Loeb - Your Trusted Resource for Equipment Solutions Since 1880

Loeb Financial Services - The Key to Unlocking Equity from Machinery & Equipment Assets

2011-05-03T16:27:00.000-05:00

2011 Bike Ride to IFA - Cancelled Due to Weather

2011-04-11T16:24:00.000-05:00

Due to weather related issues, this year's IFA Bike Ride has been canceled.

If you are interested in joining us on future tours, visit our LinkedIn Event Page for more information.

Definition of Values from Loeb Appraisal

2011-03-29T16:29:00.001-05:00

Ride with us through the mountains to the ocean and arrive at IFA '11 in style!

2011-02-07T12:44:00.001-06:00

Join Loeb Financial Services and Bridgeport Capital Services as we ride to support theMake-a-Wish Foundation. This year's ride will loop from Washington DC,through the Potomac Highlands of West Virginia and the foothills ofVirginia. At Virginia Beach we'll cross the Chesapeake Bay into eastern Maryland and follow the shore back to DC in timefor the start of the IFA convention.

If you are interested in joining us, please join the event on our LinkedIn page at: http://events.linkedin.com/IFA-International-Factoring-Association/pub/301246

Already joining us on the ride? Download the Bike Rental Reservation Form

Loeb Financial Services Welcomes Jonathan Bloom as Vice President of Business Development

2011-01-13T16:06:00.002-06:00

We are pleased to announce an addition to the Loeb family...

Jonathan Bloom joins us as our new Vice President of Business Development, for purchase leasebacks, auctions, appraisals and off-lease machinery. He brings with him over 15 years of experience working with financial institutions. We're excited to have someone with Jonathan's expertise join our team as we continue to look toward the future. Welcome aboard, Jonathan!

Contact Jonathan at (773) 680-3967 or jonb@loebfinancial.com

Loeb Financial Services helps standard financial institutions clean up their loan portfolios by either purchasing non-performing loans directly or by providing a new means of machinery and equipment financing for clients who no longer meet your covenants. If you have clients in financial distress where you may be contemplating foreclosure, talk to Loeb Financial Services. We would be glad to assist with a funding solution.

Loeb Financial Services Leases $6,000,000 in Equipment This Month

2011-01-13T14:10:00.001-06:00

Recent transactions where Loeb Financial Services has provided purchase leasebacks, include:

Equipment Valued in Excess of
$4.75 Million
to a Manufacturer of Drive-Train, Steering Comp., & Assemblies

Equipment Valued in Excess of
$1.2 Million
to a Manufacturer of Automobile Racing Products

About Loeb Financial Services LLC
An affiliate of Loeb, Loeb Financial Services provides financing through asset based leasing, purchase leaseback and purchase rent back opportunities. Our asset based leasing programs are ideal for:

Lenders Selling off their Non-Performing Loans
New Business Development or Start-up Expenses
Product Expansion
Restructuring of Debt
Need to Strengthen Credit Position
Turnaround
Chapter 11/Workout

For more information call (773) 548-4131, email info@loebfinancial.com or visit our website at www.loebefinancial.com.

Loeb Financial Services LLC welcomes broker participation
and offers referral fees when applicable.

Thank You for Helping Us Save 130 Acres of Rainforest!

2011-01-06T15:23:00.004-06:00

A special thank you to all our customers and partners who helped us achieve our goal of 130 acres of reforestation & avoided deforestation!!

With 2010 having come to a close, we’re happy to announce 100% success in reaching our carbon offset goal of 130 acres of Rainforest conservation through the World Land Trust!

As you know, we couldn't have done it without your support. Your equipment purchase, appraisal, financing opportunities, or auction participation helped us reach our goal.

Thank you for helping us commemorate Loeb's 130th Anniversary by supporting us with this important cause. We look forward to being your Trusted Resource for Equipment Solutions in 2011 and for years to come.

To learn more about World Land Trust-US or to make your own contribution, please visit: www.worldlandtrust-us.org

Senior Appraiser, Stan Czupryna, Hand Crafts Sign to Adorn Loeb's Offices

2010-09-27T15:13:00.001-05:00

As many of our customers who have visited our Chicago facilities have witnessed, we have a sign collection in our warehouse from many of our past involvements. This collection has even been a feature article in the Chicago Tribune. One day while walking through this array of corporate identity it occurred to me that we ourselves did not have an interior sign that expressed our heritage.

