Tim Patterson, co-owner of RIGS Fly Shop & Guide Service in Ridgeway, says
his five-year-old outfitting business is growing, and that means he needs
more capital.
He and partner Bill Sheppard are “just a couple of
fishing-and-rafting guys” whose company has grown from a tackle shop and
fishing-guide service to a business with 18 seasonal employees offering
rafting and fishing trips on the Gunnison and Uncompahgre rivers.
Given that much of RIGS’ business takes place over a relatively short summer
season, financing expansion over a longer period of time is a challenge.
Patterson and Sheppard have been through several tiers of financing,
starting with a large revolving line of credit that has since been replaced
by a second line. Credit cards also have provided short-term financing, but
Patterson would like to combine his several sources of funding into one
large loan. “We’d really love to be under one single lender,” Patterson
said, “but that’s difficult to find.”
Patterson’s problem is not only endemic to many different kinds of
businesses outside the metro-Denver area of Colorado, but it is
representative of an issue that marks the leading edge of banking
competition in the region, and nationwide.
Small Business Administration-guaranteed loans are one venue for
banks to compete for the small-business lending market. And, ever since bankruptcy reform laws were passed by Congress in 2005, large national banks and credit-card issuers have been stepping up their own
small-business-finance marketing efforts to reach what they perceive is a
lucrative market.
As usual, the small-business owner is left to sift through
a variety of sometimes-complicated options, in hopes of picking the best
financing venue for his or her business.
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