Case Studies
Spotlight on Success
Arthritis and Pain Associates of Prince George’s County, P.C.
SBA 504 Success Story
Arthritis and Pain Associates of Prince George’s County, P.C. provides compassionate care for patients with various rheumatologic conditions and other causes of musculoskeletal pain. They specialize in non-surgical treatment of rheumatological and musculoskeletal disorders through various medications, procedures, and appropriate exercise prescriptions.
With the SBA 504 loan program, the owners, Dr. Adelson, Dr. Thomas, and Dr. Sheyn, were able to relocate their growing practice to a new condominium medical office located in Greenbelt, Maryland. The total project cost of $2,400,000 included the purchase of the 7,000 sq. ft. facility and renovations to the property.
M&T Bank financed 50% of the cost of the total project at $1,243,000, while FSC First, through the SBA 504 long term, fixed assets financing program, financed approximately 40% of the costs at $979,000 with a 20 year mortgage.
The service that Arthritis and Pain Associates of Pain Associates of Prince George’s County, P.C. provides to their patients and to the community is immeasurable. We value their accomplishments as the largest rheumatologic practice in Prince George’s County and honor them as a success in the small business community.
TDP, LLC
Asset Based Lending (ABL) Success Story
TDP, LLC specializes in large scale, mission critical program management, while excelling in creating customized instruction and highly specialized training for on-line, classroom delivery, and off-the-shelf training solutions.
Owner, Carolyn Walker, found that waiting 30, 60, or 90 days for payment on receivables from the federal government and her Fortune 500 clients was a challenge that she couldn’t face on her own. “The major challenge prompting our need to finance was the competitive win of our largest contract, supporting the U.S. Census Bureau,” says Walker. “This win would require TDP to ramp up from 7 employees to 33 over an 18 month period. Of course, this represented a significant increase in our payroll. Although we had a signed contract in hand, we were not embraced by traditional lenders in this economy.” Serving as the prime contractor on this project required TDP to increase its payroll by 471%.
Walker was then introduced to FSC First, a non-traditional lender whose mission is to provide small and minority owned businesses access to creative, flexible, and innovate financial solutions for their operations. “The FSC First team provided a fair evaluation of TDP’s viability and qualification for the program. While adhering to standard banking business practices, there were no “extra hoops” to prove that TDP is a viable growing business. The team treated TDP as a valued customer, rather than “just a small business who needed a favor,” says Walker.
FSC First was able to provide TDP with an Asset Based Lending (ABL) facility of $250,000 and was able to secure the asset based lending line of credit with an assignment against the proceeds of the contract.
For Walker, selling daily receivables to FSC First under the Asset Based Lending program made all the difference for her business. “The ABL program has allowed TDP to finance the payroll required to perform on a $2.8M contract, build significant past performance, and reputation as a small business with the capacity to deliver large complex programs.”
W.P. Donaldson & Sons, Inc.
Small Business Growth Fund Spotlight
W.P. Donaldson & Sons, Inc. is a 49-year old company that specializes in concrete and asphalt paving of sidewalks, public driveways, streets, and parking lots of shopping centers, office facilities and apartment complexes. Located in Upper Marlboro, W.P. Donaldson is a family owned business that was established by Wallace Paul Donaldson. His son later joined the company in the daily operations and is now Vice President alongside his father as the elder Donaldson did with his father.
Between 2008 and 2009, the company suffered from the slowdown in the construction industry that was brought on by a decline in economic conditions. W.P. Donaldson’s turnaround strategy included exceeding their customer’s expectation, competing in other markets, and marketing their expanded services. The company identified their needs and found that they needed funds for working capital support the organization and facilitate growth. FSC First was the company that was able to meet their needs.
FSC First issued a commitment of $200,000 for working capital under its Small Business Growth Fund Loan program. FSC First was able to see beyond W.P. Donaldson current challenges and see the potential that the organization had to stabilize and grow.
Pinpoint Underground, LLC
Contractor Cash Flow Fund Spotlight
Pinpoint Underground, LLC was established in 2004 and is an MBE/DBE certified company owned by Casondra and Lawrence Johnson. Pinpoint is an underground utility locating company specializing in the protection of outside underground facilities from being damaged due to excavation. The company has provided services for Maryland American Water, Fairway Residential, IACOBONI Site Specialist, WMATA, and private locating services for over 50 clients performing excavation work in Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
In July 2010, Pinpoint was awarded a contract from the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) to provide underground utility locating services to a water system that serves nearly 1.8 million residents. This new contract meant that Pinpoint had to grow from two employees to twelve and had to purchase additional equipment to perform on this contract
Through the Small Business Initiative (SBI), Pinpoint was introduced to FSC First and the Contractor Cash Flow Fund program. FSC First was able to provide Pinpoint with $91,000 to purchase new equipment and cover payroll expenses that were needed to hire 10 new employees. As a home-based business in Upper Marlboro, financing from FSC First allowed this business to capitalize on a significant growth opportunity by obtaining a prime contract and grow the workforce by 50%, while increasing revenues by 1000%.
Old Town Bowie Grille
City of Bowie Revolving Loan Fund Spotlight
The Old Town Bowie Grille restaurant is an establishment that began as a vision of Robert Thompson. Together with his wife and partners, they purchased a property at 8602 Chestnut Avenue in Bowie, Maryland and transformed it into a cornerstone of the community. The property was originally a barn and needed considerable renovations, an addition to the property needed to be constructed, and the conversion into a restaurant needed to meet the requirements of local building and health codes.
With the help of creative financing and supportive lenders, a financing package was put together for the Old Town Bowie Grille to be built. The U.S. Small Business Administration 504 program was utilized to purchase the property and finance the renovations. Eagle Bank financed approximately 50% of the total project costs, while the SBA, through FSC First, financed 40% of the costs. Old Town Bowie Grille was able to get their SBA 504 financing for the property at a 20 year term and low fixed interest rate. The business was also eligible to receive a loan of $50,000 from the City of Bowie to put towards the improvements of the building.
In the end, the construction of the building took considerably longer than anticipated and the costs for the improvements increased exponentially. Fortunately, the Thompsons, had partners like FSC First that stood by their commitment to finance the company and provide support for the project and the business.