I have been into woodworking since a very young age when I witness the skills of some master model ship builders who plied their craft in the wood shop of the lower levels of Lawndale Park (now Pictrowski Park) on the west side of Chicago. In 2006 I received a gift certificate from Jim and Howard Newman at our yearly Christmas party, as part of their way of celebrating their employees 5 year milestones. The gift certificate was designated for buying more tools for what they knew was my wood working hobby. With new tools in hand and a project in mind, the Loeb Sign Project was initiated.

The Loeb Equipment and Appraisal logo had developed through the course of the 5 generations of Newman owners and was present on every business card I had ever passed out while inspecting a myriad of plants in the course of my duties as a Certified Equipment Appraiser. It was my vision to create a 3 dimensional replication of this logo to present to the Newman Family.

For a sign to represent more than 130 years of service, I decided to use an aged piece of common wood that would be mostly hand worked. It was designed to be less than machine tool perfect, with a moderation of tool marks, and what could be considered normal aging, wear and tear. The project really started after the December 12, 2006 Christmas Party with the purchase of a 1 x 12 x 6 piece of white pine. That selected piece of wood was clamped to the work bench and left to age in my work shop while being used as a base for other projects and a general area to place tools and other things to achieve a well used appearance. In the meantime I had to figure out all the components size relationships; duplicate and transfer the font for the word “Loeb”; design and fabricate the test tube and gear; and finally work out all the 3D relationships.

By December of 2007 the letters were chiseled and carved out, the test tube was hand fabricated with a belt sander and the gear was designed but not fabricated. In January of 2008 the gear was cut out but the pure blank area of the gear on this scale was overbearing to the overall presentation. After a little thought I decided to take the liberty of inscribing the gear with the Loeb web site address. Making it concentric to the shaft hole changed the appearance of the whole project to something much more pleasing to the eye. The rest of the year was dedicated to more aging and final finishing. I had originally decided on a multi layer staining process which would give the background a translucent weathered appearance. On most of the background surface that effect was achieved but on the right side of the sign the wood would not take the process uniform to the rest of the sign. After multiple tries and changes in the staining process, the decision was made to complete discard that approach. By December of 2008 multiple layers of stain were finally carefully chipped and scraped away. A new approach had to be found.

The letters, edging and shadow portions of the sign retained the staining process but the background, and the flawed wood, worked better with paint. After the right shades were found and applied the project was assembled and then sealed with several coats of satin polyurethane to tie all the hues together and give the sign a uniform look.

On December 19, 2009 Loeb again had its annual Christmas Party. After the recognition of the employees who had reached 5 year milestones, the new “old” Loeb logo sign was presented to Howard Newman as the current President of Loeb Equipment and Appraisal Company.

Stanley Czupryna, CEA
Senior Appraiser, Loeb Appraisal

Loeb Team Takes Control of Buckingham Fountain

2010-09-01T16:11:00.001-05:00

This month our team took a tour of the control systems of Buckingham Fountain in Chicago's Grant Park.

Watch our team take control of the fountain:

Check out some of the pictures from our tour:

Loeb Financial Services LLC Provides Over $10 Million in Financing this Quarter

2010-09-01T15:34:00.000-05:00

Our funding assists banks and helps their clients stay in business

Loeb Financial Services helps standard financial institutions clean up their loan portfolios by either purchasing non-performing loans directly or by providing a new means of machinery and equipment financing for clients who are out of covenants.

If you have clients in financial distress where you may be contemplating foreclosure, talk to Loeb Financial Services. We would be glad to assist with a funding solution.

Recent transactions where Loeb Financial Services has provided purchase leaseback financing, include:

Equipment Valued in Excess of $600,000 to a Wholesale Bakery Servicing Retail Clients such as McDonalds & Starbucks	Equipment Valued in Excess of $4.75 Million to a Precision Machining Op. Servicing OEMs & Top NASCAR Teams
Equipment Valued in Excess of $2 Million to a Premiere Provider of Towing Hitch Solutions	Equipment Valued in Excess of $300,000 to a Manufacturer of Potato Starch
Equipment Valued in Excess $450,000 to a Rock Crushing & Recycling Company	Equipment Valued in Excess of $1.5 Million to a Manufacturer of Swat Team vehicles

Loeb Celebrates 130 Years by Saving 130 Acres

2010-04-05T10:17:00.004-05:00

To celebrate Loeb's 130th anniversary of family tradition of assisting customers with reusing industrial machinery, the company is taking their green values to the next level and offsetting the carbon footprint for each piece of equipment sold, for each appraisal engagement, finance deal funded, liquidation and auction held. Their goal by the end of the year is to reach a carbon offset of 130 acres of Rainforest conservation that they will sponsor through the World Land Trust – US.

