Cambridge Savings Bank (CSB), a full-service mutual bank with a customer-first approach and $6 billion in assets, today announced that its Asset-Based Lending team provided an $8.8 million credit facility to Cascade School Supplies. Based in North Adams, MA, Cascade retails a wide range of educational materials to public schools in the Northeast, while also meeting the office supplies and furniture needs of various other organizations.

The SFNet Q1 2021 Asset-Based Lending Index reflects ongoing confidence from lenders, but the larger story continues to be told by low, but slightly improving, utilization.  The US economy rebound expanded significantly during the quarter with the 6.4% GDP expansion marking the second-fastest pace for growth since the second quarter of 2003 and was exceeded only by the reopening-fueled burst of Q3 in 2020. This growth had a clear impact on portfolio health with non-accruals, special mention, and write offs continuing at low levels for both banks and non-banks.