Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/718029
September 2016 WINES&VINES 31 oped through their understanding of winery clients include: •Termandamortizationbasedonuseful life, greatly lowering debt service; •Depositandcompletionpayments; •Interest-only,multi-disbursement payments during the equipment manufacturer's construction periods. Live oak has a dedicated construc- tion group to assist wineries with their expansion needs. each relationship manager works directly with the bor- rower, architect, general contractor and equipment vendors to monitor the disbursements and progression of projects through completion. the high level of expertise and problem-solving capabilities allows for a seamless process from start to finish. Vineyard acquisition financing is a large focus for Live oak. It makes sense for some wineries to own their fruit source when it comes to quality and quantity. the winery lending team has many years of experience financing vineyards. clark, a veteran of the wine industry since 1993, says the Live oak team understands the opportunities and risks of the wine industry. they see firsthand the rapidly changing consumer prefer- ences and alternative distribution chains both domestically and internationally. He finds winemakers to be some of the most entrepreneurial individuals he has ever served, and loves their talent, creativity, and varied backgrounds. customers tell him, "You guys come in and ask all the right questions. You really understand our industry." Cases in point tom and Kerry eddy escaped the corporate world in the 1990s to start their winery in st. Helena, california. "We thought most banks only want to lend you money if you have a lot of money. We didn't have a lot of money," Kerry eddy says. "We had a dream and a good business plan, but while we built it, how were we going to function?" "our cabernet sauvignon," tom eddy explains, "ages in oak for three years, and then for another two years in bottle before we release it. For a small busi- ness, that creates a huge cash-flow worry while you wait for release and build your business. What Live oak offered was the chance to look at us as individuals, our business as an individual and without a 'monthly report.' they believed in our plan, and they believed in us." the winery has grown to 5,000 cases annually of premium napa Valley wines, 70% sold direct to customers who visit tom eddy Winery to receive a unique experience and buy a quality product. paul and Kathryn sloan produce a small lot of highly rated artisan wines under their small Vines label. they source fruit from their estate vineyard in sebastopol and other select vineyards in West sonoma county. their goal was to build a winery on the estate vineyard parcel. Live oak Bank was able to provide a construction loan based on their comfort with the sloan's business operation, their industry expertise and good character. the new facility will allow them to consolidate operations while expanding and improving their tasting room. Joe dobbes is an acclaimed oregon vintner and a multigenerational Willa- mette Valley farmer. Joe identified a need for a state of the art mobile-bot- tling unit to serve the growth of the local wine and craft beverage business. this was a startup venture, which greatly reduced his lending options. Joe had a solid business plan and vast industry connections with which to launch the operation. Live oak was able to provide the financing in a timely fashion allowing Joe to meet operational deadlines. Mike draxton is a wine industry veteran with extensive experience in vineyard operations and bulk wine production. He developed a unique business model that addresses the needs of both grapegrowers and bulk wine buyers. In order to meet demand, he needed to greatly expand his opera- tions which included adding a large tank facility. plus, he needed to be ready for the 2016 harvest. the different components of the structure as well as subsequent chang- es during the project made the deal more complex than an average construc- tion loan. Live oak Bank's dedicated construction team provided construction financing that allowed Mike to start the project on time and keep it on track. Unique. creative. Individual. Building. expanding. Finding new markets. All terms used by Live oak Bank to define its winery clients. terms that can also be used to describe the new world of banking as provided by Live oak Bank. Visit liveoakbank.com/wcb or call (877) 890-5867. *Based on sBA data acquired via FoIA requests. sponsored content clark, Behrens, and sheppard (left to right) work from the bank's office in santa rosa, cA, which is located in the heart of the wine industry.