A Chicago-based lender serving the secured financing needs of middle market companies nationwide.
In our segment of the middle market, companies have fewer financing options, so the right lending relationship matters. We start every new opportunity by understanding the borrower’s business and needs, then structure a facility that provides as much liquidity as the collateral supports, when it’s needed most.
A Note from Our Founder
Maple Bay Business Capital grew out of years of working alongside the most talented asset-based lenders in the country. These individuals were always passionate about their profession and focused on clear, honest communication with borrowers and investors on whether, how, and when a successful financing could be completed. That communication starts at the first meeting and continues for the life of the relationship because that’s the right way to do business and it’s paramount to our culture.
I’ve been fortunate to spend my entire career in this niche and have been involved in proposing nearly 350 financings totaling about $6 billion. The platforms I’ve been part of have delivered for their borrowers through every economic and credit cycle. In the middle market, things don’t always go as planned, and we take pride in being a reliable partner who reacts fairly when conditions change. These are the values on which we’re building Maple Bay.
Along the way, I’ve built a deep network across the middle market ecosystem: equity, junior capital, and senior lenders of all types and sizes; advisors and consultants; investment banks; valuation firms; CPAs, and attorneys. Reach out and lean on that network anytime. We value relationships as much as, if not more than, the deal.
Decades-long trends in banking and private credit have made it more challenging for many working capital-intensive middle-market borrowers to access the senior debt capital they deserve. That’s the opportunity in front of Maple Bay Business Capital, and it’s an exciting one.
Every business has its own story, and I simply enjoy working with entrepreneurial, family-owned, and investor-backed middle market businesses that are growing and evolving. You are the heartbeat of America’s economy.
Let’s have a conversation.
Meet Our Founder
Joe Fobbe has spent nearly three decades in middle market asset-based lending in Chicago, helping founder-owned, family-owned, and sponsor-backed companies find the right financing for growth, acquisitions, recapitalizations, and turnarounds…
Joe Fobbe has spent nearly three decades in middle market asset-based lending in Chicago, helping founder-owned, family-owned, and sponsor-backed companies find the right financing for growth, acquisitions, recapitalizations, and turnarounds.
Over his career, Joe has been directly involved in proposing nearly 350 asset-based financings, averaging about $17.5 million each, drawn from reviewing more than four times as many opportunities. That experience across industries, deal types, and business cycles is the foundation of Maple Bay’s relationship-first approach: understanding each company’s story before structuring financing around it.
Joe began his banking career with NBD Bank in Detroit and entered asset-based lending with American National Bank (both now part of JPMorgan Chase) in Chicago. At PNC Business Credit, he served as Regional Sales Manager and was a three-time Chairman’s Circle winner. In 2008, at the outset of the financial crisis, he joined Regions Financial’s Business Capital group, where he was involved with closing nearly $500 million in financings in five years. He then spent 10 years with MB Business Capital/Fifth Third Business Capital, earning an Eagle Award and two President’s Circle awards, before joining Valley National Bank as Senior Vice President of Asset-Based Lending.
A longtime leader in the Chicago restructuring and commercial finance community, Joe is a past President of the Turnaround Management Association’s Chicago/Midwest chapter and of the Secured Finance Network’s Midwest Chapter. He has also served in national leadership roles with TMA and remains active in TMA, SFNet, and ACG Chicago.
Joe holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management and a B.S. in Management from St. Cloud State University’s Herberger Business School.
A native of small-town Minnesota, Joe came to Chicago through a serendipitous set of circumstances that landed him at American National Bank, where he learned asset-based lending alongside some of the best in the business.
He is the proud father of four grown children and grandfather of two and enjoys long walks, time in the gym, the outdoors, and family, friends, and loved ones.
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The meaning in our corporate logo.
The eagle in our logo reflects how we lend. Grounded in the time-tested disciplines of secured lending, we stay sharply focused on the collateral that supports our capital. We also see the full picture: our borrowers’ vision and the commitment they bring to achieving it. Our goal is to be a steady, reliable senior lending partner.
Maple
Balance, longevity, and abundance:
a steady, long-term partner.
Bay
Access to valued resources:
capital when and where it’s needed.
The bald eagle
Strength and remarkable vision:
seeing the full picture of a business and what’s possible.
Business Capital
The tradition of specialty lenders who pair a strong focus on asset values and disciplined monitoring with a thorough understanding of the whole enterprise, from cash flow, investor capital, collateral, and competitive strengths.
Headquartered in Chicago.
Following our valuable referral sources from our strategic Chicago home-base, we can efficiently travel to and manage our clients needs.