Pub. 5 2017 Issue 3

Issue 3. 2017 11 EnerBank USA Celebrates 15 Years: A Q&A with CEO Charlie Knadler J une 1, 2017 marked the 15th anniversary of EnerBank, a highly specialized bank headquartered in Salt Lake City. EnerBank provides unsecured home improvement loans through strategic business partners and independent home improvement contractors throughout the United States. The member FDIC bank has assets exceeding $1 billion and more than 120,000 loans currently being serviced. We asked EnerBank President and CEO Charlie Knadler—who has been with the bank since 2004—to tell us how he's seen the specialty banking industry change over the years. He also told us what he's ex- pecting to see over the next fifteen years as technology, regulations and consumer expectations evolve. Utah Banker: Congratulations on 15 years! Can you tell us how EnerBank got started and how you differ from traditional banks? Charlie: To make a long story short, our found- ing President and CEO Louise Kelly, who retired in December 2015, opened EnerBank USA in 2002 with $14 million in assets. At her previous role at First Utility Finance, then a division of First National Bank of Maryland, she pioneered the idea of offering unsecured loans to home- owners through home improvement contractors nationwide. She was met with a lot of resistance, however, because "community banks" didn't traditionally make loans outside of their local markets. First Utility Finance was targeted to be shuttered, but one of Louise’s clients, CMS Ener- gy Corp., wanted to diversify its revenue stream. Louise helped negotiate the sale of First Utility to CMS. She eventually sought an industrial loan charter, and what began as First Utility Finance became EnerBank USA. Unsecured home improvement lending is all we do. We work directly with strategic business partners and independent home improvement contractors throughout the United States, helping them provide consumers with choices in how they finance the remodeling of their homes. Successful contractors know homeown- ers want choices, value for their dollar, and  EnerBank — continued on page 12 Years