Owners Marc Dagata and Dan Lutz employ 20 workers between the two locations, and anticipate growth.
"We expect to grow the business significantly and add five to 10 employees as a result," Dagata said.
The Carbondale location is twice the size of the business in State College, so they needed significant financing to buy it. Kish Bank recommended the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loan program through SEDA-COG to spread the debt and risk of this large purchase.
A $200,000 SBA 504 loan assisted in the real estate acquisition of the Carbondale business, and a $333,200 SBA 504 loan assisted in purchasing the equipment. Kish Bank provided the balance of the financing.
"Without SEDA-COG's loan assistance, we probably would not have been able to expand our business. We're very appreciative of the SBA loan program at SEDA-COG that helps businesses like ours that want to grow," Dagata said. "We were ecstatic."
The loan process went smoothly and quickly with SEDA-COG's staff expertise, he said.
"Through (SEDA-COG senior relationship manager) John Reichard's leadership, experience, and knowledge, we overcame questions and challenges very quickly," Dagata said. "Melodee (SEDA-COG loan closing specialist) gave us very detailed instructions about what was needed, so it helped us provide it very quickly."
They completed both loans and closed on the acquisition in less than 90 days without disrupting the existing business. Dagata said they highly recommend businesses use the SBA 504 loan program through SEDA-COG for financing needs.
Kish Bank strives to provide customers with the best tools and support to help them grow their businesses. Kristie McKnight, vice president and commercial relationship manager at Kish Bank in State College, said they were excited to partner with Dagata and Lutz.
"Throughout the course of our conversations with the borrower, we worked through several scenarios on how we could structure the financing to best meet their needs. Through these conversations, we explored the SEDA-COG SBA 504 program, which proved to be an excellent fit within our overall financing package," McKnight said. "The team at SEDA-COG worked quickly and efficiently to pull this financing together to help make our customer's dreams a reality. We are proud to have been a part of this next step with our valued client, and look forward to many more opportunities as their business grows."
Metal Integrity is a contract manufacturer, so they tailor their products to their clients' needs. The State College facility at 341 Airport Road focuses on precision machining, and makes equipment for many industries, including aviation, lab equipment, and industrial components.
The Carbondale facility at 47 N. Scott St. manufactures precision sheet metal components for a wide variety of customers. They are specialists in machining and fabricating, focusing on complicated precision components. They have a highly experienced engineering staff that assists with part designs.
"It's a $50 billion-a-year industry, and we're just trying to carve out our little piece of it - and we're having fun doing it," Dagata said. "Being able to offer a wider mix of products will allow us to better serve our current and future customers."
Dagata and Lutz have been friends for over 25 years and wanted to be in business together because they both have a strong commitment to the customer. They believe in under-promising and over-delivering.
Dagata is company president and manages the business side, and Lutz has over 30 years of engineering and manufacturing experience that allows Metal Integrity to offer design-for-manufacturing services that most shops can't. They bought a business in State College about three years ago and called it Zero-D Precision Machining. Since buying the one in Carbondale, they renamed the business Metal Integrity.
SEDA-COG's Business Finance staff can help businesses find the best loan for their needs. Contact SEDA-COG today to start a partnership at 570-524-4491 or
finance@seda-cog.org
.
