Building Material Supplier Able to Take on New Contract During Pandemic with CDFI Loan
Client: LowCountry Building Solutions
Client Location: Pittsburgh, PA
CDFI: Bridgeway Capital
CDFI Service Area: NJ, PA, WV
Financing and technical assistance, with support from the Grow with Google Small Business Fund and Google.org Grant Program
LowCountry Building Solutions (LCBS), a minority- and woman-owned business, specializes in building supplies and materials for new construction and provide products for infrastructure, road and highway, concrete, and construction material supply. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the business’s gross sales decreased by $2 million in 2020. As projects started ramping up months later, supply chain issues and pent-up demand caused material and labor prices to increase significantly, resulting in projects awarded before the pandemic losing revenue. In response, Bridgeway Capital provided LCBS with a $99,354 loan to refinance existing debt and increase cash flow.
Bridgeway is proud to be a long-time lending partner to LCBS. The business’s growth demonstrates the value of increasing access to affordable and patient capital. The 2020 loan increased cash flow, enabling the business to take on a new contract it secured with Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority. At the time of LCBS’s loan closing with Bridgeway Capital, LCBS employed three full-time employees, and anticipated adding two additional employees within six months. LCBS is also a participant in Bridgeway’s Building Inclusive Diversity (BID) program.
“The flexible financing Bridgeway provided accelerated the growth of our business,” said LCBS owner Mona Minnie-Branson.