The Newman family has been in the business of reusing, reconditioning, and recycling used packaging and processing machinery since 1880 when Harry Newman first established Newman Soap and Tallow. Now in its fifth generation of family ownership, Harry's great-great grandson Howard, is committed toward making a difference for future generations through the company's green efforts.

"We've always been involved in the green aspects of reusing and recycling with the equipment we sell," states Newman. "Loeb's ‘130 Acres for 130 Years’ program helps us close the loop and take our green efforts to the next level by offsetting the carbon footprint of our daily business operations. We're making a much needed and immediate impact toward ensuring a cleaner environment for generations to come."

As a company, Loeb focuses not only on the redeployment and repurposing of quality used equipment, but also recycling and conserving within its operations. Employees recycle throughout the office and there is an emphasis on electronic communications since Loeb strives to be a near-paperless environment.

Loeb's purchase of 130 acres of threatened tropical forest is just the first step to help save this high-priority land from being lost forever. Their conservation efforts commemorate well over a century of successful business dealings and demonstrate our dedication to combating the effects of global warming, through offsetting.

Reforestation and forest preservation carbon offset projects are part of the global warming solution. Carbon offset projects fight climate change by sequestering carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere in rainforest lands that conserve rare or endangered species and ecosystems rich in biodiversity. Forest preservation creates jobs, maintains and expands wildlife habitats, protects biodiversity, and improves local environmental quality.

Much of the world's tropical rainforests have either been cut down or are directly threatened with imminent deforestation. Deforestation and forest degradation have resulted in species loss and direct contribution to global warming accounting for over 20 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions – more than the entire global transportation sector.

About World Land Trust-US

World Land Trust-US is an international conservation organization that takes direct action to save rainforest and other biologically important lands. Since its foundation in 1989, WLT-US has purchased and protected over 1.7 million acres of tropical forests, coral reefs, coastal steppes and ancient woodlands. WLT-US includes local people and local partner organizations in every step of the process, fostering long-term sustainability for its projects. To learn more about World Land Trust-US or to make your own contribution, please visit: http://www.worldlandtrust-us.org

About Loeb

For five generations since 1880, Loeb has been a trusted provider of reliable equipment and related services that help manufacturing and financial companies grow their business. Headquartered in Chicago with a 150,000 square foot facility, Loeb provides equipment, appraisals and financial services to global banking organizations and manufacturing companies specializing in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and chemical industries. Loeb services and business units include: equipment sales and purchases, certified market appraisals from Loeb Appraisal, liquidation and auction services from Loeb Winternitz Industrial Auctioneers, and purchase lease back financing from Loeb Financial Services. For more information on Loeb or any of its business units, please visit: http://www.loebequipment.com.

250 Years of Family Business Values Merge

2010-01-15T10:00:00.019-06:00

Introducing Loeb Winternitz Industrial Auctioneers

We are thrilled to announce the formation of Loeb Winternitz Industrial Auctioneers. This full service auction division offers our customers complete “Webcast” and “Online Only” auction asset disposition services. Loeb Winternitz Industrial Auctioneers will be led by Charles Winternitz, CEA, CSA as its President. Most notably, Charlie was previously an owner of Winternitz, Inc., a nationally recognized auction and appraisal firm that dates back to the early 1890’s. As a Fourth Generation Auctioneer, Charlie brings over 20 years of experience conducting in excess of 1,000 auction sales and over 5,000 appraisal projects performed. On its own, Loeb has conducted 20 auctions in 2009, and with the creation of this new division, our sales volume will be increasing significantly throughout 2010 and beyond.

With our combined experience, now covering all industrial verticals, our services have expanding to be of more assistance to create value in the equipment appraisal; equipment auction and equipment financing marketplace. With the hundreds of financial and industrial clients that we serve, we look forward to better assist all of your equipment needs.

Charlie and I are excited to partner, as we both share a unique background and common vision for the future. Charlie is a 4th generation family business owner and understands the importance of customer service; your word is your bond, and values relationships. It is these shared values that has motivated us to come together to streamline the customer experience. I still joke around with Charlie since the Newman’s have him beat by 10 years (1880) but after 130 years, what is 10 years amongst friends?

Web 2.0: You asked. We delivered.

