The Commercial Capital BIDCO Board of Directors
Commercial Capital BIDCO is grateful to have a Board of Directors that not only assists with guiding our company's growth, but also aides us in our efforts of being efficient and consistent with closing deals quickly. Our Board of Directors consists of 7 individuals representing different facets of the Commercial Lending industry - allowing us to have a broad range of expertise as well as strong accountability with each deal that crosses our desks.
You can learn more about each member of our Board of Directors below.
Thomas “Toby” William Compton:
Mr. Compton is deputy commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, responsible for Regulatory Boards, Insurance, Securities, and TennCare Oversight. He was promoted to this role in 2021 after having served as assistant commissioner for the Regulatory Boards. He is the former president and CEO of Associated Builders & Contractors, Greater Tennessee Chapter. In this role he was responsible for managing government relations on the state and local levels, membership services and development, oversight of craft training school, and oversight of office and staff in Knoxville, Tennessee. Mr. Compton assumed this position in 2015, following a two-year position as executive director of the Metropolitan Sports Authority for Nashville and Davidson County. As head of the Sports Authority, Mr. Compton was responsible for oversight, capital upgrades, operational assistance, contract management and operational agreements for LP Field, Bridgestone Arena, First Tennessee Park, and Ford Ice Center. From 2011-2013, he was director of strategy and business development for the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development where he directed strategy initiatives for the department, recruited business and industry to Tennessee, and undertook special projects assigned by the commissioner. From 2007-2011, he was senior advisor and legislative director to the Office of the Mayor, Nashville and Davidson County. He advised Mayor Karl Dean on legislation, policy, strategic planning, board and commission appointments, coalition building, satellite cities, special projects, crisis management and other public affairs. In addition, he served as senior campaign advisor to Mayor Dean’s 2007 and 2011 elections. Other positions have included, prior to 2007, director of marketing and communications for Snappy Auctions; executive director for Associated General Contractors of Tennessee; associate in The Ingram Group; and account executive for Gish, Sherwood & Friends (now GS&F). He earned his Master of Science in Public Service Management in 2011 from Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tennessee, graduating magna cum laude, and his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Communications in 2000 from Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. Mr. Compton continues to serve both Cumberland and Lipscomb as an adjunct professor in political communications and political diplomacy and advocacy. Mr. Compton has also studied at the Université du Québec á Chicoutimi and has continued to enhance his education and experience by attending numerous workshops, institutes, academies, and courses. His board service has spanned numerous personal and professional interests, from charities to sports groups, and his civic involvement includes work for the March of Dimes, being a mentor, his neighborhood association, and Hands on Nashville. In addition, Mr. Compton runs his own consulting practice specializing in public affairs issues, management, government and community relations, strategic communications, leadership, and strategy. Mr. Compton lives in Nashville. He serves on the Governance and Compensation Committee and the Audit Committee of the Board.
Kathryn Reed Edge:
Katie Edge joined the Board on January 1, 2020, following her retirement from the practice of law at the end of 2019. Ms. Edge served as corporate and regulatory counsel to BIDCO (in organization), but she has not provided legal services to BIDCO or its affiliates since her retirement. She serves on each of the Board’s committees and as Board Secretary. Ms. Edge is a graduate of George Peabody College for Teachers of Vanderbilt University (BA, 1967) and the Nashville School of Law (JD, 1983). In between college and law school, she taught high school English, theater, and journalism in Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee, public and private schools. During law school, Ms. Edge worked full-time for Earl Swensson Architects in Nashville as an administrative assistant to the company’s president. Following law school, she was hired by the Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions and advanced through the ranks in both legal and administrative roles, leaving state government in 1995 as the agency’s deputy commissioner. After leaving the agency, Ms. Edge was a partner in the law firms of Miller & Martin, PLLC (1995-2012) and Butler Snow, LLP (2012-2019) where she was active in practice group leadership roles. Between 1995 and 2019, she assisted in the formation of 28 de novo commercial banks, as well as numerous bank holding companies, trust companies, finance companies, and two other business and industrial development corporations. In addition, between 2008 and 2019, she counseled more than 30 banks and bank holding companies operating under informal and formal supervisory actions. Among other leadership roles, she has served as president of three bar associations, including the Tennessee Bar Association (2000-2001), and the local legal aid society, and as Board chairperson for the Center for Non-Profit Management in Nashville. Katie moved from Nashville to Austin, Texas in early January 2020 to enjoy her grandchildren in retirement.
