New Hampshire Community Loan Fund

A program launched by the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund in 2002 called Vested for Growth (VfG) carried out financing for the Bortech Company, Inc. It was the first company to receive financing from VfG, which provides risk capital up to $500,000 to New Hampshire businesses that invest in employees and longterm growth.

 

Bortech’s current CEO Leo White approached the founders Rees Acheson and Ted Benson when they were looking to sell their company after 10 years. In order to finance the acquisition, White initially looked to local banks. Bortech, unfortunately, did not have the appropriate assets to secure a loan from the banks and was too small for venture capital. By chance, one member of the Bortech advisory committee referred White to the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund’s risk capital program, Vested for Growth.

 

VfG provided Bortech with a ten year $500,000 loan at nine percent interest. An additional term of the loan extended by VfG required 1.44 percent of gross revenues. VfG required Bortech to send them monthly financial statements, and they also conducted periodic site visits to evaluate performance in person. John Hamilton, the director of enterprise development for VfG, met with Bortech once a month. VfG acknowledged that Bortech was a sound company with strong growth potential and recognized CEO Leo White’s past business experience and commitment to outstanding employment practices.

 

After Bortech was acquired by Leo White with the help of VfG, the company has continually outperformed its peers. The company came within 5% of matching a 10-year sales record in 2003. Halfway through 2004, it was 35% ahead of the 2003 sales figures. VfG achieved an internal rate of return (IRR) of 14.3 percent after one year and was on track to achieve a projected 20 percent IRR after ten years. The $500,000 ten-year loan was paid off after three years.

 

Bortech instituted a profit sharing plan with its employees, conducted financial training for employees so that they could understand how their efforts contributed to the company’s financial performance, and used a collaborative process to establish an employee handbook. Bortech also added short-term disability benefits, term life insurance, and a 401K plan to existing employee benefits.

 

Bortech was able to double its sales over three years and expand to 13 employees. It repaid its loan early and after gaining traction was able to secure further financing from Bow Mills Bank and Trust. VfG’s first investment in conventional debt financing was a success and prevented a local New Hampshire company that was over 10 years old from being sold in a distressed sale.