Porter Capital Builds its Revenue, Reputation

Porter Capital Group celebrated the expansion of its Birmingham office this week, the result of strong revenue growth last year and similarly rosy projections for 2005. The company was founded by Marc Porter in 1991 as Porter Capital Corp., a Birmingham-based commercial lender specializing in accounts-receivable financing. Today that venture has expanded to become a stable of companies, including Porter Capital as well as Porter Bridge Loan Co., which provides short-term loans for one-time purchases and other business needs, and CapitalPartners Leasing Inc., which leases business equipment of all kinds, from telephone systems and office machines to truck fleets and printing presses.

The company moved into its downtown headquarters, a 100-year-old brick structure on First Avenue North, in 1998. This year, the company has expanded into offices next door, doubling its space to about 13,000 square feet.

In addition to its Birmingham headquarters, Porter Capital operates offices in Jackson, Miss., Ridgefield, Conn., and New York. Two months ago, the company opened an office in Nashville.

And Porter, who serves as president of Porter Capital, says he hopes to open a location in Atlanta in 2006.

While the leasing business is largely local, the group's two lending arms stretch eastward from the Mississippi River to the Northeast. Porter estimates 65 percent of their business is concentrated in the Southeast, with the other 35 percent in the Northeast.

Tending to fundamentals

Porter says the combined companies saw 2004 revenues of about $161 million, up 34 percent from the year before. This year that number is projected to climb to $190 million, he says, an increase of 18 percent.

Porter says the companies have "hit a tipping point" in the past year or so, and years of sales calls, business development and marketing efforts are finally paying dividends.

"We spent so much time pushing up a hill to a level, and it's finally gone over the top," he says.

Porter, a Demopolis native, does not have the banking background one might expect. A lifelong entrepreneur, he says he got into the finance business "by accident," after reading an article about accounts-receivable financing on an airplane.

"I had a great vision of what Porter Capital could be, and it's gotten a lot bigger than I ever expected," he says.

To keep up with the growth, Porter Capital has increased staffing by about 20 percent over the past year. Currently, the group employs 34 people in its five offices. Most are in Birmingham. And Porter says he's looking to add about six more in the near term.

Stephen Walker, who serves as business development officer for Porter Capital Group's Birmingham office, is among the latest recruits.

Walker, whose background is in sales, joined the company in July and says Porter Capital's reputation in the industry attracted him to the position. Talking with friends in the local banking industry about joining the company, "every single one of them had nothing but great things to say about these guys," Walker says.

Currently, about 60 percent of the group's combined revenues derive from Porter Capital, with the other two companies each representing about 20 percent. But that is changing.

While business at Porter Capital and Capital Partners Leasing has increased "at a nice clip," Porter says it is the bridge-loans business, launched in 1995, that has really taken off.

He attributes the increase to growing referrals from bankers, attorneys, accountants and other professionals as awareness of the company has spread.

"The education has finally paid off," he says, "and the marketing that we have done on this product line."

Copyright(c) American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.

You can view this article on the web at:
http://birmingham.bizjournals.com/birmingham/stories/2005/10/31/story5.html

Porter Capital’s main office is located in Birmingham at 2112 First Avenue North, Birmingham, AL 35203: 205-322-5442; www.portercap.net. Marc Porter is available as a resource for editors and reporters when comments and /or information is needed on financing, funding, investment or other business-related issue, news story or feature article.