10/27/2025: Starting from “maybe” at State Bank

The word “maybe” leaves us hanging,” business coach Hank Sullivan believes. “To those who need your response, the word may simply send a message that you can’t make up your mind,” Sullivan claims, “or that their question just isn’t important enough to warrant your consideration”.

“We don’t agree with that statement, State Bank’s Ryan Murphy explained. “At our community bank, a ‘hard no’ is never the default response to business owners’ requests for funding.” In fact, Murphy added, “We’ve found that ‘maybes’ open the door to exploring creative solutions”.

In contrast to many large banks, where “credit appetite” (the level of risk the bank is willing to accept in lending in order to achieve its own objectives) is very low, Murphy’s colleague Bryan Engelbrecht observed, “Around here, we’re actually ‘hungry’ to hear the stories behind the requests. Quite often,” he added, “we can find an alternate, out-of-the-box approach the client may not have considered, some way to help structure funding so as to help Central Indiana clients fulfill their objectives.”  A line of credit may not be the best solution for funding periodic equipment purchases; we would then advise the client on alternate ways to achieve the goal, Engelbrecht explained.  Just as larger institutions might bring in a third-party lender as the missing piece to complete the puzzle, State Bank has the same capability. What’s more, he adds, while large banks often lack the experience of working with SBA; at State Bank, that’s an important aspect of our work.

When it comes to “getting deals done”, a community bank offers not only the advantage of personalized service and support, but much faster decision making. “Here, deals that had dragged out for years have been turned around in weeks, developing into long-term relationships based on trust and community needs,” Murphy and Engelbrecht, (each with former experience serving at large, national banking institutions), agree.

At State Bank, the best relationships start with a “maybe”!

For more information about commercial loans, contact:

Bryan Englebrecht                                                                               Ryan Murphy

Vice President, Commercial Banker                                                Vice President, Commercial Banker

317 858 6181                                                                                        317 858 6143