2010-01-14T11:28:00.001-06:00

Our new website is launched and is already a hit! You asked--we listened and delivered. Customers have asked for the ability to see larger images, more images and videos. Don’t waste your precious time traveling to inspect a machine before you purchase it, hear and see it running on our website. In a hurry for a case taper, pump or other value priced quick need item? LoebEuipment.com is the first fully integrated e-commerce site for the online sale of used machinery. Simply register, add the item to your cart, pay with your credit card and we will guarantee shipping of you item within 24 hours of purchase. Within our first week, we shipped a small heat exchanger that a customer needed ASAP when they had a problem with one on their HTST system. Now that is technology every plant or maintenance manager can use!

In Memory of Bob Newman

2009-04-15T11:43:00.000-05:00

In a typical small to midsize business you keep your focus on what is in front of you and where you want to take the company, but it is healthy to look in the rearview mirror to remember where you came from. I am reminded of this now every time I walk through our lobby. With the recent passing of my grandfather, Robert “Bob” Newman (1922 – 2009), a piece of our family business history comes back to our office.

In 1880 my great-great grandfather, Harry Newman, decided to leave Amour Soap Works and started Newman Tallow & Soap Company. With this new endeavor he purchased a brand new roll-top desk which represented a good foundation to build his new company on.

In the 1950’s, a falling-out in the family pushed for the liquidation of Newman Tallow and Soap Machinery in favor of expanding Loeb Equipment. At that time, one of the mechanics grabbed my grandfather and showed him something covered in a dusty cloth tucked away in the boiler room. It was my great-great grandfather’s original roll-top desk – the desk which acted as a foundation for now what is LOEB. After being forced to pay heavily for it during the liquidation, it wound up as his desk for many years in his house.

Upon the passing of my grandfather, I inherited this wonderful heirloom desk and felt the only appropriate thing to do was bring it back to the Loeb office. Shortly after its arrival, other things started to pop up reminding us of the olden days of LOEB – old premiums such as Zippo lighters and pen knives that LOEB gave away during the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, a Chicago phone book from 1922 that has my great great-great grandfather listed under Soap Equipment dealers, and an original photograph of our State Street building from the turn of the century. The photo is a little small but you can see that State Street is still paved with cobblestone. I am reminded of how much times have changed and in many ways, especially during this economic climate, how similar they are to where we have been in the past.

This desk has substantial meaning to me, as it represents 5 generations of hard work and dedication. It represents the history of LOEB. Every day as I walk past it in the lobby, I am reminded the importance of our long past and how far LOEB has come. We have been through tough economic times and assisted customers in downsizing their facilities and have been around to help when the time came for our customers to expand. And here we are today.

I miss my grandfather and having this desk in our office reminds me of the solid, hard working foundation that LOEB was created on 130 years ago. Five generations later, I am proud that the “foundation” hasn’t changed.

And I believe my grandfather is proud as well.

Robert D. Newman, Patriarch of Newman Family and Retired President of Loeb, Passes Away at 87

2009-01-21T14:03:00.000-06:00

Robert D. (Bob) Newman former owner and retired president of Loeb passed away Sunday, January 18, 2009 at his home in Florida. Bob was the father of Loeb ambassador James L. Newman and grandfather of current Loeb president, Howard M. Newman.

Bob was the third of five continuous Newman generations in the used manufacturing equipment industry when he joined Newman Tallow & Soap Machinery in 1946. In 1953, he acquired Loeb Equipment and Supply Company which he ran with his father Irwin, later forming an appraisal division called Newman Industrial Machinery Service. Bob’s son James (Jim) Newman joined the family business in 1970 and succeeded him as president of the company when he retired in 1975. Now in its fifth generation of family ownership, Loeb is run by Bob’s grandson, Howard.

“He not only taught me the used machinery business, but his philosophy of how to treat people will always be with me,” stated Howard Newman, Loeb president. “Make sure you can look at yourself in the mirror at the end of the day and know you did the right thing.”

Bob is preceded in death by his wife of 49 years, Carolyn, and is survived by his 3 children, 5 grandchildren, and 5 great-grandchildren.

Donations can be made in Bob’s honor to Lambs Farms of Libertyville, a premier non-profit organization serving adults with developmental disabilities. Information is available online at http://www.LambsFarm.org.

Weak US Dollar Makes Pre-Owned Industrial Assets Prime for Export

2008-04-11T13:16:00.000-05:00

You’ve heard time and time again that the US dollar is at an all-time low, but did you know that the purchase of domestic assets by non-US buyers is at a seven-year high? There might as well be a sign on both US coasts that reads, “World’s Largest Red Tag Sale: 30% off!”

