Archive for 'Success Stories'

Mitzi Bender decided a rain barrel was the perfect solution to her flooding basement. Unfortunately, an attractive rain barrel that met her neighborhoods’ stringent requirements was nowhere to be found. Rather than accept a lifetime of soggy basement carpets, Bender partnered with her friend Karen Bell and together designed their own attractive “raintainer” for the capture of rooftop runoff.

As their invention took shape, Bender and Bell formed a company, Four Water LLC. In search of startup guidance, Bender and Bell turned to Carol Cornell, director of the SBDC at Northern Kentucky University, for financial instruction, price modeling and general startup support. In March 2008, Four Water LLC incorporated and in June they filed a registered trademark and patent.

A friend put us in touch with Carol at the NKU SBDC. We found the services so valuable that we were meeting with Carol on a near weekly basis. The SBDC assistance we have received was absolutely critical to our growth.

- Mitzi Bender, co-owner

Four Water LLC sold their first 500 rain barrels to the city of Lexington, which promptly sold out in just 24 hours. In 2009, the city of Lexington continued to support Four Water LLC and designed a special rain barrel mascot, Lily, to join the city’s other household waste, lawn waste and recycling mascots.

Bender and Bell have put particular emphasis on making sure Four Water LLC creates green jobs in Kentucky while producing a sustainable product. Today, their rain barrels are produced at a plant and fulfillment center in Mt. Sterline, Kentucky.

The company is currently providing 14 cities with rain barrels and has plans to continue growing the “raintainer” line as well as expanding into other product offerings.

Global Environmental Services (GES) is a leading certified electronic waste recycler licensed by the state of Kentucky. GES works with an extensive network of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and product brokers and offers a host of services from its state of teh art 70,000 square foot facility.

GES was founded in 2008 by Kenny Gravitt and Paul Haddix. Gravitt and Haddix sought to build a company that recycled electronics properly, doing no harm to the environment or communities around the world.

The recession impacted GES immediately after the company opened its doors for business. In a matter of months GES was facing revenue streams that were less than a quarter of initial financial predictions. “The entire commodity market crashed and left us in the wake,” Gravitt said. “We struggled for a really long time before finding ourselves in front of Gordon Garrett and Shirie Hawkins with the SBDC.”

Hawkins and Garrett helped GES seek funding by preparing pro-forma projections that were later presented to national and local lenders, and a private investor. Three separate funding offers were made, and all fell through. “At this point, I viewed GES as a distressed business and we began embarking on a process that would help get their business house in order,” Garrett said.

Garrett and Hawkins started by focusing on the operational aspects of GES to make the business more efficient. Once operational assets were in check, Hawkins turned their attention to GES’s cost accounting. “At the time GES had 70-80 contracts with electronics firms that had electronic equipment to dispose of,” Garrett said. “GES’s accounting systems were not designed to track profitability by contract, client or even by type of electronic gear sold or recycled.”

The weeks and months that followed brought great change to GES.

Gordon and Shirie came in and taught us how to change our processes in order to stop the hemorrhaging. These were tough conversations that were not always pleasant to have, but they were factual, to the point and, ultimately, saved this company.

- Kenny Gravitt, co-founder

Today, GES is profitable, poised to double revenue in 2011 and ranked in the top 10 of electronics recyclers in the nation.

What started with only four employees has now grown to more than 60 employees. “I am very proud that we have created 60 new jobs in Kentucky,” Gravitt said. “In addition, our employees have the opportunity to build new, technical skills while working here, something that is tremendously important in today’s world.”

Karen and Norris Kennedy first approached the Hopkinsville SBDC in March 2009 with a problem – they could not find any good hot wings in the area. Norris, who is currently on active duty at Fort Campbell, wanted to remedy this problem by obtaining the local franchise for Buffalo Wings and Rings.

Together the Kennedy’s and the SBDC developed a business plan, met with local bankers and representatives of the franchise, and prepared a SBA loan package. The couple was later awarded a SBA 7A loan for $488,500 and injected $80,000 of their own money into the project.

On September 13, 2010 the Kennedy’s proudly opened Buffalo Wings and Rings and set franchise records for total sales for opening day and opening week of the franchise.

In addition to bringing good wings to the area, the Kennedy’s business venture has added approximately 45 new jobs to the local economy. There are plans to add an additional five in the coming months.

I am very appreciative of all the help we received from Roy Keller of the Hopkinsville SBDC. They were able to help with the 7A loan when the banker was not. Thanks to the SBDC we are now open for business.

- Karen Kennedy, co-owner

Treats Pet Resort, an upscale dog and cat resort offering long and short-term boarding, web-cams, ceiling fans,
TV and other amenities, opened in Louisville in 2007. Despite experiencing sales that beat the business’ initial forecast, the building, equipment and payroll costs ran over budget resulting in severe cash flow problems within the first two years of operation.

Despite paying extra each month on past-due accounts, Treats Pet Resort could not climb out of the hole, and in 2010 banks began threatening foreclosure.

