Perhaps counterintuitively, at Glengarry, a successful relationship is defined when the borrowing relationship comes to an end. How the borrower leaves us at the end of the term determines if we have kept our word. And already in our short history, we have done just that.
When a farmer is in a financially distressed position, their hardship goes beyond numbers on paper. Their family home and business are closely linked, so the risk of things going wrong financially could result in catastrophic loss. Our philosophy has always been lending to improve the position of a farm, not just parking a high-risk equity loan for a short term. When we say “return to bankable” in our literature, behind the scenes we are working hard with our clients to improve their net worth, cash flow management, and repair over-leveraged or bruised credit situations. At the end of term, when a borrower can return to mainstream banking, we have done our job, and we consider that a win for everyone!
As Glengarry celebrates its second anniversary, we are proud to announce that we continue to accomplish our mission of helping Canadian farmers who are experiencing temporary financial challenges to get back into the mainstream banking system; to date, we have been fully repaid on a third of the loans we have extended. This means a few things: It means that we lend prudently, identifying good risks and mitigating adequately. It means that we are providing the right advice when we counsel and condition our borrowers. And it means that our investors are happy!
Most of all though, it means our borrowers can get back to the business of profitable farming and focus their attention on the farm legacy they are building for their families.
When you have funding created by farmers, for farmers, everybody wins! Now that’s what we call success!
Are you a farmer interested in learning more about our farm financing solutions in Ontario and Western Canada? Fill out a quick online application today to get started.