The economy is “officially” in recovery mode, and has been for a while, but we all know that things are still tough throughout our economy. Depending on what you read from various news outlets, it’s getting more and more difficult to understand what’s really going on. So how are small businesses
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07/25/2011
I fully intended to do a video blog before the July 4th Holiday Weekend, but it’s just been one of those weeks. Two weekends ago, our building was hit by lightning, and we lost several computers and other pieces of hardware that had to be replaced. It’s taken until now to get everything up and ru
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07/25/2011
I had the pleasure of sitting down with Bob Coleman at the Florida Statewide Lenders Conference yesterday to talk about the latest and most relevant issues facing small business owners these days. If you don’t know Bob, he’s a great guy and very influential in the world of small business lending.
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07/22/2011
When a small business owner wants to buy commercial property for his or her business, there are several financing options to choose from. This probably isn’t news to you, especially if you’ve been reading this blog for a while now. What’s surprising, though, is how often many lenders gloss over (
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06/09/2011
I know that National Small Business Week is technically over, but I think it’s important to celebrate America’s small businesses every day. I’ve had the honor of interacting with countless business owners, as a commercial lender and as a small business owner myself, and I’m grateful for their h
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05/25/2011
Did you know the first National Small Business Week was in 1963? The President of the United States has proclaimed one every year since then, and this year’s National Small Business Week will honor an estimated 27.2 million small businesses and entrepreneurs in our country. To mark the occasion t
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05/19/2011
I get a wide range of questions about what we do as a company. Some people want to know why we specialize in commercial real estate financing for small businesses, some want to know how our loans work, and others are curious about the culture we’ve created here at Mercantile. To answer some of
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05/12/2011
A couple years back, we made up a holiday (yeah, we sometimes do strange things like that). We call it 504 Day, and it falls on May 4th of each year. Despite our best efforts, we haven’t been able to get it registered as a national holiday yet (and Hallmark doesn’t yet recognize it), but I’d like
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05/05/2011
As you probably know by all the coverage it has gotten, the Royal Wedding is tomorrow morning, and it seems my invitation to it got lost in the British postal system. In all seriousness, I’ve filmed today’s video to let you know how the entrepreneurial dream for wealth creation through commercia
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04/29/2011
If you’re not familiar with John Galt or who he is, you really ought to pick up the novel, Atlas Shrugged. To find out why it’s one of my all-time favorites (and why it should be one of yours) and what its message has to do with us (MCC) as a commercial real estate lender, watch the short video c
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04/15/2011