Alternative Financing for Emerging Enterprise -... -
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Published on: 11/1/2003
Last Visited: 10/21/2009
Marc Porter had no way of knowing that a magazine article he stumbled across while on a flight back home from Dallas was going to change his life, as well as the lives of many struggling business owners throughout the country.
Read almost by happen chance, the article described a type of non-traditional business financing that was just about unheard of at the time.
"Nobody in Alabama or Mississippi was doing this," said Porter.
"Only two or three companies offered it in Atlanta, and only a few hundred in the rest of the country.
This kind of lending was based on a company's accounts receivable, its real estate or even its business machinery.
That was 12 years ago.
Today, Porter is founder and president of Porter Capital, a corporate lender based in Birmingham with offices in Connecticut, New York and Philadelphia.
During its short history, Porter Capital has provided financial support to a diverse group of businesses: a New York specialty food company; a small Birmingham publishing company; some opticians in Tampa; a manufacturer of architectural stone; a gumbo company in Mobile; and a funeral home in rural Alabama, among others.