Rick Dennen, president of First Commercial Finance, the national commercial lending platform that operates under the Oak Street Funding and First Franchise Capital brands, announced its portfolio exceeded $1 billion in mid-March.

Oak Street Funding and First Franchise Capital provide commercial financing for financial services businesses and restaurant franchisee owners as well as the servicing of third-party loans for financial institutions.

Founded in 2003, Oak Street Funding is an expert in specialty financing, partnering with insurance professionals, registered investment advisors (RIAs), certified public accountants (CPAs) and commercial automotive receivable portfolios. Oak Street also provides third-party servicing for commercial, specialty financing portfolios.

First Franchise Capital, founded in 2001, has a long history of lending to restaurant franchisees as a result of its in-depth understanding of the business and capital needs unique to the franchise restaurant industry.

In 2016, Oak Street Funding and First Franchise Capital’s talent and technology were combined to create First Commercial Finance, a single national commercial lending platform of parent company First Financial Bank. This integration allowed for the leveraging of industry knowledge, proprietary technology, a focus on company culture and a passion to deliver top-quality service and capital products.

“We are very excited to have surpassed the $1 billion milestone,” said Rick Dennen. “Our technology allows us to provide our clients nationwide with customized solutions to meet their unique industries’ financing needs. We have achieved success because of our people and the way they view lending. They have attracted the right customers and structured the loans to meet the unique needs in typically unbanked industries to build a great portfolio.”

First Commercial Finance, a division of First Financial Bank, is the national commercial lending platform that operates under the Oak Street Funding and First Franchise Capital brands. Based in Indianapolis, Oak Street Funding provides commercial financing for financial service businesses and third-party loan servicing for financial institutions, while First Franchise Capital provides funding for restaurant franchises.