Open the door to loans

Sarasota entrepreneur Brian Caswell, after years of trying, has made a dent in the “banks aren't lending” narrative.

Caswell doesn't work for a bank, at least not anymore. Instead he runs Cazley Financing Solutions, a business he started in 2008, and the Economic Development Investment Fund, a nonprofit. The goal at both organizations is the same: Fill the void when banks turn down small businesses for loans.

A onetime commercial loan executive for Bank of America, Caswell had what he hopes is a major breakthrough recently. The EDIF provided a $150,000 loan, through a federal and state program, to a Sarasota-based retailer that sells interior design products and services.

The interior design company has been growing, and sought a loan to hire at least three more people, do more marketing and expand its inventory. But several banks turned the business down for a loan, says Caswell, mostly because the company wasn't buying a building. “There wasn't a traditional bank option for them,” Caswell tells Coffee Talk.

So Caswell went a non-traditional route. The owner of the interior design firm, he says, has a friend who wanted to do more with $150,000 than have it sit in a bank. The friend loaned $75,000 to the EDIF at 3% interest. Then the EDIF, through the State Small Business Credit Initiative, part of the 2012 federal Small Business Jobs Act, matched the funds and provided the $150,000 loan.

The credit initiative phase of the Jobs Act works mostly with credit unions in loaning money to businesses in under-represented market segments. Caswell says he wrote several letters to state officials to have the loan approved and now he hopes this deal is a catalyst for more non-traditional financing. Says Caswell: “This can really open doors for us.”