“The manufacturing industry has gotten healthy again,” said Craig Veurink, regional small business sales manager at U.S. Bank.
Loan balances for the bank’s machine tool equipment group jumped 78 percent last year, he said. Outstanding balances on lines of credit by manufacturers more than doubled. The boom in lending activity suggests expansion, not just periodic investment, Veurink said.
In addition to buying equipment, manufacturers also are borrowing to renovate existing buildings, purchase new ones, or buy land to build their own, said Darin Zielsdorf, a vice president in the Twin Cities office of Wells Fargo. A recent report by Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq found occupancy of Twin Cities-area industrial space edging up and some new space being added with build-to-suit projects.
“It’s coming from a broad array of industries,” said Zielsdorf of the demand from manufacturers seeking financing for expansion. He added that Wells Fargo’s business loan activity is ahead of its goals so far this year.
Taken from the article, “Lending to manufacturers on the rise”,
by Susan Feyder, 3/2/12 – Star Tribune of Minneapolis, MN
