Coleman’s Movers & Shakers and Small Biz Calendar
July 17, 2015
By Bob Coleman
Editor, Movers and Shakers
Kenny Patel Named Vice President and CPA of Thomas Financial Group
“Due to the complexity and size of our loan projects, $5MM-$20MM, we are thrilled to have a confident, young CPA like Kenny joining our staff,” says Chairman Mike Thomas
Atlanta-based Thomas Financial Group is an experienced originator and purchaser of USDA B&I, SBA 504 1st lien and SBA 7(a) loans
Kenny says, “I am thrilled to use my knowledge and years of experience as a CPA to help small business owners achieve their goals.”
Diana Hallal & Christina Johnson Join TMC Financing Southern California Team
Jennine Gilmer, Jennifer Davis, Diana Hallal and Christine Johnson make up TMC Financing’s Southern California team.
“I’m excited about TMC’s growth in Southern California,” says Diana. “This team has such dedication to partnering with commercial real estate brokers and commercial lenders to help business owners grow through the strategic purchase of fixed assets. We’re glad to be on board.”
“Diana and I began our careers together at Bank of America 18 years ago. We partnered on many loans when she was a lender and I’m thrilled to have her join us,” says Jennifer Davis, senior vice president at TMCd. “We’ll be working together as a team, so our broker and lender partners can reach out to either of us and we’ll get the loan done.”
“Diana and Jennifer have more than 40 years of combined commercial real estate lending experience and will be great assets to our local team,” sayys TMC Executive Vice President Rich Grant. “We’re growing fast in Southern California and they will help us continue to be responsive and make local decisions efficiently.”
Prior to joining TMC, Hallal was director of business banking at Union Bank, where she was the No. 1 real estate loan producer in business banking for four consecutive years. Prior to that, she was a commercial loan officer at Wells Fargo and a business development officer at Bank of America.
Kurt Faulk Joins TD Bank as Business Development Officer in SBA Lending
TD Bank has named Kurt V. Faulk as Vice President, Business Development Officer in the SBA Lending Division in Winter Park, Fla. He is responsible for expanding TD Bank’s SBA loan production, including SBA real estate mortgage and equipment loans, construction, refinancing, business acquisition and expansion as well as partner buyouts, serving businesses throughout the Greater Orlando market.
Faulk has 25 years of experience in finance and real estate lending. Before joining TD Bank, he served as a Vice President at GE Capital in Dallas.
First Landmark Bank Announces Election of Ellie McIntire to Senior Vice President of SBA Lending Charlotte Office.
“Ellie has been a commercial and SBA Lender in Charlotte for over 35 years, helping many local business start and flourish,” says President & CEO Stanley Kryder of the Marietta-based bank.
“We are excited to have her establish our Charlotte SBA Lending office and to continue being the go-to for SBA lending in the area.”
McIntire most recently served as an SBA Lender and commercial lender with Carolina Premier Bank for five years, preceded by other banks in Charlotte during her career. She was selected as Small Business Administration Financial Services Advocate of the Year and is a member of Commercial Real Estate Women of Charlotte.
Enterprise Funding Corp. announces Barbara Gronek’s retirement
They are words we all say someday, “I’m just slowing down a little; it’s not as easy as it used to be.” But for most of us, the reality of those words will be significantly different. For Barbara Gronek, they mean that the reality of working 4 full days a week and taking care of ten acres of property by herself has become more of a challenge. On June 30, we will say farewell to an exemplary employee who has not only served Redlands, CA-based Enterprise Funding Corp. well, but has also been instrumental in shaping the corporate structure and systems that exist at the company today.
In 2001, Barbara Gronek joined Enterprise Funding after a long and storied career in the banking industry. She began her career as a bank teller and moved her way up until she was a branch manager. She then worked in consumer lending and went on to set up a commercial lending division at Arrowhead Credit Union. Having accomplished all that there was to do in the traditional banking arena; she was ready for the next step. In 2001 she heard through industry contacts that Jeff Sceranka, President of Enterprise Funding was looking to hire an underwriter.
Even though she had no experience in SBA lending, she was ready for a new challenge. She applied for the job and has been with Enterprise Funding for the past 14 years. According to Sceranka, “She came in as our first in-house underwriter; she was extremely experienced in banking and brought a great deal of expertise to our organization. She’s helped us refine systems and create a level of professionalism that is recognized throughout the industry.”
If you look carefully at the pictures of horses, trails and wild back country around her office, you catch a glimpse of her true passion; one that might be well-hidden otherwise. At age 69, Barbara owns ten acres of land, one horse, one pack-mule, and four dogs that constantly demand her attention. The winter rains cause growth on those ten acres that then become a huge fire concern when the summer months come. A typical day requires Barbara to go home after a long day at work only to get out on her property and clear dry brush. Barbara takes care of her horse and mule by herself, including lifting 100 pound bales of hay onto and off of her truck. She says that due to her work schedule, she doesn’t have enough time to take care of her property and do what she truly wants to do. According to Barbara, she didn’t have problems keeping up with that pace at 60, but when she turned 66, she started to notice that she was slowing down. Her heart’s desire is to keep her property and her way of life in order to stay healthy and active.
Barbara also loves riding trails in the back country. She used to volunteer with the Pacific Crest Trail Association, taking in her horse and pack mule, camping in the wilderness and clearing trails of fallen debris. Her mule, Katie, has since retired, but Barbara still loves to go trail riding and finds that her time to do so is severely limited by her work and property responsibilities.
Barbara’s co-workers describe her incredible attention to detail and insistence on maintaining a high-level of perfection. Sceranka praised his long-term employee, “Her insights into our customers and how they can maximize their loan applications to reveal their unique characteristics and assets have been invaluable. But beyond this, Barbara has been a great co-worker as she has shared her many adventures in packing and to the back country with her horses and mules. She will truly be missed.”
Coleman Small Business Lending Events Calendar
AltLend 2015, Innovative Lending for Small Business, July 20-21, New York
America East Conference for SBA Lenders, August 12-14, Baltimore
2015 Mid-America Lender’s Conference, August 31 – September 2, Dallas
America’s SBDC, September 8-11, San Francisco