In a world economy focused on fighting climate change, the need for energy-efficient homes and buildings is crystal clear. Supporting that mission is the National Energy Improvement Fund (NEIF), which offers financing for those looking to make a meaningful difference through improvements and retrofits.
Baystone Government Finance is a key part of that. As a trusted partner of NEIF, we help finance energy-saving projects for a range of nonprofit and municipal customers including cities, counties, schools and fire districts. Baystone shares NEIF’s commitment to superior customer service and believes that helping clients achieve their goals is critical to a greener environment.
In this blog, NEIF’s Senior Director of Commercial Programs and Training Jensen Handwork shares why a longtime relationship with Baystone is helping to make an impact.
“Baystone is our longest-running partner on the commercial financing side, which loops in nonprofit and municipal customers,” says Jensen. “It is a good fit for us today for the same reason it was right at the beginning: We see Baystone as a premier financing group to support energy-saving retrofits for municipalities, nonprofits and charter schools.”
Securing the financing necessary to grow and serve their communities is a huge piece of the puzzle. That’s why Baystone offers short- and long-term financing structures to get the job done.
“They do a great job of supporting that,” he says. “We offer financing for all types of customers and we always send nonprofit and municipal projects to Baystone because we trust that they are going to take good care of them. Baystone approaches them with care and the excellent customer service that we provide, as well.”
A national network of contractors, manufacturers, utilities and governments provide retrofits that result in stronger, healthier buildings. Those improvements include heating, cooling, insulation, lighting and battery storage, according to NEIF. A certified B Corp energy-efficiency and resilience improvement lender, NEIF was named a Home Improvement Expert Partner in 2019 by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Baystone proudly notes that its relationship with the lender started more than seven years ago with NEIF’s predecessor company, HBC Energy Capital.
“We have maintained that relationship as we launched and developed the National Energy Improvement Fund,” Jensen says. “Partnering with Baystone allows us to extend financing options to make energy-efficient upgrades a reality.”
For some clients, finding and securing the proper financing is a daunting task. Baystone can help.
“For a lot of people, financing is a big hill to climb – it’s intimidating or something they haven’t done before. What stands out about our relationship with Baystone is that willingness to hand-hold the contractor and customer through the financing process,” Jensen says. “They can answer all of the customer’s questions and any that we might have, too.”
Energy efficiency and renewable energy are paramount these days, and so are affordable and equitable funding solutions to support them.
“We all know the importance of moving these projects forward,” he says. “So when we are able to provide a monthly payment solution to that customer, to help them more easily budget for a project, it can become realistic when perhaps previously it wasn’t. And then they can put the savings to work elsewhere in their organization.”
