Mercantile Capital Corporation Negotiates Alabama Steel Plant Loan, Will Create 30 New Jobs

ORLANDO, Fla. --- Mercantile Capital Corporation, which is moving to new headquarters facilities in downtown Orlando, recently closed on a pair of U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 Loans that will help build and equip a steel processing plant in Jackson, Ala., valued at over $12 million.

Geof Longstaff, chairman of Mercantile Capital Corporation, said the new steel slitting facility is a promising sign of economic growth and industrial expansion in southwest Alabama. This loan also ranks as Mercantile Capital’s largest single SBA 504 transaction to date.

SET Enterprises, Inc., a leading provider of steel processing services with operations in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois, expects to initially employ some 30 workers when it opens its new 70,000 square foot steel plant next year and may ultimately employ up to 50 workers, said Chris Hurn, chief executive officer of Mercantile Capital Corporation.

“At full capacity, this new plant can process 360,000 tons of material,” Hurn said. Most of the steel will support new production for the automotive and drilling industries in the Gulf Coast region, he said.

The SBA 504 loan, which helps to finance new plant equipment as well as construction, was provided in conjunction with Bank of America and First United Security Bank of Thomasville, Alabama.

Mercantile Capital projects it will close 60 commercial loans in 2011 to finance projects valued at more than $150 million in more than 15 states.