in the first place. This situation is really not unlike naming rights to a professional sports stadium, NASCAR sponsorships on their cars, or European soccer players with logos on their jerseys. We believe this is a good deal for America's taxpayers.”

Hurn said he hasn't yet decided on a new name for the 504 loan program, but since the program champions America's small businesses and entrepreneurs with the smartest financing available when purchasing commercial property, he is said to be leaning toward calling these loans “The SmartChoice commercial loans.” Acting SBA Administrator Daryl Hairston and the soon-to-be confirmed SBA Administrator, Karen Gordon Mills, are also working with Hurn to appropriately rename the program.

Hurn and Longstaff will be leaving early today to join the leaders of the G-20 Summit in a just-added presentation on international small business growth. President Obama invited these two small business loan experts to London to educate this illustrious group about successful small business wealth creation. Both men are expected back in Orlando by early Saturday.

SBA 504 loans offer small business owners up to 90 percent financing at substantially reduced rates to develop, acquire, and remodel commercial facilities.

Mercantile Capital Corporation, formerly Mercantile Commercial Capital, LLC, ranks as the one of the most active providers of SBA 504 financing in the nation and has become quite well-known and decorated in their industry with such honors as being a member of the Inc. 500 list of America's fastest-growing companies, being named “Banker of the Year,” and just last year, being named “Best Small Company in Central Florida.”

* * *

For more information contact
Chris Hurn, CEO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Geof Longstaff, Chairman, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Shannon D. Marks, President/COO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Visit www.504Experts.com or www.504blog.com for more information.

I've copied the full release below. I think you'll find it pretty interesting, so leave me a comment to let me know your thoughts.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

NEWS RELEASE

Mercantile Capital Corporation Announces New Public-Private Partnership with Small Business Administration (SBA) and U.S. Treasury Dept.

Firm Set to Rename SBA 504 Loan Program as Part of Transaction

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — Mercantile Capital Corporation (formerly known as Mercantile Commercial Capital, LLC) chose its first operating day as a new entity to announce a landmark new federal program for the nation's small business owners.

After months of closed-door negotiations with government officials, the Orlando-area based commercial lender has agreed to assume and service the small business loan portfolios of now defunct Wall Street firms, Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns – both of which originated hundreds of millions of SBA 504 loans over the past decade. Moreover, for an undisclosed sum, Mercantile will be granted “preferential status” in providing SBA 504 loans nationwide and given “naming rights” for the SBA 504 loan program. In a unique “swap-arrangement” that demonstrates the Obama Administration's creative spirit in working with the private sector and a need to raise revenues for the Treasury, Mercantile will maintain the servicing for these 504 loans, while the SBA confers to Mercantile the option to provide all SBA 504 first mortgages for the remainder of fiscal year 2009 and all of fiscal year 2010. Along with this groundbreaking exclusivity, Mercantile has 30 days in which to change the poorly named “504” moniker.

“This is obviously a very big day for Mercantile,” said Chris Hurn, Chief Executive Officer of Mercantile. “We spent a considerable amount of time and capital to negotiate this deal – to service what may turn out to be 'toxic' assets from failed financial institutions, but in exchange we'll become the SBA's exclusive provider of 504 first mortgages and get to rename the program for the next 18 months,” Hurn stated.

Hurn's business partner and the Chairman of Mercantile, Geof Longstaff, was equally effusive, “Our standing as one of the nation's leading 504 lenders positioned us as the 'go-to players' to get this deal hammered out. The government wanted experts like us to take care of these specialized loans and was willing to let us take the lead in thawing-out the frozen small business lending industry.”

“The fact that we'll get to rename the SBA 504 within the next 30 days was simply icing on the cake for us,” said Hurn.

