Coleman’s 15th Annual Rural Lender’s Roundtable December 3, 2014

15th Annual Rural Lender’s Roundtable
Getting Capital to America’s Main Streets

Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Cosmos Club
2121 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington, DC 20008
Download Registration Form

For the 15th straight year, Coleman’s annual Rural Lender’s Roundtable is the only event dedicated to USDA’s rural business lending programs that brings together all program stakeholders – USDA staff, lenders, secondary market and Capitol Hill.

Purposely held after the election, the event will crystalize how programs, budgets and prioritize will look with the 114th Congress set to begin work in January.

If small business rural lending is important to your lending institution, this is your one must attend event of the year.

We will lead off with presentations by the flagship rural small business lending program. USDA business and industry program senior staff will brief you on the current state of the program and what budget levels are projected 2014 and the future.

Also scheduled is a panel discussion about other rural program initiatives.

Sessions on the secondary market and legislative initiatives are naturally included.

Check out our exciting agenda!

Check back often for the updated agenda as speakers and panelists confirm!

4:30 p.m to 6:30 p.m. December 2, 2014
Reception at Bingham McCutchen
2020 K St NW, Washington, DC 20006
Sponsored by:

8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. December 3, 2014
Continental Breakfast
Cosmos Club — Powell Room
2121 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington, DC 20008

9:00 a.m. to 9:10 a.m.
Opening Remarks by Bob Coleman
Bob is the Editor of the Coleman Report, a trade newsletter and website for small business bankers. He is the nationally recognized expert on small business lending. He has been a regular contributor for Fox Business News and is sourced frequently by all major financial media news outlets including the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg.

9:10 to 9:30
Keynote Address — USDA B&I Program 2015 Update
Chad Parker, Deputy Administrator, Business Programs at USDA, Rural Development
Chad Parker started his USDA career working with electric cooperatives as a rural development specialist with the Rural Electrification Administration (REA), a job he held from 1991-1995. The REA is now called the Rural Utilities Service, also part of USDA Rural Development. He then became a senior loan specialist with the Community Programs office of USDA Rural Development, which helps build a strong rural infrastructure by providing financial assistance for essential community facilities, such as police and fire stations and equipment, medical clinics and hospitals, schools and community centers and industrial parks. From 1998 until 2010, he was director for the direct loans and grants branch of that office.

9:30 to 10:15 a.m.
Proposed Rule by the Rural Business-Cooperative Service and the Rural Utilities Service on 09/15/2014
USDA Rural Development is proposing changes to refine the regulations for the B&I Guaranteed Loan Program in an effort to improve program delivery, clarify the regulations to make them easier to understand, and reduce delinquencies.

The proposed changes to the program are expected to reduce the subsidy rate and thereby lower program subsidy costs over time as the proposed rule is implemented. By lowering the subsidy rate, the Agency may be able to provide greater leverage for the budget authority provided by Congress.

This will allow the Agency to guarantee a higher total dollar amount of loan requests and, assuming the same average size of loans being guaranteed, to guarantee more loans. These changes could also result in increased lending activity, expanded business opportunities, and creation of more jobs in rural areas. Read the Federal Register Notice here

Presented by: John H. Broussard
Director, Business and Industry Division
USDA Rural Development
Since December 2011, John H. Broussard has been appointed as the Director, Business and Industry (B&I) Division within Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS) of USDA Rural Development in Washington, DC. As the B&I Division Director, Broussard directs nationwide rural development activities of the Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program of USDA Rural Development administering a portfolio in excess of $8.5 Billion. Prior to becoming Division Director, he served as the Program Director for Rural Business-Cooperative Service for the State of Louisiana and has been with USDA since 1983.
You will be briefed by senior USDA rural development staff on funding levels for 2014, new program initiatives, as well as the latest hot topics.

