No love for small businesses

No Love this Valentine’s Day for America’s Small Businesses…

I was a bit fired up yesterday. Not because it was Valentine’s Day, but because America’s small businesses still aren’t getting the attention and assistance they deserve. Though it took me a while to properly frame my thoughts, I finally have a video for you that expresses how I feel about President Obama’s treatment of small businesses, the recent SBA changeups, and a lot more.

BONUS Friday Video: A Busy Week in Small Business Lending…

There’s a whole lot going on here at Mercantile and in the world of small business lending. There’s so much going on, in fact, that I decided to do another video blog — the second one this week. This is unprecedented for us, but I want to keep you in the loop on our latest SBA lending webinar, our upcoming Open House, President Obama’s Disney visit yesterday, and the SBA Administrator becoming a member of the President’s Cabinet. Oh, and there’s Rick Perry’s little comment about abolishing the SBA (a pretty terrible idea in our humble opinion). Little wonder he’s just withdrawn from the presidential race.

Well…without any further ado, go to www.504blog.com to view our second video blog this week.

Thanks for watching and sharing with others. If you ever have any questions about commercial property financing or the small business community in general, don’t hesitate to call us at 1-866-622-4504, email info@mercantilecc.com or leave a comment at www.504blog.com. As we get closer to the presidential election over the next several months, you can count on us to keep you in the know about what matters to small business owners and their advisors.

Dedicated to Your Continued Success,

Chris

P.S. Enjoy your weekend!

Happy New Year and Thank You…

Yesterday was my last day in the office for this year. I decided to spend some extra time with my family, so we’re spending the weekend on the Florida Gulf Coast for a little rest and relaxation to celebrate the New Year. We’re headed to the Ringling Circus Museum later today, so I wanted to type this quick message to you before the day gets away from me (I’m sure to get sidetracked by clown and trapeze artist history).

I simply want to sincerely wish you a Happy New Year and a relaxing holiday weekend. You deserve it.

Go to www.504blog.com to read the rest of my New Year’s message (which I hope is some encouragement to you), and to read about our no-corporate-holiday-card tradition.

Here’s to a wonderfully Happy New Year. See you in 2012!

Dedicated to Your Continued Success,

Chris

P.S. I truly appreciate the opportunity to interact with you and hopefully provide some valuable help when it comes to smarter commercial real estate financing. Please share this with someone you know who’s interested in owning their commercial property, or someone who could use a bit of encouragement heading into the New Year.

Santa Claus and Coca-Cola…

True or False: Santa’s red-and-white garb was invented by Coca-Cola for their advertising in the 1930s.

I was reading an article about the recent white Coke cans — the ones with polar bears on them. Coke abruptly discontinued them after lots of people mistook them for Diet Coke and complained (they were all surprised by how good the Diet Coke tasted!).

Anyway, this article stated that it was silly for Coke to abandon their traditional red-and-white can colors because, after all, their advertising was responsible for establishing Santa’s red-and-white getup. This is something I wasn’t aware of, so I did a little research.

Go to www.504blog.com to find out the truth, and to read a special holiday message from yours truly.

Dedicated to Your Continued Success and a Wonderful Holiday Season,

Chris

P.S. If you happen to know a business owner looking to purchase or refinance commercial property…well, you know who would really appreciate an introduction!

Thanksgiving Pancakery…

To say that we enjoy the Holiday Season here at Mercantile is an understatement. I guess it’s one of the joys of working with people who we actually care about — we’re more like family than just coworkers.

Better Than Angry Birds…

I’m proud to announce that we’ll soon be launching our first iPhone app! While it may not be quite as amusing as Angry Birds, I think you’ll find it MUCH more useful.

The primary function of our app is a loan calculator for owner-occupied commercial real estate. I know there are already a few 504 loan calculator apps out there, but ours will be very different and (we believe) much more helpful. In addition to doing the loan calculation, our app will provide loan comparisons, allow you to save the results, and also have direct access to additional resources. Our goal is to give you (that’s right — no charge) a tool that will help you show your Clients how affordable a particular property and loan really are for them.

Weird Friday News… Happy Halloween

Halloween is Monday, and we’re already gearing up for it around the office. I have a quick message for you on this Friday afternoon — just three things: Halloween (obviously); our record-high funding volume; and your last chance to register for my 504 refi webinar next week.

Watch the video at www.504blog.com to get all the details (and find out why my face has a goatee)!

Dedicated to Your Continued Success,

Chris

P.S. If you know a small business owner who should consider owning or refinancing their owner-occupied commercial property, call me at 1-866-622-4504 or email me at ChrisHurn@MercantileCC.com right away. It may be difficult, even SCARY to find commercial financing from ordinary lenders, but we’re having a record year and are here to help. Let me know how we can make someone’s wealth-creation dreams come true. And…Happy early Halloween!

BIG NEWS About the SBA 504 Refinance Program…

Since the Small Business Jobs & Credit Act was passed a year ago, we’ve been able to finally use SBA 504 loans to refinance commercial property. Fortunately, a few hundred business owners have been able to avail themselves of this program to get control over their real estate expenses with the long-term, fixed-rate financing that a 504 loan provides. But that’s about to change…

The Small Business Jobs and Credit Act One Year Later…

Why America’s Small Businesses Need YOUR Help!

It’s officially been one year since the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010 was passed into law. While some good has come from it, there are a few things that have been pretty ineffective so far. The two things that frustrate me the most are the First Mortgage Lien Pool (FMLP) Program and the SBA 504 Loan Refi Program.

Commercial Real Estate Financing for Small Businesses is on the Rise…

Our office is buzzing today after being closed for the Labor Day holiday. I hope you had a nice, long weekend and were able to enjoy an extra day away from the office. I’m pretty sure everyone here at Mercantile spent yesterday relaxing and recharging since we just finished the most productive month ever for our company.