Bankers loaning more to brewers, restaurants

A very Brewing Co. is building a $27.4 million, 96,000-square-foot brewery and restaurant in Boulder — thanks in large part to bankers who loaned them money for the project.

Citywide Banks and Colorado Business Bank joined together to loan $22.4 million to the project, said Blake Peterson, president of Citywide Banks’ office in Boulder. Avery plans to spend an additional $5 million of its own funds on a new home.

Brewery representatives ran into expense roadblocks, Peterson said. But they persevered to break ground on the new site at 4910 N. Nautilus Court in Boulder in mid-January. Representatives also considered new sites in Longmont, Fort Collins and Commerce City, he said.

The new brewery is expected to open in early 2015.

As the economy continues to get stronger locally and nationally, all growing breweries and restaurants may be targeted by commercial loan officers, Peterson said.

“Until we get our loan demand up, I think banks are trying to be more aggressive out there,” Peterson said.

Stock market bounce  
Charitable stock giving was up 24 percent in 2013 at the Community Foundation Serving Boulder County, as the stock market rebounded 25 percent overall.

For high-net-worth individuals, stock giving can help them save on taxes, according to wealth-management advisers in the region. Making gifts of stock to charity can help taxpayers avoid paying some capital gains taxes.

In 2013, 35 people made stock gifts worth $1.77 million to the Community Foundation, compared with 27 donors who made stock gifts of approximately $1.4 million in 2012, said Margaret Katz, director of philanthropic services at the Community Foundation serving Boulder County.

The Community Foundation gives about $5.4 million to nonprofit groups every year.

Colorado Enterprise Fund
The Colorado Enterprise Fund had a record year in 2013 for making small-business loans. The nonprofit economic development group in Denver made 149 new loans in 2013 worth $4.4 million. That total increased 48 percent compared with the previous year.

Even though the Colorado Enterprise Fund is in Denver, it has several Boulder ties.

For example, the city of Boulder is a new program funder, putting in $50,000 in 2013. In all, five new investors helped the fund’s asset base grow by more than $4 million, a 33 percent increase.

Borrowers in Boulder and Broomfield counties who benefited from Colorado Enterprise Fund loans in 2013 included Living Design Studios Inc., a metalworking company in Lafayette; Lunch-ERA MFE LP, a mobile food-truck company in Broomfield; Rickman Glass LLC, a glass company in Mead; and Sales & Management Partners LLC, a management-service company in Broomfield. The Colorado Enterprise Fund did not release loan amounts.
 
Disaster-assistance loans
Small Business Administration officials were busy handing out disaster-assistance loans in Boulder and Broomfield counties in recent months.

In Boulder County, SBA officials approved 1,369 disaster-assistance loans totaling $57.5 million. Of the total, $47.8 million went to 1,201 homeowners and renters, about $8.4 million was given to 154 companies, and $1.3 million went to 14 nonprofit groups. In Broomfield, SBA officials approved one home loan for $11,700.

In all, the SBA approved $93.6 million to help 2,340 Colorado residents and businesses after flooding across the Front Range in September left devastation in its wake.
 
Credit union portfolios
Credit unions and banks in the region continue to regale us with stories of their substantial loan portfolios.

Since federal rules now require borrowers to have a 43 percent or lower debt-to-income ratio for loans to be sold on the national or “secondary” market, independent loan portfolios are all the more important to local economies in our minds.

Premier Members Federal Credit Union in Boulder in the third quarter of 2013 held $86.3 million in loans in its own portfolio, a 10.7 percent increase from the $77.9 million held in the third quarter of 2012, said Carlos Pacheco, chief executive of the Boulder-based credit union.

During the same time, Premier Members decreased by 1.4 percent the amount of real estate loans it sold on the secondary market, to $21.4 million from $21.7 million, he said.

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Beth Potter can be reached at 303-630-1944 or e-mail bpotter@bcbr.com.