ANN ARBOR, Mich. – In just a little over a year, MichiganBusiness Connection, LC has reached two milestones. The businesslending CUSO, which provides commercial underwriting and loanorigination services to credit unions throughout Michigan, hasexceeded the $100 million mark in underwriting and has funded $20million in loans, according to Bill Beardsley, MBC president/chieflending officer. “There is a huge difference between underwritingand funding,” Beardsley said. “We are, however, very pleased at theloan opportunities we are seeing. Underwriting volume is theleading edge of our future business volume, but we also consider itto be validation of our lending brand and the effectiveness of ourbusiness development activities.” The CUSO also recently became anSBA-approved lender, a process that took six months to complete.Staff training will take place in October, Beardsley said. “We arevery pleased to receive the approval for each of our creditunions,” Beardsley said. “The SBA reviewed each institution on itsown merits, but also considered the qualifications of MBC staff andour processes in reaching their final conclusions. This enhancedcapability will allow each of our credit unions to better servetheir members and communities.” MBC, which became a legal entity inMarch 2004 and was fully operational in August 2004, was founded by$187 million MidWest Financial CU; $764 million State Employees CU;$498 million Detroit Edison CU; $548 million Macomb Schools andGovernment CU; and $194 million Christian Financial CU. Since itslaunch, MBC has formed several alliances including with PrivateBusiness, Inc., a national provider of financial software andmarketing solutions, to offer merchant account services andLandAmerica Financial Group, Inc. to form a commercial real estatetitle agency, MBC Title Agency. In January, it aligned with BankersSystems to use its Rembrandtr Lending System to help establishbusiness lending documentation. -

[email protected]