Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JUNE 16, 2025 13 Matthew Hummel, the Connecticut and western Massachusetts market president for Ohio-based KeyBank, said his organization understands CIL's desire to expand nationwide. "The best way to grow this business and provide for these services nationwide … is (for CIL) to follow their customers," he said. He noted that CIL's previous credit facility "had them kind of landlocked," making it difficult when clients from outside New England approached for help. Hummel added that KeyBank is a nationwide lender that understands not-for-profit organizations. "You need somebody who's very sophisticated and a national real estate lender," he said. "Our platform can grow nationally." 'Fee-for-service' business Maria Green, CIL's vice president and chief financial officer, said the reason nonprofit service providers reach out to her organization often is that "we have the ability to give 100% financing, whereas if they wanted to get financing on their own, they'd probably have to put in 20% — and that gets really hard for nonprofits." Schwendy said CIL is "primarily a fee-for-service" business." When CIL is hired to work with a nonprofit service organization to build a community residence, he said, it will find a property, acquire it, build the home to the specifications required, oversee the construction and do the permanent financing. In exchange, the provider agency signs a long-term lease, usually between 20 and 30 years, for the home. "We then will offset those lease payments against the funding that we get, which is largely through tax-ex- empt bonds," Schwendy said. "And when the bond pays off, we donate the residual value and the physical home to the provider agency." Leases are structured so that CIL covers its financing and operating costs. "We're not trying to make money, we're just trying to cover our costs," he said. He conceded that leasing something for 20 or 30 years is probably more expensive for a nonprofit than "getting your own mortgage and building it," but there are other considerations. "Most of the organizations don't have the expertise to do this," Schwendy said. "They don't have the personnel. But more importantly, they don't have the 20%, or nowadays 30%, that you would have to put down. We do that, and we just roll it all into the overall lease cost." Expanding nationwide will not imme- diately require CIL to expand its staff, currently about 20 people, he said, in part because they often use outside experts and contractors. Both Schwendy and Green, though, said CIL has been talking with organi- zations across the country that have expressed interest in working with them. "Development takes a while, so we've been talking to people for quite a while, but it's finally blossoming now," Green said. Matthew Hummel Get your tickets today! osv.org/CowParade Got an eye on business expansion? At Ion Bank, we see your dreams, your realities, your day-to-day, your future, and every big decision along the way. We are always looking out for you! Cash Management • SBA Loans • Real Estate & Expansion • Equipment Financing TM Visit a branch or call us at 203.729.4442 today! Member FDIC Equal Housing Lender

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