Jordan Blanchard
Co-Founder, X-Caliber Rural Capital
Irvington, NY
Jordan Blanchard has more than 35 years of banking and lending experience with much of that time spent on government-guaranteed lending programs including SBA 7A, SBA 504, and USDA OneRD.
Mr. Blanchard is the cofounder of X-Caliber Rural Capital (“XRC”), a national non-bank USDA lender, and XRL ALC, LLC (XRA), a boutique lender offering construction financing in micro-rural locations. Mr. Blanchard focuses his time on secondary market sales, capital markets solutions for applicants and the companies, investor management, long-term strategy and product development, and general managerial activities. Within two years of starting operations, XRC became the largest USDA OneRD lender in the nation by dollar volume (FY 2023).
Mr. Blanchard is currently the chair of the Business & Industry sub-committee for the National Rural Lender’s Association. In this role, Mr. Blanchard frequently meets with senior management of USDA and various House and Senate members as well as the congressional committees that oversee regulations and appropriations.
Mr. Blanchard was formerly the head of Energy & Infrastructure (E&I) lending at Live Oak Bank. Mr. Blanchard started the E&I group in late 2015. In 2016, Live Oak became the largest USDA Rural Energy for America Program lender in the nation. Mr. Blanchard then began expanding the USDA department to facilitate funding for all the USDA OneRD loan programs. By FY 2019, Live Oak Bank was recognized as the largest USDA commercial lender in the nation and achieved that rank again in FY 2020. Mr. Blanchard left the bank in early 2021 to cofound XRC.
Mr. Blanchard founded his own firm in 2011 to facilitate lender sales of SBA 504 first mortgages under American Recovery & Reinvestment Act’s First Mortgage Lien Pool program. Mr. Blanchard then went on to cofound the Equalize Community Development Fund which purchases SBA 504 first liens from bank and non-bank 504 first lien lenders to provide CRA credit local, regional, and national banks. Mr. Blanchard also consulted with American Lending Center, one of the most active EB5 Regional Centers in the nation, and a current partner with XRA.
Prior to owning his own firm, Mr. Blanchard worked for CDC Direct Capital (CDC), a subsidiary of CDC Small Business Finance, for years the largest SBA 504 second lien lender. While at CDC, Mr. Blanchard was the point person for the development of the Morgan Stanley/CDC Direct Capital 504 wholesale first mortgage loan purchase program.
Mr. Blanchard has worked for a number of community banks focusing mostly on SBA 504 loan production, wholesale loan sales, and wholesale loan purchases. Mr. Blanchard started his banking career at Wells Fargo Bank.
Mr. Blanchard graduated from San Diego State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and an emphasis in Finance.
