ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. --- Mercantile Commercial Capital, LLC, which specializes in U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loans for small business owners who want to acquire or develop their own facilities, plans to launch Emergent National Bank late this year with $37 million in startup capital.
Geof Longstaff, chairman of Mercantile Commercial Capital, said he and an organizing group recently filed an application to form a national bank. He expects to open the new bank in the fourth quarter of 2008. The application includes plans to acquire Mercantile Commercial Capital, LLC as part of the chartering process.
“This is the natural extension for Mercantile Commercial Capital,” said Longstaff. “This will solidify our place as one of the nation’s leading SBA 504 lenders and give the bank a real ‘head start’ by merging Mercantile’s loan portfolio and operations into the bank.”
Shannon Marks, who has 20 years of banking experience, will serve as president and chief executive officer of the bank, Longstaff said. Christopher G. Hurn, president of Mercantile Commercial Capital, will serve as senior executive vice president and run the government lending division as well as the combined entity’s marketing strategies.
Directors of the new bank include Longstaff, Marks and Hurn, along with Timothy Bailey, a Lake County real estate developer; Gene Joseph, a former IBM executive and high-tech entrepreneur;
Longstaff, who will serve as chairman of the new bank, has more than 38 years of experience in banking and has been president of four national banks. He said the bank will focus on real estate lending and small business loans.
The bank directors have secured a lease on a 16,000 square foot office building at 501 N. New York Ave. in Winter Park to serve as the bank’s headquarters.
Mercantile Commercial Capital celebrated its fifth anniversary in February and according to Longstaff has closed on some $200 million in loans, creating some 1,700 jobs.
For more information, please visit http://www.504experts.com