If you have idle or under-utilized Capital Assets and want to free up some operating capital, now is the time to react.

Foreign purchases of US companies topped $200 billion in 2007. Our appraisal division has been busy providing FLV and OLV market value appraisals for US banks that fund foreign purchases. “We are seeing overseas buyers make inroads to establish a permanent place within the US economy by purchasing operations with the intent of a continued US presence,” says John Hagist, Vice President of Appraisal Services at Loeb.

In February, Loeb provided auction coordination as well as marketing and logistical assistance to Rabin Worldwide in the sale of Jay’s Snack Foods in Chicago. Loeb helped coordinate two long term clients, LaSalle Bank, now Bank of America, and Snyder’s of Hanover sell assets from Jay’s Chicago facility. Almost 50% of the value of assets sold went to foreign buyers in nine countries: UAE, Russia, Egypt, Lebanon, Costa Rica, Poland, Argentina, Canada and Mexico.

The sale of Jay’s assets to foreign buyers continues the trend that we have seen first hand from the sale of assets from our inventory to foreign buyers; it also sets a new record that will be short-lived. If you have idle machinery, now is the time to either consign it or sell it to Loeb. The current high demand for US pre-owned industrial assets allows Loeb to pay or provide net consignment residuals higher then we have in the past. We have the knowledge and marketing ability to get your assets prime exposure around the world.

Building Bridges to China - Chinese Engineering Intern Helps Loeb

2007-10-18T13:36:00.000-05:00

Selling equipment to more than 10 overseas countries sets a new record for Loeb this year. When I was young, I remember listening to my father talk about selling machinery to Central and South America as if these were far-away places—what with all of the shipping challenges. Today, it’s commonplace for Loeb to sell equipment to these countries. Overseas markets have become our new frontier—from selling aseptic packaging equipment to Ghana through the African Development Foundation to sending a baking oven to Papua New Guinea (which took six months to get there!). Yes, the world is becoming smaller and smaller each passing year.

This past summer, we took on an intern from China named Yunguang Chen. A student at Purdue University majoring in Packaging and Food Sciences, Yunguang quickly became know as “YG” in our office as he helped us build our growing overseas customer base. YG came to Purdue University to study because the quality of equipment and environmental standards are so low in his hometown of Nanjing, China. He hopes to take what he’s learned about capitalizing on pre-owned machinery back to his country to help them boost their understanding of quality food production under safer conditions.

All of us at Loeb have enjoyed learning from YG, as well as sharing our knowledge of the industry. Of course, we’re still wondering how he came to love country music so quickly, but that is another story…

Capitalizing on Your Network

2007-02-27T13:25:00.000-06:00

I am proud to be a member of the business organization EO (Entrepreneurial Organization) www.eonetwork.org which provides opportunities for principles of non public companies to share experiences, including sharing best practices, lessons learned, coordinate seminars, hire speakers etc. In Chicago we have some of our current and hopefully future clients that are also are members. If you do not know the following companies please review their websites, there might be a benefit to you to know them.

www.brucepackaging.com
www.foodevolution.com
www.goldenwalnut.com
www.kernalseasons.com
www.popocrnpalace.com
www.senortamale.com

One of the interesting trends that I have seen is that as I build relationships with other members that have no direct links or interest in the pre-owned capital equipment and financial world that I live in, I find that I am receiving great insight by listening to their experiences and applying them to my situation. Sometimes they start sharing an experience that seems to have no relevance to my situation but at the end of the conversation I’m frantically recording random thoughts the conversation provoked that will have a direct benefit on the situation.

The really interesting part of this is how often I am having a conversation with someone that I barely know about a situation that either they or I are dealing with as business owners and then one of us refers someone that might be able to help either directly or through experience sharing. The power of this is that we are helping each other with no direct benefit to ourselves or our bottom lines. Net net…we are all members of this organization knowing that we have valuable information for other people and that we will receive it in return, thus the ideal networking scenario.

This experience has made me think about our network of contacts here at Loeb and what a powerful team of people we have in that network. From Bankers, Bankruptcy trustees, lawyers, leasing companies, Real Estate brokers, Co-Packers, manufactures, logistics companies, equipment movers, Engineers or highly talented people that unfortunately have been laid off, the list goes on and on.

