Chris Griffth's nanotechnology firm makes equipment to improve the environment for high-tech manufacturers.
Susan Flurschutz makes curtains from her home-based business on North Hurd Circle in Auburn.
Griffith's Vacuum Logistics and Flurschutz's operation, which is so new and small it doesn't yet have a name, are divergent companies with a common thread. Both Cayuga County firms received critical funding this year through assistance from U.S. Small Business Administration.
Along with three other county enterprises - Hunter's Dinerant, Juhl's Fuels and Lofft's Market - they are part of a trend that has helped push SBA loans up 27 percent nationally. So far, more than $1 million in SBA-backed loans have been approved in Cayuga County in the 2005 fiscal year. There are also seven other businesses that are in various stages of accessing the money, said Dennis Conklin, an information resource manager with the SBA's Syracuse office.
More small businesses than ever before are relying on the SBA to help them with their borrowing needs by guaranteeing loans that might otherwise be considered high-risk.
Many times, that means the borrowers may not have a proven financial track record, like Flurschutz, who has been in business less than two years. Or, as in Griffith's case, the technology the company is using is so cutting-edge that banks might be reluctant to make a loan.
Flurschutz, a mother of four, borrowed $10,000 to cover costs of materials for her window-treatment enterprise. The business grew through word-of-mouth and its success has taken her somewhat by surprise.
"The SBA makes people realize that you can stay at home and raise your children and still have a business," she said.
Since October 2004, the SBA has secured approval for 44,603 loans totaling nearly $7 billion under its guaranteed-loan program, up from 36,603 loans worth $5.6 billion for the same period a year earlier. Two years ago, the program guaranteed $4.8 billion to 29,342 borrowers.
The goal is to enable small businesses to create and maintain jobs, when the business owners themselves might not qualify for traditional financing.
That SBA's largest loan in Cayuga County so far this fiscal year - $355,000 to Hany Aboushanab - allowed the Egyptian native to purchase Lofft's Market in Weedsport. Although he was a successful businessman in Cairo and owns a grocery in Brooklyn, his local financial history might not have been sufficient to secure a loan.
"It really helped out a lot," said Hany Mahmoud, Aboushanab's brother-in-law and the manager of the business that employs 11 people. "It let us buy out the old owners. Without the SBA guaranteeing the loan through Key Bank, it would have been very hard for us."
"In a lot of cases, to be very direct about it, they're better than gold for a couple of reasons," Key Bank Assistant Vice President Jeff Eades said about the SBA loans. "They allows us to extend terms and the SBA can step up and provide additional leveraging. You can have 10 percent down and finance closing costs and roll in soft costs. The loans allow buyers to use excess capital for other operations of the business and earmark it for development and growth."
Aboushanab used part of the loan to cover attorney and other fees.
Statistically, it's good to invest in small business; Eades said 47 percent of new businesses that survive in New York are small businesses.
Griffith and his father-in-law, Bill Branagan, started their business in Branagan's brown-shingled country home on Spook Woods Road in Conquest a few years ago. Vacuum Logistics develops instruments and tools to enhance production in the thin film, semiconductor and flat-panel industries.
It is cutting-edge, complicated work involving components that include crystal sensors and devices that measure thin film sheet resistance. Branagan, Griffith and Joe Maggio have come up with prototypes of machines that will improve the environments of high-tech manufacturers and give them better quality control.
Success has forced them out of the 750-square-foot room for production functions. They have leased 1,000 square feet in a converted factory on Mill Road in Mottville; the $100,000 helped buy equipment. So far, there are just the three employees, but Branagan expects that will "ramp up" when more contracts are signed.
The business also continues to maintain an office in Conquest.
Griffith and Branagan said the SBA process isn't trouble-free. It took quite awhile to process the loan and they didn't get enough money the first time through. Several business plans later, they undertook the process again with better results, but they lost some ground while waiting.
"We're very grateful we got the loan," Griffin said. "But it took awhile."
Tracie Heim of Conquest said a $20,000 SBA loan help her buy Hunter's Dinerant in Auburn, where she had worked for more than a decade as a waitress. After she purchased the business, she realized if she didn't do some repairs quickly, the classic diner could be in danger of falling apart.
She used the money last fall to replace the roof and the catwalk above the Owasco Outlet, which tourists use all of the time. She replaced the booths and power-washed the floors. She kept her money local, hiring Gary Townsend and his construction crew to do the work. She also kept some of the money aside, in case business slowed and she had trouble meeting payroll for her 16 employees. She has needed that cushion once or twice.
Heim had taken a small business class through Cornell Cooperative Extension, where she learned about the SBA program.
"The class also taught me to do things the right way," she said about keeping business records, dealing with the state Health Department and paying things like unemployment fees on time.
For Jackie Juhl, owner of Juhl's Fuels on West Genesee Street Road in Aurelius, a $25,000 SBA loan helped cover the cost of gasoline and other businesses expenses. Juhl and her husband purchased the business about two years ago. She said SBA loans are particularly beneficial for independent businesses like hers that are trying to establish themselves in markets dominated by corporate competitors.
Tim McLaughlin, vice president of commercial lending for First Niagara Bank in Auburn, said the SBA loans allow banks to help non-traditional businesses.
"It's like loan insurance and it allows us to make loans that we might not normally make," he said.
