Schaumburg bank funds SBA loan
Ridgestone Bank announced that it funded a $1.6 million SBA loan to Indie Energy headquartered in Evanston.
The company, founded in 2006, develops energy-efficient building systems by tapping on-site geothermal resources and controlling the geothermal-based heating and cooling system with proprietary technologies. A network of closed-loop boreholes installed to depths exceeding 650 feet provide a thermal exchange between the building and the earth utilizing a water-based solution that is circulated through the network.
The earth provides a heat sink for cooling the building in the summer, and a heat source for heating and hot water. Indie Energy's smart controls measure and verify energy and carbon savings, and optimize the system performance. Indie Energy has the ability to install a system in a new project and to retrofit an existing building's HVAC system.
“Indie Energy developed an innovative ‘green' technology to expand and support geothermal solutions to both for-profit and nonprofit institutions throughout Chicago and surrounding Midwestern states,” said Thomas Abraham, vice president of SBA Lending at Ridgestone Bank.
Indie Energy is expected to add about a dozen new jobs in 2011 through increased customer demand thanks in part to SBA financing. Bank loan proceeds were used refinance existing debt on favorable terms and invest in new high-tech equipment.
“We reached out to Ridgestone Bank because they are the leaders in SBA lending,” said Daniel Cheifetz, CEO of Indie Energy. “It was refreshing to work with such an insightful, engaged group of people. They took the time to understand us as a business, not just as numbers and a bottom line and got us to the finish line with the SBA financing we needed to grow our business.”
Ridgestone Bank is a privately held bank with branches in Schaumburg and Brookfield, Wis. Founded in 1995, the bank is a leader in small-business and government-assisted lending and also provides retail banking services, including checking, money markets, CD's, home equity loans and other convenience services.