A Year of Resiliency and Perseverance For Our Customers and Community
Reflecting upon the past year, the AVANA Companies and our clients have faced unparalleled challenges and uncertainties as we navigated the pandemic and economic crisis together. The resiliency of our team and our loyal clients was tested, and we remain humble and committed to our clients, our team, and our communities.
We measure our success by how well we have served our entrepreneurs and investors and by how we have increased their capacity to create jobs, stimulate economies and contribute to clean energy. Our devotion to growing our clients’ businesses and seeing them through the long-haul has only grown and we are thankful for each story in which we have played a part.
Since AVANA Capital was founded almost 20 years ago, the cornerstone of our work has always been to preserve. This year that effort to preserve not only the assets we manage, but also our clients’ businesses, was brought to a new level, facing the challenges of shutdowns due to the pandemic and the subsequent economic downturn. We were pleased to be able to maintain a level of growth and prosperity that we strive to bring even during a normal year.
Most importantly, we have many stories of success from clients over the past months in financing clean and renewable energy projects, modular construction, and other real estate construction. We have seen companies weather the economic storm of 2020 with perseverance, and even grow and expand with help from our financing expertise, often when banks had turned them away.
One of our favorite success stories over recent years came from the financing of a new location for Unlimited Collision & RV owned by Matt Gorges in Litchfield Park, Arizona.
Matt had been in the auto collision business with his family in Reno for several years when he ventured on his own and built an extremely profitable automotive and RV collision repair business from scratch. In 2018, with his lease coming to an end on a very cramped and inefficient space that his business had outgrown, Matt wanted to build a new facility that would be better laid out and provide room for his business to continue to grow. His bank declined the loan needed to acquire the site and build the new facility because his business had not generated enough income historically to make the required payments on the new location.
That is when he was introduced to AVANA’s Chief Lending Officer, Sanat Patel, and Chief Credit Officer, Matt Hunt, who reviewed the financial history and visited the existing operation where they saw he was bursting at the seams. They were impressed with Matt’s business savvy and became convinced that with some additional space, he would be able to further grow his business, making it possible for him to afford a larger facility.
As a result, AVANA chose to provide a $3.32 million SBA 504 construction loan, allowing Matt to build a larger and more efficient facility, which happens to sit directly in front of a large RV storage facility that provides a new source of business. As Sanat suspected, Matt was able to grow his business and has built an operation that has been able to weather the storm of COVID-19. He has created new jobs as his business has matured. In addition, he is no longer paying a landlord and is building wealth as he pays down the debt and his new facility appreciates in value over time.
Matt credits his dad’s long-time mentoring, the personal relationships he builds with his customers, and the personal attention and focus Sanat and Matt gave to his business for bringing him such sustainable success. It is stories like these that keep AVANA committed to problem-solving with entrepreneurs to help make their business dreams happen. “Matt Gorges is an example of the American entrepreneurial grit and determination,” stated Matt Hunt, AVANA’s CCO.
Through our collective trials, difficulties, and growth in 2020, we remain strong in our commitment to job creation, economic stability, and a sustainable future for our communities. We have valued your emails, calls, and conversations, and the opportunity to work together in the spirit of partnership to come out of this chapter positioned to thrive more than ever before.
We wish you and your family a healthy and safe holiday season, and great success in the upcoming year and beyond.
If you have not already, please visit our new website at www.AVANACompanies.com to learn more about the AVANA family, our core values, and our products and services.