Coastal Maine Pediatric Dentistry

On the path toward building a more sustainable world, collaboration is key. No one person, company, country, or bank will solve the challenges of climate change alone. While it starts with the individual, larger scale progress is always more attainable through partnerships.

That’s why at Forbright Bank, we’re proud to partner with an array of organizations that are working in ways small and large to build a more sustainable economy.

One example of a business like this is Coastal Maine Pediatric Dentistry, owned by Emily Scholl D.M.D and operated by her husband Mike Scholl. The Scholls opened the practice in 2011, and always planned to transition to solar energy as it became financially viable for their business. Last year, that moment arrived.

“It was a confluence of events where electrical pricing was going up, solar pricing was coming down, and we saw an opportunity to fix our costs for the electrical part of our business expenses, and, at the same time, do something that we felt was going to benefit the community and the environment at large,” Mike Scholl said.

The Scholls chose a local installer called Assured Solar Energy to handle its solar installation. Assured Solar Energy President, Rob Taisey started the company in 2006 venturing into what was, at the time, a relatively new market.

Today, Taisey is quick to point out the recent rise in solar popularity.

“It’s a hedge against inflation. Once you finance the system, the system is going to produce for generally 25 years, and depending how much people want to put down, they can usually get their payment to be less than their CMP (Central Maine Power) bill,” Taisey said.

One way Forbright connects with small businesses like Coastal Maine Pediatric Dentistry and Assured Solar Energy is through a strong partner like Sunstone Credit. Sunstone allows small businesses interested in solar panels to side-step the typically large up-front cash payment in favor of a loan that pays out over time – generally anywhere from five years up to 20 years.

“Traditionally, solar on commercial businesses is sold as a cash option where you pay for it all, and eventually it returns to you by a certain year at a breakeven point. With financing, essentially, we’re able to say ‘Hey, you save a thousand dollars on your utility bill, and you pay us $800 dollars a month,” Jonathan Crowley, Director of Business Development at Sunstone, said.

Forbright Bank acts as a capital provider and underwriting partner for Sunstone. With traditional energy costs on the rise and many small businesses looking for a way to cut costs on their energy bill, Sunstone and Forbright Bank are able to help businesses lower their electric bills while reducing their oil and gas consumption.

Back at Maine Pediatric Dentistry, for the Scholls, things have been going well.

“We are saving money. Obviously, we have rain and clouds, and it can be a little variable, but we know exactly what our expense is for electricity in the form of our loan with Forbright through Sunstone, so we can plan and schedule our expenses around what our electricity usage is,” Mike Scholl said.

For Forbright Bank, partnering with organizations like Sunstone Credit, Assured Solar Energy, and Coastal Maine Pediatric Dentistry are an important way to turn private commercial sustainable projects into a reality.

“Something we say at our house is only brush the teeth you want to keep. So, it’s easy to extrapolate that to the planet. We only take care of the things we want to keep, and it starts with our little patients and ends with the planet,” Scholl said.