Staff writer Louise Hoffman Broach can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or louise.hoffman@lee.net
Griffith's Vacuum Logistics and Flurschutz's operation, which is so new and small it doesn't yet have a name, are divergent companies with a common thread. Both Cayuga County firms received critical funding this year through assistance from U.S. Small Business Administration.
Along with three other county enterprises - Hunter's Dinerant, Juhl's Fuels and Lofft's Market - they are part of a trend that has helped push SBA loans up 27 percent nationally. So far, more than $1 million in SBA-backed loans have been approved in Cayuga County in the 2005 fiscal year. There are also seven other businesses that are in various stages of accessing the money, said Dennis Conklin, an information resource manager with the SBA's Syracuse office.
More small businesses than ever before are relying on the SBA to help them with their borrowing needs by guaranteeing loans that might otherwise be considered high-risk.
Many times, that means the borrowers may not have a proven financial track record, like Flurschutz, who has been in business less than two years. Or, as in Griffith's case, the technology the company is using is so cutting-edge that banks might be reluctant to make a loan.
Flurschutz, a mother of four, borrowed $10,000 to cover costs of materials for her window-treatment enterprise. The business grew through word-of-mouth and its success has taken her somewhat by surprise.
"The SBA makes people realize that you can stay at home and raise your children and still have a business," she said.
Since October 2004, the SBA has secured approval for 44,603 loans totaling nearly $7 billion under its guaranteed-loan program, up from 36,603 loans worth $5.6 billion for the same period a year earlier. Two years ago, the program guaranteed $4.8 billion to 29,342 borrowers.
The goal is to enable small businesses to create and maintain jobs, when the business owners themselves might not qualify for traditional financing.
That SBA's largest loan in Cayuga County so far this fiscal year - $355,000 to Hany Aboushanab - allowed the Egyptian native to purchase Lofft's Market in Weedsport. Although he was a successful businessman in Cairo and owns a grocery in Brooklyn, his local financial history might not have been sufficient to secure a loan.
"It really helped out a lot," said Hany Mahmoud, Aboushanab's brother-in-law and the manager of the business that employs 11 people. "It let us buy out the old owners. Without the SBA guaranteeing the loan through Key Bank, it would have been very hard for us."
"In a lot of cases, to be very direct about it, they're better than gold for a couple of reasons," Key Bank Assistant Vice President Jeff Eades said about the SBA loans. "They allows us to extend terms and the SBA can step up and provide additional leveraging. You can have 10 percent down and finance closing costs and roll in soft costs. The loans allow buyers to use excess capital for other operations of the business and earmark it for development and growth."
Aboushanab used part of the loan to cover attorney and other fees.
Statistically, it's good to invest in small business; Eades said 47 percent of new businesses that survive in New York are small businesses.
Griffith and his father-in-law, Bill Branagan, started their business in Branagan's brown-shingled country home on Spook Woods Road in Conquest a few years ago. Vacuum Logistics develops instruments and tools to enhance production in the thin film, semiconductor and flat-panel industries.
It is cutting-edge, complicated work involving components that include crystal sensors and devices that measure thin film sheet resistance. Branagan, Griffith and Joe Maggio have come up with prototypes of machines that will improve the environments of high-tech manufacturers and give them better quality control.
Success has forced them out of the 750-square-foot room for production functions. They have leased 1,000 square feet in a converted factory on Mill Road in Mottville; the $100,000 helped buy equipment. So far, there are just the three employees, but Branagan expects that will "ramp up" when more contracts are signed.
The business also continues to maintain an office in Conquest.
Griffith and Branagan said the SBA process isn't trouble-free. It took quite awhile to process the loan and they didn't get enough money the first time through. Several business plans later, they undertook the process again with better results, but they lost some ground while waiting.
"We're very grateful we got the loan," Griffin said. "But it took awhile."
Tracie Heim of Conquest said a $20,000 SBA loan help her buy Hunter's Dinerant in Auburn, where she had worked for more than a decade as a waitress. After she purchased the business, she realized if she didn't do some repairs quickly, the classic diner could be in danger of falling apart.
She used the money last fall to replace the roof and the catwalk above the Owasco Outlet, which tourists use all of the time. She replaced the booths and power-washed the floors. She kept her money local, hiring Gary Townsend and his construction crew to do the work. She also kept some of the money aside, in case business slowed and she had trouble meeting payroll for her 16 employees. She has needed that cushion once or twice.
Heim had taken a small business class through Cornell Cooperative Extension, where she learned about the SBA program.
"The class also taught me to do things the right way," she said about keeping business records, dealing with the state Health Department and paying things like unemployment fees on time.
For Jackie Juhl, owner of Juhl's Fuels on West Genesee Street Road in Aurelius, a $25,000 SBA loan helped cover the cost of gasoline and other businesses expenses. Juhl and her husband purchased the business about two years ago. She said SBA loans are particularly beneficial for independent businesses like hers that are trying to establish themselves in markets dominated by corporate competitors.
Tim McLaughlin, vice president of commercial lending for First Niagara Bank in Auburn, said the SBA loans allow banks to help non-traditional businesses.
"It's like loan insurance and it allows us to make loans that we might not normally make," he said.
Staff writer Louise Hoffman Broach can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or louise.hoffman@lee.net
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