Paul Butze was hired as vice president and senior regional vendor finance manager at Merchants Bank Equipment Finance.

Butze has been in the commercial financing and leasing field for more than 34 years, including the past 15 years at TCF Equipment Finance, where he and Rick Barry, president of Merchants Equipment Finance, worked together at one time.

“I’m excited to be working with Paul again,” Barry said. ““People in our industry know and respect him. He is a proven performer and committed to building, maintaining and enhancing long-term relationships.”

MBEF primarily provides equipment lease and loan financing options to businesses throughout the U.S. MBEF finances tangible assets over terms of two to 10 years on equipment with values generally ranging from $50,000 to more than $10 million. The company serves many industries, including construction, transportation, healthcare, manufacturing, food and agriculture.

“If they don’t already know about us, I think people in the vendor finance area will be interested in learning what MBEF can do to help them,” Butze said.