Loan Fund aids local businesses
EAGLE COUNTY — Vail Brewing Co. and Mountain Water Works, both Eagle County-based businesses, are recent recipients of loans from the Northwest Loan Fund a little-known resource available to businesses in Northwest Colorado.
VAIL BREWING CO.
The Vail Brewing Co., an independent craft brewery based in Eagle-Vail, needed an infusion of capital quickly for critical equipment purchases. The Loan Fund was able to provide assistance so the business could maintain its momentum.
Vail Brewing Co. managing partner Scott Harrison was referred to the Loan Fund by his bankers at U.S. Bank, who told him that the paperwork already filed for financing through the Small Business Administration would help him through the Northwest Loan Fund process.
“Anita would look at the future opportunities — she could see the possibilities — and it really helped that the (Northwest Loan Fund) was able to make decisions based on what really makes sense. It felt like they were partners in the process.”Shawn ColbyMountain Water Works
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“From the moment I contacted Anita to the time we got the loan, it was a very short time frame.” Harrison said, referring to Anita Cameron, Loan Fund director of business lending. “I know she stayed up late at night and worked weekends to make this happen — she went above and beyond what we expected.”
MOUNTAIN WATER WORKS
Mountain Water Works is another Eagle County business that’s recently benefited from the Northwest Loan Fund. Shawn Colby had an opportunity to buy a 15-year-old landscape and irrigation company and the Northwest Loan Fund was able to assist in that purchase.
The time frame for purchase was tight, and Colby found that conventional lending vehicles required significant lead time, documentation and collateral. When he met with Cameron, she saw the same opportunities that Colby had seen.
With guidance provided by the Northwest Loan Fund and Cameron, Colby was able to purchase a good-sized, financially stable business, with a strong book of clients — ultimately growing from the current three employees to a total of six.
“Anita would look at the future opportunities — she could see the possibilities — and it really helped that the (Northwest Loan Fund) was able to make decisions based on what really makes sense,” Colby said. “It felt like they were partners in the process.”
The Northwest Loan Fund is managed through the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments and makes loans to businesses in Eagle, Garfield, Grand, Jackson, Moffat, Pitkin, Rio Blanco, Routt and Summit counties. For more information, contact Anita Cameron, director of business development, at 970-468-0295, ext. 119, or go to http://www.northwestloanfund.org.
