Regional Development Company announces year-end accomplishments and awards

VALPARAISO – The Regional Development Company (RDC), headquartered in Valparaiso, announced their 2021 year-end accomplishments and lender awards at their Annual Membership Meeting held virtually on November 4.

The Regional Development Company is a non-profit organization and Certified Development Company (CDC) that administers the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 504 Loan Program for small business growth.

The Regional Development had 44 loans approved by the U.S. Small Business Administration, which brought a total of $22 million in U.S. Small Business Administration funding to local companies. Of those loans, thirteen were to women-owned businesses, four were to minority-owned businesses and eight were to rural businesses. The Regional Development Company partners with local banking institutions to provide business financing for large capital projects. The Regional Development Company funded 27 loans in 2021, helping bring $36 million of capital investment into communities and were a catalyst in the creation of 184 jobs in the states of Indiana and Illinois.

Awards were given at the event to the top referring lenders to the Regional Development Company. Peoples Bank was awarded the Bank of the Year Award with ten loans and $3,632,000 in referral dollars. The 2021 Lender of the Year awards were presented to Dan House of First Merchants Bank who referred $2,617,000 in SBA loan dollars and to Dan Duncan from Peoples Bank for referring four loans to the RDC in 2020. Lenders inducted into the Millionaires Club, an exclusive group of lenders who have referred loans of $1 million or more, included Dan Magura (Peoples Bank), Paula Reeves (Purdue Federal Credit Union), Mark Oganovich (First Midwest Bank), Dan Duncan (Peoples Bank), Kathy Ruzicka (Grand Ridge National Bank) and Paul Orner (First Merchants Bank).

“Ninety percent financing allows our customers to retain more of their funds for working capital needs, and the long-term fixed interest rate mitigates the risk of increasing payments during the life of the loan,” said Erica Dombey, President and Executive Director of the Regional Development Company. “Banks benefit from the collateral structure, which allows them to maintain a 50% loan-to-value on the project real estate or equipment. With a 25- year fixed interest rate at about 3%, this is the best loan for any business owner looking to buy, build or refinance owner-occupied commercial real estate.”

For more information about the Regional Development Company or the U.S. SBA 504 Loan Program, please call the Regional Development Company at 219-476-0504 (Indiana) or 708-960-3177 (Illinois) or visit www.rdc504.org.