ACEDC Approves Financing for 3 Addison County Businesses

Middlebury, VT – The Addison County Economic Development Corporation (ACEDC) has recently approved financing that will allow 3 businesses to expand and create at least 23 new jobs in Addison County. Middlebury-based Full Sun Company and Good Point Recycling as well as Bristol-based VT Farm Table have all received loans through ACEDC’s revolving loan funds.

Robin Scheu, Executive Director of ACEDC, noted that ACEDC will lend approximately $15,000 to Full Sun Company a specialty oil-seed processor. As a result of this investment in new equipment, Full Sun expects to create 3 new full-time jobs over the next three years. Beginning in early 2014, Full Sun began processing sunflower & non-gmo canola oil crops into edible oil and high-protein meal. These oils are distributed through local CSAs & farm stores, specialty food shops, health & wellness centers, and direct to chefs in the Northeast.

Full Sun President Netaka White states, "We've had to knock on a lot of doors to complete the financing package for all our equipment. From the first time we met with Robin Scheu at ACEDC, we felt she understood our needs and the financing challenges of being a start-up, and she was eager to help. The review process on our application was very thorough, but our loan approval came through fast and the equipment we needed is now on the way."

Scheu also confirmed that her organization will use its USDA revolving loan funds to lend $38,000 to Vermont Farm Table, a local fine wood furniture maker. This financing is part of a $100,000 project with additional funding coming from the National Bank of Middlebury. As a result of this loan, Vermont Farm Table expects to create 10 full-time jobs over the next three years.

Owner Dustin Glasscoe started Vermont Farm Table in 2008. He had recently moved to Vermont, and saw an opportunity to create high quality, functional, and robust furniture for hard-working families. Dustin knew that a table should be built by hand using traditional techniques and environmentally responsible materials. He indicated that "we are here to make a life and not just a living."

ACEDC will also use its USDA revolving loan funds to lend $40,000 to Good Point Recycling (aka American Retroworks, Inc), a local recycling firm, for working capital to expand production. This financing is part of a $90,000 project with additional funding coming from the Granite Development Corporation. Good Point Recycling expects to create 10 full-time jobs over the next several years.

Robin Ingenthron, Good Point Recycling's CEO, commented, "Robin Scheu and the staff at ACEDC have supported our business for years. They understood that our fight to win the recycling contracts back left us without all the resources we needed to actually do the work. Having laid off 17 people a year ago, we needed financing. We'd done it before, it wasn't theoretical. In our time of need, ACEDC (and Granite State Development Corp) threw us a lifeline so we could respond to all the work coming back at once, so we didn't have to flip it out of state like previous vendors." Ingenthron added that the state wins as well, since Good Point is doing the work for hundreds of thousands of dollars less than the out of state contractor.

“We are so pleased to be able to assist Full Sun, Vermont Farm Table and Good Point Recycling in expanding and creating new jobs in Addison County,” said Scheu. “These value-added industries are an important component of Vermont's economy.”