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| Planters owner Jeremy Smearman says The PrivateBank took time to get to know him — and his business |
The PrivateBank's take on Planters proposal saves the day
The loan appraiser took one look at the site Jeremy Smearman wanted to buy and declared it a tough deal.
The PrivateBank asked him to look again — from a different standpoint.
Jeremy owns a landscape architecture company called Planters. Most of his customers are in the trendy Buckhead neighborhood just north of downtown Atlanta. So it was only natural that he wanted to build his new office close in to the city.
He found an available property in a warehouse district. Problem was, he didn’t want to build a big warehouse. Because Planters has a large inventory of live plants, Jeremy needed a modest office building with plenty of open acreage.
Jeremy had a unique vision to build a small office on this large lot surrounded by giant warehouses. Figuring that the property might be difficult to resell, the appraiser told Jeremy that his plans could devalue the property.
That’s when The PrivateBank stepped in. Randy Harris, the bank’s VP of commercial lending, and others built a case for Jeremy’s plan. They identified all kinds of businesses that need generous open space. And they found well-valued properties developed just the way Jeremy wanted to build out his land.
“They saved me from doing the legwork,” recalls Jeremy. “They took the time to work creatively with the appraiser and make the loan go through the way I needed it.”
Jeremy found The PrivateBank’s attitude refreshing. Other banks had never taken extra steps to help him. They had never even bothered to get to know him or his business. Not so with The PrivateBank.
“They have learned how I do business,” he says. “They have learned the value of my financial statements, and how accurate and how detailed they are. So when I need something, I can just pick up the phone and call Randy, tell him what I’m doing, and he’ll say OK. Virtually everyone at the bank knows me, so I can conduct business quickly over the phone without having to go down there.”
He doesn’t even have to set foot in the bank to make deposits, thanks to The PrivateBank’s courtesy courier service. In two years as a customer, Jeremy figures he’s been in the branch maybe three times. And as a small business owner, he says that’s perfect.
“My time is best spent conducting business rather than running errands,” he explains. “Same thing for my office manager. For her not to have to go to the bank and make deposits three times a week, that’s huge.”