1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.120 Sean Murray: Today on deBanked News, BlueVine secures a $75 2 00:00:03.150 --> 00:00:06.300 million credit facility, New York restaurants sue for indoor 3 00:00:06.300 --> 00:00:09.510 dining, and we spoke with a non-bank commercial lender who 4 00:00:09.510 --> 00:00:12.060 told us what lending is like right now on the front lines. 5 00:00:12.120 --> 00:00:15.240 But first, let's go over to Johny Fernandez, who is in 6 00:00:15.330 --> 00:00:16.170 Queens. 7 00:00:20.680 --> 00:00:22.600 Johny Fernandez: Hey, Sean, so I'm standing right outside of Il 8 00:00:22.600 --> 00:00:25.720 Bacco restaurant here in Little Neck, Queens, like many 9 00:00:25.720 --> 00:00:28.240 restaurants here in New York City, it's enjoyed outdoor 10 00:00:28.240 --> 00:00:30.970 dining during the summer months, but with colder weather 11 00:00:30.970 --> 00:00:33.670 approaching it's starting to feel the pressure regarding the 12 00:00:33.670 --> 00:00:35.800 state's restrictions on indoor dining. 13 00:00:36.230 --> 00:00:37.580 Tina Maria Oppedisano: Being that we are three floors we're 14 00:00:37.580 --> 00:00:41.900 operating off of one, at first operating off of none. So our 15 00:00:41.900 --> 00:00:44.870 financial loss has been, I would say roughly, if not more a 16 00:00:44.870 --> 00:00:48.260 million dollars, just for Il Bacco. Our busy season, the 17 00:00:48.260 --> 00:00:50.930 month of May we were entirely shut down. So this year, we had 18 00:00:51.080 --> 00:00:54.260 zero percent for the month of May. And for June, I would say 19 00:00:54.260 --> 00:00:56.360 we did 10% of what we would normally do. 20 00:00:56.630 --> 00:00:59.000 Johny Fernandez: If a New York City indoor restriction is made 21 00:00:59.000 --> 00:01:01.790 all the more upsetting for restaurants like Il Bacco, it's 22 00:01:01.970 --> 00:01:05.210 because Little Neck, Queens is one block to the Nassau County 23 00:01:05.210 --> 00:01:09.050 Long Island border, where once you cross, the rules change and 24 00:01:09.080 --> 00:01:13.190 indoor dining is permitted at 50% capacity. Il Bacco has 25 00:01:13.190 --> 00:01:16.400 responded by filing a class action lawsuit against New York 26 00:01:16.400 --> 00:01:20.450 City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo seeking $3 27 00:01:20.450 --> 00:01:24.770 billion in damages on behalf of the class. In it the restaurant 28 00:01:24.770 --> 00:01:28.250 makes the point that there is absolutely no science that will 29 00:01:28.250 --> 00:01:32.210 prove that indoor dining is safer one city block east from 30 00:01:32.210 --> 00:01:32.960 where it is. 31 00:01:33.290 --> 00:01:34.910 Tina Maria Oppedisano: That's what we know is going to wake 32 00:01:34.910 --> 00:01:38.990 them up. You know, that's what we know is going to cause the 33 00:01:38.990 --> 00:01:41.720 pandemonium, the chaos, the ruckus that's gonna say, Oh my 34 00:01:41.720 --> 00:01:43.010 god, we're being sued for $2 billion. 35 00:01:43.810 --> 00:01:45.550 Johny Fernandez: Health-wise New York has been in pretty good 36 00:01:45.550 --> 00:01:49.180 shape. Covid infection rates are less than 1% here in New York 37 00:01:49.180 --> 00:01:51.820 City, but when you think about Manhattan, you think about 38 00:01:51.820 --> 00:01:55.600 skyscrapers and tall buildings. But here in Little Neck Queens, 39 00:01:55.660 --> 00:01:58.780 it's more suburban with houses and yards, which is why the 40 00:01:58.780 --> 00:02:01.840 restaurant would like to city to ease up on restrictions for 41 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:05.230 indoor dining. Reporting here in Little Neck, Queens. I'm Johny 42 00:02:05.230 --> 00:02:06.760 Fernandez with deBanked News. 43 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:10.590 