Jeffrey B. Luker:
Jeff Luker, Vice-Chairman of BIDCO’s Board of Directors, also serves as the Chief Lending and Operations Officer for BIDCO and as a member of the Credit and Investment Committee. He is principally responsible for growing and developing all lender relationships, including conducting site visits to evaluate collateral, and personally meeting borrowers and guarantors. Mr. Luker is a 2006 graduate of the University of Alabama with a BS in Business Management. He is also a 2023 graduate of the LSU School of Banking. Mr. Luker spent seven years in the automobile industry in sales management and finance in Texas before moving to Tennessee to work with Alternative Capital Solutions, LLC, and help organize and manage BIDCO. Jeff and his family live in Franklin, Tennessee.
Terry E. Luker:
Terry Luker, Chairman, President, and CEO of BIDCO, is also the managing member of BIDCO’s affiliates, Alternative Capital Solutions, LLC and President and CEO of BancAccess, Inc. He chairs the Credit and Investment Committee of the Board. Mr. Luker’s expertise is in deal structure and creative financing options, including real estate acquisition, facilities construction, inventory floor plans, and directing finance departments. Mr. Luker’s network of commercial lenders, brokers, and business owners, together with his many years of creating financing options for start-ups, bring great value to BIDCO. Terry’s business philosophies are detailed in two business books he authored, Yes! How to Get the Funding You Need for Your Business and Flourish. He and his family live in Franklin, Tennessee.
Michael Winston Sheridan:
Michael Sheridan joined the Board on July 25, 2022. He is chairman of BIDCO’s Governance and Compensation Committee and is a member of the Credit and Investment Committee. A graduate of Vanderbilt University, he earned his BA, cum laude, and his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree with honors from the University of Tennessee College of Law. He was managing editor of the Tennessee Law Review. Mr. Sheridan is licensed to practice law in Tennessee and is a member of the Tennessee and Nashville bar associations and the Claims and Litigation Management Association. Michael began his legal career with the firm of Stokes & Bartholomew in Nashville in August 1987 and was a member of the firm’s business organization section, gaining experience in representing businesses of all sizes. In November 1991, he left the law firm to be the associate general counsel and assistant secretary of Comdata Network, Inc. in Brentwood, Tennessee. From November 1991 until May 1996, Mr. Sheridan was one of two in-house attorneys for this publicly traded company engaged in international funds transfer and other services for the transportation, gaming, leisure, and retail industries. In Tennessee Comdata was regulated by the Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions, giving Mr. Sheridan experience in working with the state regulator that also regulates BIDCO. He directed legal aspects of complete corporate refinancing in 1992, more than $300 million, including the sale of public high-yield debt, the sale of preferred stock, and the establishment of a $50 million revolving credit facility. This resulted in a flexible financial structure that allowed business growth and an annual savings of $7 million in interest expense. Mr. Sheridan was promoted to vice-president, counsel, and assistant secretary of Comdata in June 1996, and he was again promoted in January 1998 to senior vice-president, general counsel, and corporate secretary. From April 2007 until November 2007, he was the company’s executive vice-president, general counsel, and corporate secretary, reporting directly to the CEO. In November 2007, Mr. Sheridan was again promoted, this time to serve as executive vice-president, general counsel, and corporate secretary of Comdata’s parent company, Ceridian Corporation where he managed legal aspects of the successful $5.4 billion transaction and accompanying transition from a public company to private equity ownership. At Ceridian he was responsible for supporting the board of directors and the audit committee and reported directly to Ceridian’s chairman and CEO. Michael returned to the private practice of law in July 2012 with the firm of Butler Snow, LLP in its Nashville office. He served as primary counsel to employers with respect to implementation and ramifications of the Affordable Care Act. In a departure from his customary practice, he also served as production counsel for two independent films: Dixieland (2015) and Strange Weather (2016). Michael returned to the corporate world in January 2016 as the chief operating officer for Sopris Capital Holdings, Nashville and New York, NY. Sopris was a private equity firm affiliate providing capital and executive leadership within the tech-enabled and healthcare services industries. His roles in portfolio companies included executive vice-president for operations, Quovant; chief operating officer for Click Notices; and chief administrative officer for Office Works. Mr. Sheridan left Sopris in 2016 to become president of one of these portfolio companies, Quovant, Nashville, Tennessee. He was responsible for operations, finance, account management, human resources, benefits, and facilities. Quovant was a P-E backed technology company providing legal spend control and data analysis to Fortune 500 and other large companies. Mr. Sheridan spearheaded a successful exit for Quovant with its sale in January 2022 to Mitratech in Austin, Texas. Since January 2023 Michael serves as general counsel and corporate secretary for Community Brands, a global technology company with approximately 17,000 employees whose products support the missions of schools, non-profit organizations, and associations. In this role he manages the legal and regulatory affairs of the company. He and his wife live in Nashville and have two adult children.
