Chris Hurn of Mercantile Capital Corp. in Orlando is Major Media Resource for Small Business Banking, Lending Reports

ORLANDO, Fla. — Christopher G. Hurn, chief executive officer of Mercantile Capital Corporation in Orlando, is getting use to his new role as the in-demand resource for major media reports that range from the Washington Post to the Huffington Post to Fox News. Hurn, whose expertise ranges widely but centers on financing small business enterprises, writes regularly for the Huffington Post website and even produces his own videos for YouTube. “It makes for a very demanding schedule, but I’m on a mission,” Hurn admits. “I believe small business entrepreneurs fuel the national economy, and I enjoy the work I do to help them grow their businesses,” Hurn said recently. Off hand, Hurn can only recite a short list of his recent media appearances: “The Washington Post article I contributed to; a Fox business article I appeared in; my recent Huffington Post column; a radio interview with The Small Business Advocate; a YouTube video of my appearance on Fox Business a few weeks ago — there have been about eight other radio shows as well, in addition to a local television interview on News Channel 12 in Minneapolis-St. Paul,” he said. He is more eloquent when he talks about the importance of his work financing small business enterprises. “Small business entrepreneurs are the Kit Carsons and Daniel Boones of my generation,” Hurn said. “They play a huge role in how we can make America a better country,” Hurn said. Led by Hurn and chairman Geof Longstaff, Mercantile Capital Corporation is a three-time member of Inc. magazine’s Inc. 500|5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. and ranks as one of the nation’s leading providers of U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loans, also known as SmartChoice Commercial Loans. In the first 10 months of this year, Mercantile announced it closed 85 commercial loans to finance projects totaling $364 million in total project costs. By the end of the year the company’s loan volume could reach $450 million. Hurn, named a Top 100 Small Business Influence Champion for 2012, recently published his first book, The Entrepreneurs Secret to Creating Wealth: How the Smartest Business Owners Build Their Fortunes, which has become an Amazon.com bestseller.