Bell Bank launches equipment finance unit in Minneapolis.

Byline: William Morris

Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled the name ofRaoul Booton, the managing director of Bell Bank's equipment finance division in Minneapolis.

North Dakota-based Bell Bank, which has been expanding in the Twin Cities market, is betting companies and contractors will remain eager in coming years to spend on equipment.

Bell Bank is launching a new equipment finance division in Minneapolis to serve the manufacturing, transportation, construction and agriculture industries. The new unit will build upon existing relationships in the Twin Cities market, said Raoul Booton, the new unit's managing director.

"The bank started a traditional bank here in Minneapolis in 2012, and a big piece of why the equipment finance piece is here is because here is where we identified the talent that would grow and lead that group," Booton said Monday in an interview.

Many companies are looking to make capital investments, especially in ways that will increase automation and productivity as they face persistent workforce shortages. In manufacturing, for instance, 32 percent of companies surveyed in Enterprise Minnesota's 2018 State of Manufacturing report planned to make capital expenditures this year, a record for that survey. Booton says he expects a strong economy to continue driving new investment in heavy equipment, from bulldozers to laser cutters.

"Short to medium term, I feel confident about those trends continuing," he said. "Long term, this type of lending in terms of loss rates does...