Sean Murray: Thanks, Johny. Boy, what a debacle. Okay, so that's 44 00:02:10.590 --> 00:02:12.510 what's happening on the small business side. But let's go over 45 00:02:12.510 --> 00:02:15.630 to the lending side. BlueVine, a FinTech company historically 46 00:02:15.630 --> 00:02:18.420 known for online lending, has recently introduced a suite of 47 00:02:18.420 --> 00:02:21.960 new products. That includes business checking services. It's 48 00:02:21.960 --> 00:02:25.020 a step in the direction towards becoming full service, so much 49 00:02:25.020 --> 00:02:27.600 to the point of now calling themselves a leading provider of 50 00:02:27.600 --> 00:02:31.020 small business banking. And despite the pandemic, BlueVine 51 00:02:31.020 --> 00:02:34.320 is pretty well positioned. They recently secured a $75 million 52 00:02:34.710 --> 00:02:37.950 revolving credit facility to support their expansion. As 53 00:02:37.950 --> 00:02:41.790 recently as 2018, they were already ahead of Shopify, BFS 54 00:02:41.790 --> 00:02:45.420 Capital, and Kapitus in annual origination volume, and were 55 00:02:45.420 --> 00:02:49.500 even nipping at the heels of Funding Circle and Amazon. Our 56 00:02:49.500 --> 00:02:52.770 guest today is Chris Hurn, CEO of Fountainhead. Fountainhead is 57 00:02:52.770 --> 00:02:56.040 a non-bank direct commercial lender. And Chris told us a 58 00:02:56.040 --> 00:02:58.380 little bit about what it's been like to lend in the front lines 59 00:02:58.470 --> 00:02:59.250 in 2020. 60 00:02:59.630 --> 00:03:04.040 Chris Hurn: We specialize in SBA 7(a), SBA 504. And we have a low 61 00:03:04.040 --> 00:03:08.180 LTV conventional product, that we oftentimes will refinance out 62 00:03:08.210 --> 00:03:10.940 other SBA products and it's only on our owner-occupied commercial 63 00:03:10.940 --> 00:03:14.570 real estate. We did a little over 8,200 PPP loans with my 64 00:03:14.570 --> 00:03:18.920 team of 28 full-timers, which is a pretty Herculean task, if I do 65 00:03:18.920 --> 00:03:25.400 say so myself. We, my life in the last six months has been has 66 00:03:25.400 --> 00:03:29.570 been a lot of a lot of lows, the occasional high, which I noticed 67 00:03:29.570 --> 00:03:32.990 the inverse of that saying, We've had a lot of chaos, 68 00:03:33.470 --> 00:03:37.520 there's been a tremendous surge of demands as technology 69 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:41.090 continues to evolve. I think more and more people, you know, 70 00:03:41.120 --> 00:03:43.640 they don't want to go into a bank branch, for instance, 71 00:03:43.760 --> 00:03:48.080 they'd much rather operate off of their smartphone or online, 72 00:03:48.110 --> 00:03:51.170 you know, on their desktop or what have you. And I think what 73 00:03:51.170 --> 00:03:54.980 this event has done is just simply accelerate that. I've 74 00:03:54.980 --> 00:03:58.850 been a huge supporter of the small business community for my 75 00:03:58.850 --> 00:04:02.660 whole career. I'm a passionate entrepreneur myself, I want to 76 00:04:02.660 --> 00:04:07.280 see entrepreneurs succeed. I know how powerful their impact 77 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:12.050 is throughout the greater society. And I find it just 78 00:04:12.050 --> 00:04:14.510 heartbreaking that there's going to be so many folks that never 79 00:04:14.510 --> 00:04:18.440 come back from this. I also see some some glimmers of hope in 80 00:04:18.440 --> 00:04:22.160 the economic data that I see on a weekly or monthly basis. And, 81 00:04:22.730 --> 00:04:25.550 you know, I think I think we're back on the right track. 82 00:04:25.630 --> 00:04:27.610 Sean Murray: Thanks, Chris. And thank you for watching deBanked 83 00:04:27.610 --> 00:04:29.050 News. I'm Sean Murray.