Lisa Michelle Smiley, CPA:
Lisa Smiley joined the Board on July 25, 2022. She currently serves as chairperson of BIDCO’s Audit Committee and as a member of the Credit and Investment Committee. Ms. Smiley is a certified public accountant who serves as the director of external financial reporting and senior vice-president (2021-present) of FirstBank and its parent company, FB Financial Corporation, domiciled in Nashville, Tennessee. She has steadily progressed with FirstBank, beginning her career in April 2016 as director of external financial reporting (2016-2018), corporate controller and director of external financial reporting (2018-2020); and interim principal accounting officer (2020-2021). Ms. Smiley began her accounting career with Horne, LLP as an assurance intern in the summer of 2008. She graduated magna cum laude in 2009 from Union University, Jackson, Tennessee. She worked as an advanced staff auditor for Nestlé Market Audit, Saint Louis, Missouri, (January 2010 – November 2010) until she moved to BKD, LLP in Saint Louis. In September 2012, Ms. Smiley returned to Tennessee as an assurance manager with Horne, LLP where she was responsible for managing a team of professionals across Horne’s three offices, leaving Horne in 2016 to join FirstBank. Ms. Smiley lives in Nashville.
David Louis Travis, CPA:
David Travis joined the Board on August 18, 2022. He serves on BIDCO’s Audit Committee and Governance and Compensation Committee. Graduating summa cum laude from the University of Memphis in 1995, with a B.B.A in Accounting, Mr. Travis’s first professional employment was with Ernst & Young (1996-2006) as an audit senior manager. His expertise has been in leading audits of public and private companies in various industries. Among his audit clients were Dollar General Corporation, Healthcare Realty Trust, and Fruit of the Loom. In December 2006, Mr. Travis left the accounting firm to become senior vice-president and chief accounting officer of Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR) and stayed with that company until July 2014 when he moved to MedEquities Realty Trust, Inc. (MRT) as senior vice-president and chief accounting officer. MedEquities was a publicly traded, self-managed real estate investment trust with a diversified portfolio of healthcare investments totaling over $650 million. In 2019, MedEquities merged with Omega Healthcare Investors (NYSE:OHI), commencing operations in the summer of 2014 upon completion of a $160 million private placement of equity. Mr. Travis left Omega in the summer of 2019 and joined National Health Investors, Inc. (NYSE:NHI), Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in May 2020, as its senior vice-president and chief accounting officer. Mr. Travis oversees all facets of the accounting and financial reporting functions for the publicly traded REIT with a real estate investment portfolio valued at more than $3 billion. He is the primary contact for quarterly communications with the REIT’s audit committee. Mr. Travis lives in Brentwood, Tennessee.