Treasury spokesman, Dr. Lopo Flairs, commented, “The new Administration has chosen to be more creative – to throw the proverbial box out the window. This deal with Mercantile is a good example, as it accomplished our administrative needs while raising needed funds. The fact that the 504 loan program will get a new name for a few years is actually a plus for all parties involved. No one really knows why it was ever called that in the first place. This situation is really not unlike naming rights to a professional sports stadium, NASCAR sponsorships on their cars, or European soccer players with logos on their jerseys. We believe this is a good deal for America's taxpayers.”

Hurn said he hasn't yet decided on a new name for the 504 loan program, but since the program champions America's small businesses and entrepreneurs with the smartest financing available when purchasing commercial property, he is said to be leaning toward calling these loans “The SmartChoice commercial loans.” Acting SBA Administrator Daryl Hairston and the soon-to-be confirmed SBA Administrator, Karen Gordon Mills, are also working with Hurn to appropriately rename the program.

Hurn and Longstaff will be leaving early today to join the leaders of the G-20 Summit in a just-added presentation on international small business growth. President Obama invited these two small business loan experts to London to educate this illustrious group about successful small business wealth creation. Both men are expected back in Orlando by early Saturday.

SBA 504 loans offer small business owners up to 90 percent financing at substantially reduced rates to develop, acquire, and remodel commercial facilities.

Mercantile Capital Corporation, formerly Mercantile Commercial Capital, LLC, ranks as the one of the most active providers of SBA 504 financing in the nation and has become quite well-known and decorated in their industry with such honors as being a member of the Inc. 500 list of America's fastest-growing companies, being named “Banker of the Year,” and just last year, being named “Best Small Company in Central Florida.”

* * *

For more information contact
Chris Hurn, CEO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Geof Longstaff, Chairman, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Shannon D. Marks, President/COO, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040
Visit www.504Experts.com or www.504blog.com for more information.

Click Here to View Article in PDF Format

Florida Real Estate Journal
March 1-15, 2009
Vol. 16, No. 22

Property Finance

In Brief

MCC Closes $6.3M in December Loans

Altamonte Springs - Mercantile Commercial Capital LLC, which specializes in U.S. Small Business Administration 504 loans for small business owners, reported it closed on four commercial loans in December that total more than $6.3 million.

Mercantile Commercial Capital"s December loans included:

• $1,185,000 to Beckman & Associates, Inc, to provide 80% financing for refinance of a 3,532sf office condo in Maitland.
• $1,675,000 to Mississippi Embroidery LLC to provide 90% financing for the purchase of an approximately 17,000sf building in Hattiesburg, Miss.
• $2,107,200 to Irish Properties LP to provide 85% financing to purchase a mixed-use restaurant with eight residential apartments - an 11,030sf facility in New Cumberland, Pa.
• $1,345,000 to Autogalaxy USA LLC/Miami Car Sales, Inc. to provide 75% financing for the purchase of an 8,000sf office/warehouse condo in Hallandale.

In 2008, Mercantile Commercial Capital closed on 43 commercial loans valued at more than $75 million.

MCC finds $1.1M for therapy clinic

Altamonte Springs - Mercantile Commercial Capital LLC, a leading provider of U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loans for small business owners who want to acquire or develop their own facilities, closed a commercial loan for Beckman & Associates, Inc. for $1,185,000 in total project costs.

Beckman & Associates Specialty Therapy Clinic was founded in 1984 by internationally recognized motor speech and feeding disorder expert Debra Beckman, MS, CCC-SLP. The clinic offers services for pediatric speech, occupational and physical therapy needs, as well as speech therapy for adult oral motor concerns.

Payne Holdings, Inc. based in Jacksonville, is owned and operated by Seth Payne, former NFL player for both the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Houston Texans. He has recently changed his focus to owning and operating several Golden Corral Restaurants, starting first in Palm Coast, Florida. His hope is to open more franchise locations throughout Florida.

