Brian Mitchell, co-founder of SM Capital, Inc. and W. David Tull, chairman and CEO of Crestmark announced a progressive strategic partnership between the two financial services firms designed to enhance each company’s respective portfolios for business owners across the country. The partnership is being enabled and integrated through their mutual business partner, Business Strategy Group, LLC.

Crestmark, – based in Troy, MI, and with offices across the country, is a business-to-business lender specializing in providing working capital solutions for business owners. The company was founded on the notion that there was a niche in need of help: the small-to-medium sized businesses that needed funding that the more traditional banks could not provide. So, founder Tull left the world of traditional banking, and started Crestmark. Approved as a Michigan-chartered FDIC Bank in 1996, Crestmark opened its doors in Troy, and today, still employs many of the same people that were here at inception. Being located in the Midwest, it seemed only natural that Crestmark would provide financing to a myriad of manufacturing, service, and transportation industries. And, while the company has expanded their scope of business since their inception, these industries continue to make up a large portion of the industries that the company serves.

SM Capital – based in Iowa City, IA, is the fund manager of several funds including the Small Business Fund, LLC, and the SM Equity Fund, LLC. During these tough economic times, many entrepreneurs have trouble securing a loan for small business or short-term working capital. The Small Business Fund offers an alternative…secured debt financing for qualified small business owners at extremely affordable terms and rates. The SM Equity Fund, LLC offers companies an equity solution as well.

The new strategic partnership is designed to enable both companies the ability to expand their respective service offerings and customer base on a national basis. For Crestmark, this program will allow the company to effectively enter into the under $1 million financing market and allow SM Capital, Inc. to expand into the over $1 million financing market, including asset-based lending and factoring services.

“We are extremely excited to announce this new business partnership and expand the nature of the services our firms can offer our business customers’ said Tull and Mitchell. “By working together, we can now offer small businesses, growing businesses, and successful medium sized businesses a robust set of working capital solutions and financial services that will help them grow and achieve their goals. We can now both serve a much wider variety of clients nationwide.”