Kansas Restaurant Closes Cash Out Refinance
Kansas is known for their stellar restaurants and hospitality! We truly enjoyed helping our client to close on a cash-out refinance of a single-tenant restaurant located in Manhattan, Kansas in March of 2023. The funds for this deal will be used to pay down a seller’s note, which will then entitle them to the rent paid by the tenant. This loan request was $975,000.00 and had a 65% LTV. The property sits on .59 acres and includes a total of 2,556 square feet.
Cash Out Refinance Closed for Golf Course in Mississippi
We love assisting our clients with a wide variety of commercial investment loans and this deal was no exception! On March 27, 2023, our client closed on the cash-out refinance of a golf course and club located in Gautier, Mississippi. The proceeds for this particular loan product will be used to pay off current debt on the property. The loan will also provide working capital for our client - allowing them to renovate existing amenities to the course and club as well as add new amenities that their recreation patrons can enjoy while on and off the greens.
The total loan amount was $1,485,000.00 and had a LTV of 28%. Our LTV max is 65% so this deal fell well below that maximum for our requirements.
The property sits on approximately 194 acres.
Georgia Golf Club Client Renews Loan for 2023
In January of this year, our client closed on the renewal of a previous loan they held with us. The original loan was a cash-out refinance on a golf course located in Bishop, Georgia that was secured in late 2021. The initial loan was used to purchase maintenance equipment as well as provide working capital. The renewal will continue to aide in the owner's focus of getting the recreational property in its best condition prior to securing a permanent financing solution.
The property is approximately 190 acres and includes a total building square footage of 6,665 sq. ft.
We are excited to renew their previous loan at a sum of $1,348,000.00.
CLOSED: Current Debt Refinance
In July of 2022, our client closed on the refinance of current debt. The collateral properties for the deal are located in Elk Rapids, Michigan and Williamsburg, Michigan. The loan proceeds are being used to pay off the current debt on the properties and provide working capital to provide improvements on the Williamsburg property. The requested loan amount for this deal was $1,834,000.00. The property size is 4,686 square feet situated on 68 acres. The LTV was 56%.
FUNDED: Cannabis Cultivation Facility
In August 2022, we closed on a loan to complete the buildout of a cannabis cultivation facility. The collateral property is located in Iron Mountain, Michigan and the loan proceeds are being used to cover the finishing touches on the subject property’s renovation. The requested loan amount for this deal was $761,150.00. The property size is 8,850 square feet situated on 0.83 acres. The LTV was 65%.
$900k+ Closed in Mount Dora, Florida
In September 2022, our client closed on the purchase of an office building located in Mount Dora, Florida. The subject property will be primarily owner-occupied with two additional tenants. The requested loan amount for this deal was $908,200.00. The property size was 4,040 square feet situated on 0.50 acres. The LTV was 65%.
Deal Talk Podcast - Give Episode 2 A Listen!
Episode 2 of our Deal Talk podcast featuring Terry Luker is now available! "Getting a Better Deal the Second Time Around" is a pivotal deal from Terry Luker's first book, "Yes! How to Get the Funding You Need For Your Business," and is brought into even greater detail here on our podcast! Give it a listen below and be sure to Follow our podcast on Spotify and YouTube!
Click Here to Listen on Spotify!
Or Click Here to Check Out on YouTube!
Funders to Watch: Commercial Capital BIDCO— Why Brokers Should Consider Adding Small Balance Bridge Projects to Their Toolbox
Thank you to DealMaker Magazine for featuring our latest article. Check out the published article on their site here!
Funders to Watch: Commercial Capital BIDCO— Why Brokers Should Consider Adding Small Balance Bridge Projects to Their Toolbox
Being a skilled broker today means having a toolkit that can stand the test of time and allow you to quickly pivot with the lending needs of your clients while maintaining the momentum of a deal in motion. Some of you may just be starting out in the commercial bridge lending industry with a toolkit that is a work in progress, while others may be seasoned bridge lenders looking to reevaluate the services and value you are providing to your clients. In either case, read on to learn how Commercial Capital BIDCO finds success with smaller balance bridge loans and how you can replicate these deals in your market.