Since I have seen the power of capitalizing on your network first hand, I wanted to make sure that it was clear to you that our network here at Loeb is open for your use, please do not hesitate to use us as a resource, we might be able to help you fill that vacant position, solve a logistics problem or many other situations that have nothing to do with pre-owned equipment or financial services, you will be surprised at who we know. So if there is a situation that you or your team is dealing with if we cannot help, it will be our pleasure to introduce you to someone that you should meet from our network and the only benefit to Loeb is helping us strengthen that network.

Below are some web sites that discus networks if you are interested in learning more on how to capitalize on your network visit: www.Linkedin.com or www.Koolse.com.

36 Year Perspective on Changes in the Used Machinery World

2006-07-08T13:57:00.000-05:00

36 YEAR PROSPECTIVE ON CHANGES IN THE USED MACHINERY WORLD

As I sit here celebrating 36 years of buying, selling, appraising and financing used machinery, I started thinking about all of the changes that have occurred in our industry during my career.

WARRANTIES – What a great success this program has been. 36 years ago, the buzz word was “as is – where is”. Today every machine offered from our and most of our competitor’s warehouse inventories has a guarantee associated with it. These guarantees are posted on everyone’s website and provide comfort for used machinery buyers so that whether they buy a machine “as is”, running or rebuilt, they have a complete understanding that the dealer is standing behind what it sells.

As an example, I often hear our salesmen saying to customers “if you get the machine from Loeb and have not inspected it, and decide you don’t like the color it is, you have the right to return the machine”.

36 years ago, the Used machinery business was a rough and tumble industry and through my association with the Machinery Dealers National Association, I am proud to be a part of this change.

QUALITY - 36 years ago, there was a market for just about any machine in any type of condition. Many customers had mechanics that were happy to work on Saturday to try to rebuild the machine and bring it back from “the dead”. As long as they could buy a used machine cheaply, they were happy to put this type of labor into the machine to bring it back to their standards. Today, that type of sale is non-existent. It is non-existent because the marketplace has said that there is no market for that type of machinery and over the last 25 years, most used machinery dealers have improved the quality of its inventory significantly so that it is almost 100% of the time possible to show a customer a machine under power running in our rebuilding facilities during their inspection.

TECHNOLOGY – The changes in technology are too numerous to mention but during this episode of reminiscing, I realize that what has really changed the most is our ability to keep track of machinery that is coming up for sale in the future so that well equipped dealers can start looking for customers today for a future delivery date. Early on in the beginning of the machinery business, I remember stories about my grandfather and great-grandfather sitting at the kitchen table at night sorting 3x5 cards keeping track of what customer wanted what and what customer had what for sale. Times have definitely changed!

In closing, it is hard to imagine what the future holds. As the technology improves, relying on reputable middlemen will become more and more important to customers in my opinion. The margins in our industry of course will be pressured and the reputable dealers with a quality reputation and quality machine in their inventory in my opinion will always survive.

The proof of this in my opinion falls back to the original Star Wars movie where the Jawas, in their brown robes, traveled the world and sold used Robots like R2D2 and 3CPO.

Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is!

2006-04-21T13:55:00.000-05:00

What a great expression.

It separates the real players from those who merely reference values but are not willing to stand behind them.

Fortunately, Loeb’s values have held up and our appraisal business is strong. We have another saying around here that I think applies to our business: There is no one in the world more loyal than a banker whose collateral turns out to be there when the chips are down.

For years, Loeb has helped financial institutions and other customers with machinery and equipment appraisals in our areas of expertise, and we have delivered appraisals to more than 300 locations annually in the past few years.

On occasion, these appraisals turn into liquidations after the appraisal is complete. Each year for the last few years, we have conducted approximately 20 complete plant auctions or liquidations, some of which also involved purchasing the real estate. Last year, our biggest project was a 650,000 square-foot pharmaceutical plant located on 280 acres near Dallas. Like this one, the majority of our liquidations involve cash purchases, but some are conducted on either a commission or guarantor basis.

Because of our strong liquidity, Loeb has been able to start providing distressed loans on machinery and equipment to those who are unable to obtain normal bank financing. We have not only provided loans directly to clients, but we have purchased bad loans from many of the country’s major financial institutions on more than 50 projects. Most of them were in the U.S., and one was in Mexico.

If you’re interested in distressed loans, please do not hesitate to call me. I would be glad to walk you through the necessary steps to obtain this type of financing or to purchase these types of loans.

As always, we welcome your calls to purchase, sell, or trade excellent used processing and packaging machinery, as well as the opportunity to assist you with market value appraisals, plant liquidations and auctions.