Duane Morris LLP is pleased to announce that Richard A. Silfen has rejoined the firm as a partner in its Corporate Practice Group. Silfen is returning to Duane Morris from having served as executive vice president, general counsel and secretary of American Realty Capital Properties, Inc., a commercial real estate investment trust based in Phoenix.

First Midwest has announced the hiring of four new team members to support the group's continued growth as well as opening a new office in Oklahoma.  Richard Lehrter, Stephen Beriau, Elda Quinones and Julius Harang joined the team. 

• Richard J. "Rick" Lehrter is senior vice president and Asset-Based Lending business development officer for First Midwest Bank. Preceding First Midwest, Lehrter was a vice president for the central region of First Capital, LLC, a New York based non-bank commercial finance company with origins in Oklahoma. At First Capital, he worked with commercial banks, investment banks, consultants, private equity groups, attorneys and brokers to provide asset-based lending and factoring services in amounts ranging from $500,000 up to $25 million to manufacturing, service and distribution companies in an eight state region which included Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, North Texas, Colorado, Nebraska, Arkansas and Michigan. Lehrter was a commercial banker in both Michigan and Oklahoma for 30 years, including two Oklahoma market president assignments for UMB Bank and Commerce Bank (both Kansas City, MO, both large well-respected, publicly-traded commercial banks with assets of $15 billion and $25 billion respectively) before moving to the structured finance business. He started an asset-based lending division for UMB's predecessor in Oklahoma and previously worked in National Corporate, Metropolitan and ABL divisions for Comerica Bank, Detroit (assets $50 billion) where he started his career as a credit analyst. He holds an MBA, a Stonier Graduate Banking degree from University of Delaware, a juris doctor cum laude from The Detroit College of Law at Michigan State University, and a B.A. in financial administration from Michigan State.  He is an attorney in good-standing in the State Bar of Michigan and The American Bar Association. He serves on the board of directors of a Tulsa, OK-based privately-owned consumer products manufacturing company and is a member of The Tulsa Foundation for Architecture. He offices and resides in Tulsa, OK.
• Stephen Beriau  -  vice president of underwriting. Beriau has 10 years of experience in overall banking with notable and specific experience in lending centered around asset-based lending, cash flow, C&I and Factoring Facilities. Beriau graduated from Loyola University of Chicago with a Bachelor of Science in finance and international business.
• Elda Quinones  - operations analyst. Quinones joined the team as an operations analyst with over 10 years of banking experience in Asset Based Lending.  She graduated from Northeastern Illinois University with a Bachelor in accounting.
• Julius Harang  - underwriting analyst. Harang has seven years of banking experience and joins the ABL team from First Midwest Bank's Commercial Lending group.  Harang graduated from University of Illinois with a Bachelor in Finance. He was a member of the U of I baseball team and enjoys playing golf.

The four new hires joined First Midwest's Asset Based Lending Group in the 2nd Quarter 2015 and collectively have over 50 years of experience in Overall Banking with specifically in Asset Based Lending.

MidCap Business Credit announced the hiring of Bradley Atkinson for the role of vice president, underwriting to support the continued growth of its loan portfolio. Atkinson comes to MidCap with more than 15 years of experience in the industry with roles in underwriting, portfolio management, and field examination with GE Capital, Wells Fargo Capital Finance, and Jabez Group.  He received his degree in Business Management from Bentley University. 

Since 2004, MidCap Business Credit has been offering financing solutions for small and middle market businesses with capital needs of $1,000,000 to $10,000,000.

ExWorks Capital announced that it provided export financing for a Miami-based distributor. This U.S. Corporation sources various retail consumer products sold to the UAE.  With ExWorks Capital assistance in providing direct trade credit financing for specific orders on a transactional basis, the company has been able to continue to successfully complete these international transactions. 

"This financing is indicative of our continued support of U.S. small and mid-size businesses as they service international customers.  The facility provides the company with critical growth capital it needs to continue to increase its export volumes."  Andy Hall, chief credit officer of ExWorks Capital. 

Allied Affiliated Funding is pleased to announce the following recently closed transactions: 

$7,500,000 accounts receivable facility including a $1,200,000 real estate loan to an oil and gas servicing company that focuses on water and mud hauling. The company was previously financed through a bank factoring division. The company was acquired, and new management decided to also seek a new financing relationship that could provide the company more working capital. This new management team approached Allied needing more creative business cash flow solutions, including a larger line, a 90% advance rate, additional availability on previously excluded customers, and a $1.2MM real estate loan.

This Funding by Allied provided financial relief through additional cash flow. It enabled the company to securely make their payroll, fund ongoing operating needs, and pay stretched vendor amounts, thereby restoring those relationships, along with providing even more working capital for growth.