from abroad, making the company one of the top fifty U.S.-based manufacturing exporters. Who ever thought that a well placed bit of SBA-backed equity twenty years ago would be a key force in helping to fight our trade deficit?
| Hardware Store in Wyoming |
The number one store in the 1,500-store coast-to-coast chain of hardware stores rests in the mountain town of Casper, Wyoming. Owner Ed Bratt claims, “If it hadn't been for the SBA loan, I doubt we’d have even got off the ground.”
When Ed and Joyce Bratt tried to find funds to start a retail hardware store, banks shut them out. But by year’s end, SBA came to the rescue with a startup guaranteed loan of $175,000. “On opening day we sold twelve percent of our inventory,” Ed relates. No surprise that the loan was paid off in three years. With ten employees then, the Bratts now employ 39; their annual sales volume is $3,000,000.
| Ice Cream Fails to Melt |
Life with the 140-year-old Applegate Farm in Montclair, New Jersey, was anything but bright for Betty Vhay. Since purchasing the dairy farm, Vhay had endured more than the usual set of hard knocks. Money was chronically low; neighbors brought a lawsuit against the farm over “loud” machinery that was making ice cream; she went through a bitter divorce. It seemed to her at times that the circumstances of the farm’s purchase were an ill omen. After losing an unborn child in an auto accident, she had taken $100,000 in settlement money to stake her future on Applegate Farm.
Alone, and with two children to support, Vhay pulled out all stops in the search for money for the ice cream operation. Bank after bank turned her down as a credit risk. Then the Money Store Investment Corporation took a chance on Vhay and provided her with an SBA-guaranteed loan of $170,000. For the first time, she had working capital, was sole owner, and recorded her first profit.
At first Vhay employed 10; today she employs 52, most of whom are teenagers outfitted with their first job as ice cream barflies. Annual sales grew to $700,000 from $420,000 in six years.
| Mel Farr Scores Touchdown in Cars |
For every sports star that makes it big, there are many others who lose out when the limelight fades. Bad management skills, drugs, naive investments -- these are only a few of the pitfalls. But Mel Farr, former all-American halfback for UCLA and star runner for the Detroit Lions, stutter-stepped away from those things.
Mel Farr Ford, Inc., in Oak Park, Michigan, is one of the largest car dealers in America, ranked 37th of the nation’s top 100 U.S. black-owned businesses by Black Enterprise. But Farr does not forget a helping hand.
“When SBA granted my loan it was the very key to what I needed at that time,” Farr recalls. “Without it, I more than likely would have had to postpone or even forget about my dream of becoming an automobile dealer.”
The SBA made an auto dealer loan of $200,000 to Farr, when sales were $6,000,000. Today there are two more Mel Farr dealerships (Lincoln-Mercury) in Detroit, Michigan, and Aurora, Colorado, and aggregate sales are $52,000,000. There are 140 employees. Farr out!
| Black Ex-Marine and Jewish Female Consultant Create United Nations Drilling Company |
A Black man and a Jewish woman -- not your usual business team in critical pre-construction testing! It happened in the Bronx.
In a highly-specialized field hardly open to minorities and women, Garrett W. Brown, a Vietnam veteran, and Honie Ann Peacock, a consultant in employee relations, drill for "dirt" samples in the chasms of the Big Apple as Python Drilling and Testing.
Their first year was not a good one for construction. There were nights without dinner and weeks when payroll was met on a credit card. Peacock, a single parent, took two outside jobs and worked full-time without pay to help get the fledgling company off the ground. Brown, an ex-Marine sergeant who specialized in heavy construction equipment and diesel engines, brought 20 years of experience in the construction industry to the company. He designed and built their first drill rig in his living room.
Peacock wrote the loan proposal and marketing plan that enabled the company to receive a $50,000 direct loan from SBA, which bought them their first big drill rig and truck. Today their 16-person crew has been trained completely from within and represents a virtual "United Nations," including Blacks, Filipinos, Hispanics, Irish, and Finns, both male and female.
Though it has been an uphill struggle to gain the confidence of their numerous clients, Brown and Peacock maintain a positive attitude. And why not? From the time of SBA’s loan, annual sales have grown from $30,000 to over $1,000,000.
| Doughnut-Making Machine Export Success |
Li’l Orbits, a Minneapolis manufacturer of a miniature doughnut-making machine and doughnut mix, turned to the Department of Commerce for export assistance. The Department provided publicity with their New Product Information Service (NPIS) along with a description in Commercial News magazine, both distributed widely abroad. The products were also exhibited at a fast food exhibition in Paris, France.
“It looks like we’re in the export business to stay,” reports Li’l Orbits president Ed Anderson. “Results to date are gratifying. Worldwide publicity through this program has resulted in sales of the machine to firms in Japan, Thailand, Germany, and the West Indies.” These efforts resulted in $575,000 in sales. Inquiries from Jamaica, the Philippines, Singapore, Norway, Korea, and Denmark are expected to yield further sales.
| Thermal Bags by Ingrid |
A 12-employee, Des Plaines, Illinois, firm makes insulated bags for catering and food delivery. In five years the firm has gone from zero to approximately $900,000 in sales. Ingrid exhibited at a trade show attended by foreign firms but their orders were too large for her to fulfill.
She contacted the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration and described her problem. They arranged for her to attend an export-financing seminar. “Now we know how to do it,” Ingrid says. “We couldn’t have done it without the guidance we received from the Commerce Department.”They now export to England, Norway, Australia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Mexico, and Panama.
| Rebuilt Transmissions and Engines |
Tracom, Inc., a small Fort Worth company, rebuilds automotive transmissions and engines. The Department of Commerce consulted with them about the potential for exporting, identified the appropriate foreign firms, and helped prepare a sales letter. One sale was to an Australian distributor for $470,000!
Sales increased from $250,000 a year to $2,500,000. Currently they sell to many foreign markets including the United Kingdom, Kuwait, and New Zealand.
| Wholesale Computer Supplies |
Digital Storage International, a company with six employees, handles magnetic media such as diskettes, tapes, and data cartridges in Columbus, Ohio. A slow domestic market compelled them to look elsewhere. The Department of Commerce’s Agent Distributor Service (ADS) helped locate overseas representatives. The Cincinnati DOC office also provided export counseling. This help led to expansion into 28 countries.
| Department of Energy Helps Software Firm |
The Department of Energy funds projects under its Small Business Innovation
