Each year, the Monitor highlights 40 up and coming leaders under the age of 40 in their Monitor NextGen issue. One of this year's equipment finance rising stars is one of the Verdant Commercial Capital team.
Brian Lowe
Chief Commercial Officer
Verdant Commercial Capital
“Our success is due to a whole host of folks, from the executive leadership team to our tenured employees across operations, credit, finance, legal and originations.”
Cincinnati, OH - Verdant Commercial Capital has been named a 2022 Top Workplace in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area by The Enquirer Media. The Top Workplaces list is based solely on employee feedback gathered through a third-party survey administered by employee engagement technology partner Energage, LLC. The anonymous survey uniquely measures 15 culture drivers that are critical to the success of any organization, including alignment, execution, and connection, just to name a few.
“We are honored to be named as a Top Workplace, which is a tribute to our team. As we built Verdant, we knew a key element in our success would be hiring the right people, giving them the tools that they needed to succeed, then letting them do their job,” said Mike Rooney, CEO of Verdant Commercial Capital. “Our associates bring a can-do attitude to work every day, which creates rewarding relationships with our vendors, customers, and partners.”
Verdant Commercial Capital is expanding its equipment financing team in a familiar industry: Golf, Sports & Entertainment. To grow into this industry, Verdant has hired Ryan Brucker as Vice President, Relationship Manager. He is responsible for nationwide sales.
Independents have more freedom thank their regulated counterparts, but that doesn’t mean they are immune to the fluctuations of the marketplace. In an exclusive Q&A with Monitor, leaders from Liberty Commercial Finance, GreatAmerica Financial Services, Financial Partners Group and Verdant Commercial Capital discuss how they’re navigating toward success in today’s environment.
Following incredible turbulence in 2020, 2021 proved to be a bounceback year for Monitor’s Top Private Independents, as the group logged a record for the annual ranking with 35.6% year-over-year growth in new business volume.
Three Greater Cincinnati equipment finance industry veterans decided to leave their established company less than five years ago and form their own startup. They’ve already built it into one of the industry’s top players.
Verdant Commercial Capital, based in Blue Ash, originated just under $400 million in financings last year. It’s forecasting that number will soar to $535 million this year, representing 34% growth. Back in 2017, when the company was launched, it originated just $7 million in financings. To be fair, it started in July that year. But the growth is exponential.
Verdant doesn’t plan to stop there, either.
Josh Patton, Chris Herman and Jon Wickersham Join Energy Team
Verdant Commercial Capital is expanding its focus in the energy market by adding three team members to its sales team and opening a new office in Detroit. Joining the Verdant Energy Division sales team are Joshua Patton, Chris Herman and Jonathan Wickersham. All of these team members will be based in Verdant’s new Detroit office.
“Until now, Verdant’s Energy Division has focused on financing technologies that generate clean energy,” said John Merritt, Executive Vice President of Verdant Commercial Capital. “With the addition of this experienced team, Verdant has expanded its focus to include the financing of technologies that reduce the demand for energy. Demand side management saves money for our clients and helps save the environment for all of us.”
Verdant Commercial Capital has hired James Friedrichs as a Vice President in its Specialty Vehicle division, with an emphasis in the over the road trucking. With three decades of industry experience, Friedrichs will work with distributors and end users to provide a best-in-class financing experience. Friedrichs will be located in Verdant’s Minnesota office.
“As Verdant continues to grow the specialty vehicles vertical, we are excited to complement our team with the experience and relationships that James brings to us,” said Pete Thorp, Verdant Special Vehicle Vice President. “The specialty vehicle vertical is a significant part of the overall growth strategy for Verdant, and we’re looking forward to expanding into this market.”
Verdant Commercial Capital announced that it is moving its headquarters to a new location in Cincinnati. Due to its growth and the number of new employees the company has added over the past four years, Verdant needed to expand its main location.
Beginning December 1, Verdant’s new location will be:
Verdant Commercial Capital, LLC
9987 Carver Road
Suite 110
Cincinnati, OH 45242
Cincinnati, OH - Verdant Commercial Capital announced that it recently expanded its funding capacity through the addition of a $200 million second facility with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (“Wells Fargo”).