Corporate Operating Officer, Seth Payne stated, "As a start up restaurant in the midst of the credit crisis, we wasted a lot of time and money with a loan broker, but after we hooked up with Adam Wonus at Mercantile Commercial Capital things changed. Adam amazed us with his tenacity and resolve in getting us our permanent financing."

By taking advantage of Mercantile Commercial Capital's Smart Choice Commercial Loan Program, small business owners are able to take their businesses to the next level.

For more information, visit www.504Experts.com and www.504Blog.com.

Contacts:
Chris Hurn, Mercantile Commercial Capital, LLC 407-786-5040
Robin Lashley, Mercantile Commercial Capital, LLC 407-786-5040
Larry Vershel or Beth Payan, LV Communications, 407-644-4142

Altamonte Springs, Fla. – March 20, 2009 - Chris Hurn, CEO of Mercantile Commercial Capital, LLC, which specializes in U.S. Small Business Association (SBA) 504 loans for small business owners who want to acquire or develop their own facilities, recently appeared on Fox Business News Channel. Chris was asked to discuss small business and entrepreneurship, as well as his reaction to President Obama's recently announced plan to help generate small business growth.

Chris Hurn was named to America's PremierExperts™ and has garnered attention due to his company, Mercantile Commercial Capital, being one of the nation's leading SBA 504 loan providers, as well as his commentary on the state of the economy for small businesses on his popular blog, http://www.504blog.com. Hurn recently proposed a "Small Business Growth Act of 2009" to jumpstart our economy into the future, which consists of seven solutions for growing small businesses, and in turn, growing the economy as a whole. The first three suggestions involve tax cuts or credits, while the other four address changes needed to current SBA Loan programs.

On the Fox News segment, and on his blog, one of the steps that Hurn suggests is a payroll tax holiday for the remainder of this year. This, Hurn explains, would cause an almost immediate economic stimulus for both business and workers alike.

“A payroll tax holiday would keep money in workers' pockets and owners' pockets. This equates to about 16% of compensation saved and immediately gives both parties more money to spend or invest,” Hurn said.

“We also need to waive capital gains taxes permanently for those investors that make equity investments into start-up firms or successful small firms (those with revenues currently less than $100 million) in calendar year 2009. The reason for only limiting it to 2009 investments is that we need private-sector investments NOW, not in 2010 – plenty of cash already sits on the sidelines, but it needs to be put back to work and in the right areas where it will do the most good. Enacting this gives investors, who have lost hope in Wall Street and Big Business investments (where they have virtually zero control), the incentive to put their dollars to work in places where they may have a far greater influence,” Hurn continued.

The Fox Business News segment with Chris can be found at http://www.504experts.com/blog/i-was-on-fox-news.php

About Mercantile Commercial Capital:

Recently named to the Inc. 500 list of America's Fastest Growing Companies, Mercantile Commercial Capital has been called the “Fastest Growing Commercial Lender in America,” the “most unique and entrepreneurial bankers around,” and the “fun bankers.” From its start in 2003, MCC has focused on providing SBA 504 loans for small business owners to acquire or enhance their own facilities. The company was named “Best Place to Work” by the Orlando Business Journal in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Additional information on MCC and its loan offerings is available at www.TheSmartChoiceLoan.com

About America's PremierExperts™ LLC:

America's PremierExperts™ is an organization that recognizes celebrity experts in their field of business and offers business owners, entrepreneurs, professional speakers, authors, professionals and corporate CEOs exclusive, invitation-only, opportunities for further exposure and growth in the marketplace. JW Dicks, Esq. and Nick Nanton, Esq., attorneys by trade and entrepreneurs by choice, founded America's PremierExperts™ and The Ultimate Celebrity Branding Experience™ to honor entrepreneurs, CEOs, authors, professional speakers and business people who are dedicated to spreading knowledge and awareness in their field of expertise and making significant contributions to their industry and the marketplace as a whole. For more information about America's PremierExperts™ LLC visit www.AmericasPremierExperts.com.