As a last-ditch attempt to save their business, the Halbleibs contacted the Louisville SBDC and requested assistance. Under the SBDC’s expert guidance, Treats Pet Resort began using the SBDC’s cash flow tool and meet- ing with consultants on a weekly basis. SBDC consultants also used Profit Cents, South Dakota software and RMA Annual Statement Studies to develop a budget, find opportunities for financial improvement and identify industry benchmarks for the client.

Within 30 days, the Halbleibs were able to contact the federal, state and local tax authorities and work out pay- ment plans. The Halbleibs also chose to cut payroll expenses and increase prices on boarding by 10 percent. Treats Pet Resort did not lose one customer from this increase and the additional revenue and expense reductions allowed them to pay down other past-due bills. As of September 2010, the Halbleibs are caught up with nearly all past-due bills.

The dedication the SBDC gave in meeting with us every single week for nearly a year was awesome. Honestly, if it were not for the SBDC I don’t think we would still be open for business. The SBDC was the best tool that we have used since we opened three years ago.

- Mike Halbleib, owner

In addition to debt management assistance, the SBDC also helped Treats Pet Resort implement a new marketing plan that has further increased revenue while keeping expenses in check. Today the Halbleibs continue to work closely with the Louisville SBDC and expect to pay off nearly all debts by June 30, 2011.

Dr. Ira J. Bates wanted to do something completely different after retiring from a 40-year career as a health care executive. “I always wanted to build my own home,” Bates said. “I wanted to retire in a 21st century home with as many features of a modern, comfortable ‘green’ building that I could think of.”

For the next six years Bates worked on building his dream home atop a hill overlooking the Red Lick Valley near Berea.

Now completed, the building features contemporary architecture and was constructed using Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria and in- novations. The home is a certified five-star energy home with geothermal heating and cooling and extensive use of day-lighting. Both natural and recycled materials from local suppliers were used whenever possible.

Once the home was completed Bates began exploring what was next on his retirement agenda. Intrigued by the concept of “green lodging,” Bates decided to share his home with others by opening a bed and breakfast. Bates worked closely with Michael Rodriguez and the Eastern Kentucky University SBDC to develop a business plan and identify what other steps had to be taken prior to opening. Bates also attended several training courses offered by the SBDC.

The Pinnacle View Inn would not have been possible without the extensive assistance of the EKU Small Business Development Center. I faced many technical problems along the way that were critical to my success. The EKU SBDC was a wonderful resource.

- Dr. Ira Bates, Owner

In May, 2010, The Pinnacle View Inn opened its doors. Today the inn provides a unique alternative to local area hotels with its eco-friendly setting and gourmet-style breakfasts. According to TripAdvisor.com’s reviewer data, the inn has garnered top billing as the highest rated place to stay in Madison County.

Bluegrass Veterinary Specialists began as a vision. Dr. Antu Radhakrishnan, Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, saw the need to create a state-of-the-art regional referral center for small animals where services would be provided by board certified specialists. Prior to the formation of Bluegrass Veterinary Specialists in 2005, there were no board-certified small animal veterinary internal medicine specialists in Lexington. If a dog or cat needed a referral, pet owners had to travel to Louisville or Cincinnati.

Initially, the referral practice operated out of a remodeled 800 square foot section of Sheabel Animal Medical Center. As a referral-based business, general veterinary practitioners refer patients to the practice. Patient follow-up care is coordinated with the referring veterinarian and all general care continues to be provided by the primary referring veterinarian.

The practice quickly outgrew its space. In January 2008, Dr. Radhakrishnan approached the Bluegrass Small Business Development Center for assistance in developing a business plan and financial projections for the business expansion. Ultimately a loan package was created that was submitted to Commerce Lexington’s Access Loan Program.

Through the assistance of the Access Loan Program, Dr. Radhakrishnan was connected with local lenders. The professional and experienced staff of the SBDC enabled Dr. Radhakrishnan to create a complete, customized, and ultimately successful business proposal. The Access Loan Program simplified and expedited the ordinarily inefficient, time-consuming “loan shopping” process by providing a “one-stop loan shop” opportunity for Dr. Radhakrishnan to present his proposal to multiple lenders at one sitting. In the fast paced world of business, the SBDC and Access Loan Program provided Dr. Radhakrishnan with invaluable guidance and time management opportunities.

Today, Bluegrass Veterinary Specialists operates out of a 3,600 square foot hospital located at 1591 Winchester Road, Suite 106. The focus of the practice continues to be individualized, progressive care with an emphasis on minimally invasive diagnostics and procedures. Internal medicine services include evaluation of any and all internal organ systems, oncology evaluation and treatment, endoscopy, rhinoscopy, bronchoscopy, cystoscopy, laparoscopy, stent placement, and laser ablation. The hospital provides 24-hour care for all of its hospitalized patients. The hospital also offers board- certified specialty veterinary care in surgery and dermatology and will be offering I-131 treatments for hyperthyroid cats in the next few months.