Greater Nevada CU expands commercial lending through CUSO

Greater Commercial Lending is crediting a strong economy and a focus on renewable energy as helping it have a successful first year.

Greater Nevada Credit Union in Carson City launched the subsidiary in January to help expand its commercial services. The unit provides credit to businesses across the United States in sectors such as energy, community facilities, industrial, mining, commercial and export lending.

The commercial lending business is the third subsidiary for the $938 million-asset credit union, which also has mortgage and insurance units. Wally Murray, president and CEO of Greater Nevada Credit Union, also serves as president and CEO of the commercial lending subsidiary.

So far the results have been good, said Jeremy Gilpin, executive vice president of Greater Commercial Lending.

“All the market conditions were correct for what we were doing, and we achieved our year five projections in our first business year,” Gilpin said. “We received a lot of support from our credit union and community bank partners. We are one of the first [credit union service organizations] to tie in community banks and even capital groups.”

A growing economy, and a climate in which businesses maintained their liquidity and were expanding, which in turn helped create new jobs, all helped with Greater Commercial’s success, Gilpin said. The unemployment rate was 3.7 percent in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

It was also aided by a “big push” from the federal government into renewable fuels and energy, Gilpin said.

“That focus helps, as does the current administration’s push on bringing manufacturing back to the United States,” he explained. “We were able to help a lot of companies that provide export financing. We see a lot of companies that export goods and services.”

Greater Commercial has looked for unique ways to structure loans made in partnership with the Department of Agriculture. Greater Commercial especially has been successful in the biochemical space.

For instance, in June the CUSO funded a $198 million loan with credit unions and capital groups to a Las Vegas company involved in renewable diesel.

Looking at the year ahead, Gilpin foresees a “strong outlook.”

“We are in a rising interest rate environment, but we see potential for tremendous growth,” he declared. “Our pipeline is double what it was at the start of this year.”