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Growing in Renewable Energy
GE Financial Services has invested more than $4 billion dollars into wind, solar, biomass, hydro, geothermal and other renewable power projects. Structured project finance as well as construction loans, lease financing, funding for late-stage project development efforts, and venture capital for promising new energy technology businesses could be provided by GE Financial Services. Renewable energy finance experts could be located at:
Email: geenergyfinancialservies@ge.com
Financing by Major Banks
Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and other major banks are stepping up their solar financing and other renewable energy financing. In June, Bank of America and Chevron Corp. joined forces with the Milpitas Unified School District on a solar power project. Wells Fargo and MMA Renewable Ventures made a joint agreement, in which Wells agreed to finance solar energy projects across the country, and one of the projects is the new solar energy project at the UC-San Francisco Mission Bay campus.
More information is available at the Business Times:
US Bancorp Provides Financing for SolarCity Customers
SolarCity, based in Foster City, California, announced that US Bancorp will provide financing for solar lease programs and to grow the commercial solar business. SolarCity installed about 100 solar systems per month. With respect to commercial projects, SolarCity installed solar systems for eBay's headquarters in Mountain View, California and Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.
For more information, please read the article at:
Photo from the SolarCity website at www.solarcity.com
Obtain Financing from a Commercial Bank for a Start-Up Business
Commercial Banks normally have three segments of their business devoted to your business: Branch banking for businesses with sales below $50 Million, Middle Market banking for businesses with sales from $50 Million to $100 Million, and Corporate Banking for businesses with sales over $100 million.
In a start-up business, it is important to establish a relationship with a local branch manager. One should tell the branch manager candidly what the business does and discuss the business plan. One should provide the branch manager with the financial plan with scheduled revenues and expenditures. One should also provide a list of the company's officers with short biographies.
As the business develops a history, it is important to keep a financial record with proper income statements and balance sheets. An accountant, preferably a certified public accountant, would make such records more credible. Although the services of an accountant could be expensive, the expertise of the accountant helps to make your records more consistent and more reliable for the bank.
As your business grows, the branch manager could determine if your business should be handled by a higher level banker. Thus your business account may be, eventually handled by a higher level of banking. Do not be concerned if your relationship is handled by by a different banker, as the bank will be more attuned to help you as your business grows.
It is important to be very candid with the branch manager or bank representative even if that means disclosing bad news. Your credibility is most important. If you lose your credibility, your bank will not be in a position to help you. It is important to be conservative in your financial plans. It is better to outperform weak financial projections than to under-perform strong financial projections.
Remember, your bank is your partner, not your adversary. If you succeed, the bank succeeds. Always be candid. Commercial banks do not like surprises.
When you are choosing a commercial bank, be selective. Certain banks specialize in certain industries. It is important to know to which industries your commercial bank provides services. These relationships could be important in accumulating either customers or potential investors. Since your commercial bank and its principal banking officer will be your partner, it is important to choose wisely.
When starting a business, check out the local banks to determine their strengths and weaknesses. After selecting a worthwhile commercial bank, establish a good relationship with that bank. The first thing a business owner should do is to establish a deposit relationship.
Subsequently, one should establish a small and easily handled loan relationship. Once a deposit relationship has been successfully established and a small credit relationship has been successfully managed, the bank would be in a better position to support your growing financial needs.
Your books should remain available to the bank and its representatives and your building facilities should be available for inspection as well. You should consider your banker to be a friend and your commercial bank to be an ally. After all, you are both in this enterprise together.
-- By Robert Ligon
