Live Oak Bank has expanded its lending footprint into energy technology, the Wilmington-based bank announced Wednesday.
 
“Live Oak Bancshares ... (Nasdaq: LOB) has officially launched a new lending division focused on financing for utility-scale solar energy projects nationwide,” a news release stated, adding that the projects it finances through SBA-backed loans will typically be in the 1-25-megawatt range.
 
Utility-scale solar projects are those that sell the electricity they generate to wholesale utility buyers, not to end-use consumers, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association website.
 
This is the 12th category of business to which the bank lends, and the first new industry LOB has added this calendar year. As it has with its other lending verticals, the bank has assembled a team specific to the industry, including a domain expert who understands the business and speaks its language.
 
That expert is Rebecca Rogers, the bank announced.

“Prior to joining Live Oak, Rogers, as Assistant General Counsel and commercial loan officer at Self-Help Credit Union, built a renewable energy lending practice that deployed more than $175 million in project financing in two years, becoming the largest USDA REAP [Rural Energy for America Program] partner in the country,” the release stated.
 
Heading up the solar energy project team is Jordan Blanchard, who brings “over 20 years of experience in leadership roles at financial institutions across the U.S.,” according to the release.
 
Live Oak Bank makes SBA 7(a) loans in the $75,000-$5 million range. In addition to its newest vertical, it lends to the following industries: agriculture (poultry farms), family entertainment centers, funeral homes, health care (dental, medical and ophthalmic practices), hotels, independent insurance agents, independent investment advisers, independent pharmacies, self-storage companies, veterinarians and wine and craft beverages.
 
In an interview last month, Greg Thompson, LOB’s COO, said that the bank will continue to expand its lending to new categories of business in a "thoughtful way, making sure the organization can absorb the growth.” Thompson added that the remainder of 2016  “will be more about absorbing than adding.”