Having a wide variety of quality tools in your commercial lending broker toolkit can not only save you time with securing the best loan product for your client, but it will also position you as a creative broker who can handle the majority of funding opportunities that may arise without the need to pull in additional brokers. Let’s pull out and sharpen one of the most handy tools in our kit here at Commercial Capital BIDCO: the small balance bridge loan.
While not the most common tool for all brokers, the small balance bridge loan is still an excellent resource to add to your toolkit, as it will forge a path for your client to get to the next phase, especially if the circumstances require a small “bridge” to be set in place.
At Commercial Capital BIDCO, our team specializes in loans from $250,000 to more than $2 million. We have closed larger bridge loans that are out of our typical scope; however, this range is our sweet spot. This range of funding is where we find ourselves being the most flexible as a direct bridge lender and the most creative for our clients.
With this specific tool added to your portfolio, you must ensure you are also taking the time to sharpen and polish your knowledge of this loan product. It will prove a solid solution for certain scenarios and give you an additional way to add value to your services.
What is Bridge Lending?
Bridge lending, or a bridge loan, is exactly what it sounds like. It is a loan that a client needs to bridge a gap they may have between other loans they are securing or have secured. Providing this type of loan will build trust with a client and give them one more reason to continue working with you in the future.
Now, let’s talk through where and how a small balance bridge loan will come into play with certain deals. When it comes to this specific loan product, there are several reasons for a client to need a bridge loan on a smaller scale. A few of these are:
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A fast closing of real estate or an investment property that a bank simply cannot close in time.
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The purchase of an unstabilized piece of investment real estate in a rural area in which the property needs a few months to stabilize.
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The purchase of real estate property that will be permanently financed in a government-backed loan. These loans simply take longer to close, and a client may need funding prior to that loan product closing.
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A distressed sale in which the seller wants to close quickly and the buyer is purchasing at a discount.
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When a client needs a small amount of funds to complete improvements to a land deal prior to the permanent construction loan being in place.
These types of scenarios may not meet the threshold or minimums of most bridge lenders who play in the large balance bridge loan space. That niche of lenders typically focuses on deals on larger properties with loan amounts that are more than $4 million in size. Diving into the smaller balance space will give you value and allow you to approach these deals with confidence. You will also be able to build the correct funding bridge needed by the client.
“At CCB, we pride ourselves in being a different type of bridge lender in that our preferred lending space is the $200,000 to more than $2 million loan size,” Jeff Luker, vice president of Commercial Capital at BIDCO, says. “This funding window not only allows us to provide a solid bridge loan product for our clients, but we are also able to quickly shift our gameplan within a deal and provide a creative solution to our clients when getting them to the finish line.”
Remember, bridge lending is just that: It’s a bridge to get your client to the next phase of their project. Whether that is a construction loan or a permanent financing loan, it is a path to that end result. This industry allows lenders of all sizes to play the game, and our advice to anyone looking for a new tool to add to their toolkit is to assess their services, or current tools, and the needs of their clients. Smaller balance bridge loans can be a truly valuable offering and one that you can find great success with when utilized in the correct scenarios. Educating yourself on how and when to use this tool will keep your portfolio, or toolkit, fresh and evolving.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Leah Waldrop is director of marketing for Alternative Capital Solutions and Commercial Capital BIDCO as well as The Commercial Broker Playbook. Waldrop has spent more than 10 years learning leading marketing strategies across numerous industries, including the music and entertainment industry, global supply chain processes and commercial lending. She believes her well-rounded experience enables her to create unique content and stay on the forefront of UX, graphic design and digital content trends.
Commercial Capital BIDCO: A Phalanx Against Uncertain Times
Wow is an understatement for how we are feeling! Thank you to DealMaker Magazine for highlighting our very own COO, Jeff Luker, as part of this year's Hot List. Check out the full interview and article below as well as on DealMaker Magazine's website linked here.
