Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/131533
66 • JUNE 2013 • WORLD FENCE NEWS The recovery starts locally continued from page 64 excellent candidates for ABL because financing can be based on their accounts receivable. ABL is a specialized type of financing that is not offered by all banks. If your bank does not offer ABL, it may be able to refer you to a commercial finance company. According to the most recent Asset-Based Lending Index, which is published quarterly by the Commercial Finance Association, total com- mitted asset-based credit lines were up by 2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared to the previous quarter, and total credit commitments were 6.7 percent higher than a year earlier. "As we have maintained throughout the recession and credit crisis, asset-based lenders will continue to lead the way as a primary source of working and growth capital for U.S. businesses as the economy hopefully moves in a positive direction," states the Commercial Finance Association's Chief Operating Officer Brian Cove. Finding the right asset-based lender Your bank is a good place to start your search for an asset-based lender. ABL is a specialized type of financing that is not offered by all banks. If your bank does not offer ABL, it may be able to refer you to a commercial finance company. You should carefully investigate any finance company that you are considering working with. Meet personally with a local representative and determine the following: • Are they a direct lender? • How long in business? • How well capitalized they are? Make sure you are comfortable with the representative and the assetbased lender, as they will likely become an integral part of your team. Tom Klausen is president of First Vancouver Financial Services, Ltd., and a consultant in the small business field. He works with small business owners, lenders, consultants and accountants throughout the U.S. and Canada. Klausen has been involved in the alternative lending field for more 27 years, participating in hundreds of successful fundings, and has written and published numerous articles on the topic of alternative finance. Reach him at TKlausen@fvf.ca or 604-9881490 (in Canada) or 206-947-0912 (in the U.S.) or visit http://www.fvf.ca. Mutilated metaphors taken from actual high school essays Here are some actual metaphors found by high school English teachers from across the country in their students' essays. • Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master. • Thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances, like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free. • The little boat gently drifted across the pond, exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't. • The young boxer had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while. • John and Mary had never met. They were like two doves who had also never met.