CRDC partners with Mass. development corp.

The Concord-based Capital Region Development Council has announced a new collaboration with BDC Capital Corp. and its affiliate, New England Certified Development Corp. that is expected to bring hundreds of thousands of dollars – or more – in lending funds to New Hampshire small businessesWakefield, Mass.-based BDC, nation’s oldest business development corporation, has invested more than $1 billion in thousands of companies in New England since its founding 57 years ago.Stephen Heavener, Capital Region Development Council’s executive director, said forging a partnership could become the proverbial win-win, because instead of competing against each other, with both organizations benefiting, along with as Granite State small businesses.Both the council and BDC are SBA 504 lenders, providing loans used primarily for building or purchasing real estate and capital equipment. By offering office space to BDC, the council and BDC can work more closely on larger deals than the council could by itself, Heavener said.”Our programs and resources for direct lending are smaller, in the $500,000 to $1 million range, serving businesses mostly in Sullivan, Merrimack and Hillsborough counties,” said Heavener, who also said the council’s supportive financing on bank loans maxes out at $150,000. “BDC typically starts its lending at $500,000, up to $3 million. So the collaboration really brings a lot more depth in terms of size and scale, and really fills in the gaps in terms of mezzanine financing.”Heavener also said the collaboration gives the council something it didn’t have previously but very much wanted – a full-time “salesperson” to expand the council’s presence and increase awareness of the programs it offers.”There are only myself and the loan officers,” he said.Raymond Dugdale of the BDC — who has more than 25 years of small business lending experience — will work from the Concord office.”I am interested in getting out and working with small-business owners to see how we can be of help to them in solving their financing problems,” said Dugdale. “Last year alone, we delivered more than $100 million in financing to New England companies, and I am optimistic that this collaboration with CRDC will bring a good portion of that here to New Hampshire.”For more information, visit crdc-nh.com. – CINDY KIBBE/NEW HAMPSHIRE BUSINESS REVIEW