10:15 a.m. to 10:30 a.m
Rural Business Investment Program
The purpose of the Rural Business Investment Program (RBIP) is to promote economic development and create wealth and job opportunities among individuals living in rural areas and help to meet the equity capital investment needs primarily of smaller enterprises located in such areas. USDA licenses newly formed for-profit entities as Rural Business Investment Companys (RBIC). RBICs then use the equity raised in capitalizing their funds to make venture capital investments mostly in smaller enterprises located primarily in rural areas.
Panel TBA

10:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m
Rural Development Energy Programs
Our programs, authorized through the Agriculture Act of 2014, fall into four categories:

The Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, and Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Program provides loan guarantees for the development, construction, and retrofitting of commercial-scale biorefineries.

The Repowering Assistance Program provides payments to eligible biorefineries to replace fossil fuels used to produce heat or power to operate the biorefineries with renewable biomass.

The Advanced Biofuel Payment Program provides payments to producers to support and expand production of advanced biofuels refined from sources other than corn kernel starch.

The Rural Energy for America Program provides assistance to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to complete a variety of projects, including renewable energy systems, energy efficiency improvements, renewable energy development assistance and energy audits.

Presented by Mark Brodziski:
Director, Energy Division
USDA Rural Development

11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Networking Break

11:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Open Discussion of USDA Proposed Rule
Moderated by Bob Coleman, Editor, Coleman Report

12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Keynote Luncheon Speaker
Ed Elfmann
Senior Legislative Representative
American Bankers Association
Ed Elfmann is a Senior Legislative Representative for the American Bankers Association in Washington, D.C. He has been with ABA since June, 2012. His focus has been on agricultural policy and agricultural credit. Prior to ABA, Elfmann worked for Congressman Steve King from Iowa, and the National Corn Growers Association.

1:00 p. m. to 1:30 p.m.
Networking Break

1:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.
Rural Secondary Market
An examination of the USDA B&I loan secondary market.
• Outlook in 2015 for USDA B&I loan paper
• USDA B&I loan performance statistics
• Why U.S. government guaranteed loans continue to be an attractive investment
• The appetite by investors for fixed-rate USDA B&I loans
• How to structure a hybrid fixed/variable rate USDA B&I loans
• New alternative methods in buying and selling USDA B&I

Panel moderated by Bob Coleman

Bob Judge
Partner
Government Loan Solutions
Bob is a recognized expert in the valuation of SBA-related assets as well as the SBA secondary market and is the editor of the CPR Report®, a widely-read monthly publication that tracts SBA loan default, prepayment and secondary market activity.

Vasu Srinivasan
President
Thomas USAF Group, LLC
Vasu Srinivasan is currently the President of Thomas USAF Group, LLC. He is widely recognized and regarded as the industry “guru” on IO strips. He has served as the COO of the last four USAF Funds since 2002, including USAF II and USAF III.

2:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m
Networking Break

2:45 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Washington D.C. Update, Budget, Politics
Moderated by Bob Coleman
The 114th Congress and the USDA B&I Loan Program
FY2015 Budget
B&I Lending 101 from a Political Standpint

Panelists:
Beth Solomon
Director, Corporate Trust Services Government Practice
U.S. Bank
The Government Practice of U.S. Bank Global Corporate Trust Services provides trustee, custody and agency services to private and public companies, government and tax-exempt entities, international finance organizations, municipalities, and other financial services companies that issue public or private debt.

Charles Green
Director
Small Business Finance Institute
Charles Green is a seasoned finance professional with over 30 years of experience as a commercial banker, mostly funding the small business sector. He founded and served as President/CEO of Sunrise Bank of Atlanta. Charles provides business lender training through several organizations and regularly contributes editorial features for publication.

Ed Elmann
Senior Legislative Representative
American Bankers Association

3:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
5 Things a Manager Needs to Know About Servicing and Liquidating a B&I Loan
Lance Sexton
Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
Prudent Lenders, LLC
Lance Sexton served as Deputy Director of the SBA Little Rock Commercial Loan Servicing Center managing the Servicing of SBA Loans, the liquidation of SBA Express Loans, and the Liquidation of SBA 504 loans in a 24 state area. Currently Lance is the Executive Vice President Chief Operating Officer of Prudent Lenders LLC, a lender service provider for SBA participant banks.

The cost for the Conference is $995.

Bundle with Coleman’s 7th Annual SBA Secondary Market Forum December 2, 2014 for $1495.

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