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“A man’s character is known by the kind of company he keeps.” – Proverbs 13:20
Fresh out of college, Jeff Luker, now COO of Commercial Capital BIDCO, worked in car sales for about eight years, running sales teams and finance departments. During that time, he gained insights he’d used later in his career in the world of commercial loan brokerage and lending. Citing the similarities between selling a car and closing a loan agreement, Luker says the biggest difference was learning patience, as loans can take up to 90 days to close, whereas a car sale is same day. Otherwise, the transition to Alternative Capital Solutions, Commercial Capital BIDCO’s affiliate company that was founded prior to the bridge lending firm, was natural and paved the way for Commercial Capital BIDCO to thrive as one of the most important departments in the two firms, second only to the rapidly expanding underwriting department. Luker has great pride in the company’s culture, one he says is unique and essential to its brand. Having been in his role for more than seven years, Luker says his team uses great continuity to perform on all cylinders, giving clients a consistently well-rounded experience.
Specializing in short-term real estate-backed bridge loans, Commercial Capital BIDCO finances deals ranging from $250,000 to $2 million but can go as high as $6 million. With a team 10 members strong, Luker is proud of Commercial Capital BIDCO’s strong cohesion, which aligns with the company’s ethos of doing whatever it takes to get the borrower the best outcome — even if that means sending them to a permanent lender.
As COO, Luker’s role is primarily to work with brokers who send loan requests in for clients, vetting those requests through underwriting and then contacting and closing the deal with approved clients. The rest of the team fills in each other’s shoes. Since they have worked together for years, teammates are able to pick up the slack to get every viable deal out the door. And with an increased focus on credit quality, the company is adding more underwriters to its team and Luker says there is no end in sight for the company’s expansion.
“Even though we’re a short-term bridge lender with an average closing time of about 17 days, and even with as quickly as we work, we still do a full doc underwrite on every deal,” Luker says. “We’ve had a lot of banks in our area tell us that our underwriting is just as good if not better than theirs. Of course, one reason for that is because when a banker underwrites a loan, they’re slanting it to what their chief credit officer wants to see. We can’t do it that way. Since we can help with the permanent loan as well, we position our package so that we can quickly turn it to a permanent package. And if we’re going to do that, then it’s going to have to have a wide audience.”
Having a permanent package option has proved to be essential for Commercial Capital BIDCO because, as the past few years have shown the world, the unexpected can and will happen. When solutions for borrowers dry up due to market fluctuations, Luker and his team aim to be in a position to find a permanent solution to their lending needs. While the company doesn’t have a minimum credit score for its loans, it does stray away from risky or speculative proposals and focuses heavily on the front end so the client knows what they are signing up for.
“Brokers call us frequently asking for our loan parameters, our minimum credit score and our minimum debt service,” Luker says. “We don’t really have any of that because each project is different and unique. We prefer to look at things on a case-by-case basis. We want to see what makes sense. Sometimes you’re getting your cash flows up and your debt service is not good, but if we can build in an interest reserve that makes sense to give you time to build it up, then the project does make sense. We don’t have any sort of hard and fast rules on our loans, and that speaks to our flexibility. We want to do loans that make sense and loans that have a clear-cut takeout.
“I think a lot of brokers and borrowers, when they come to us, a lot of times are gun shy. You never really trust a lender until you have a loan funded with them, and I understand that. But I think that once we get through the process and we’ve funded the loan, a lot of borrowers and brokers see that we’re really fast and we’re really very easy to work with.”
Looking into the current and immediate future for the state of the U.S. economy, property values will decline as rates rise. Commercial Capital BIDCO’s activities are all real estate backed, so being careful with valuations is a top concern for the team. When starting a new loan process, the team may run into a prospective client with an appraisal that is six or eight months old. Based on the company’s loan policy, the team may still accept that appraisal, but will go further to investigate, making sure it is a good fit before asking for an updated appraisal. This has always been a checkpoint in the loan process at Commercial Capital BIDCO and will continue to be as the economy ebbs and flows.
With a possible recession in the coming years, Luker believes it will be pertinent for his team to continue being flexible as well as sharpening their already effective strategies in regards to building the best funding packages for their clients. Rising interest rates will actually be a boom for the short-term bridge loan lender and Commercial Capital BIDCO is ready to take on the challenge of funding deals for an influx of borrowers looking for a lending solution.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ian Koplin is an editor of DealMaker.