Category: Business Finance

SEDA-COG Business Finance Department recently assisted Penn Dairy LLC with a SEDA-COG PIDA loan. 

Penn Dairy LLC is a highly specialized manufacturer of yogurts and cheeses located in Snyder County.  They recently constructed an addition to their facility to increase their warehouse capacity.  This addition opened the floor space in their processing areas and has led to an increase in their production capacity.

Penn Dairy LLC’s products include whole milk, and Greek yogurts, Drinkable Kefir, Cheddar, Colby, Monterey Jack, and Mozzarella Cheese.  Their cheeses have won numerous national awards.  Their manufacturing facility is SQF Certified.  Additional certifications include Non-GMO Project Verified, Organic, Halal, Circle K Kosher, Super Kosher and Grade A.  For more information, you can visit their website at www.PennDairy.com.

John Reichard, SEDA-COG Business Finance Relationship Manager, and Tina Showers, SEDA-COG Business Finance Principal Program Analyst, worked with Jonathan Weber, General Manager of Penn Dairy LLC to bring this financing package to fruition.

“SEDA-COG is pleased to be involved in the expansion of another small business in Central Pennsylvania.  We look forward to the continued success of Penn Dairy,”  said John Reichard. 

For more information about SEDA-COG’s loans, please contact John Reichard at jreichard@seda-cog.org or Brooks Luzier at bluzier@seda-cog.org.     

As a community and economic development agency, SEDA-COG enhances the quality of life and economic advantage for residents and businesses in 11 central Pennsylvania counties through its vital partnerships and initiatives. SEDA-COG also is an advocate for the interests of its communities at the state and federal levels. For more information, visit www.seda-cog.org.

SEDA-COG’s Business Finance Department recently assisted Centre WISP Venture Company with an EDA COVID-19 loan to purchase fiber and equipment for a fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) project in Centre and Mifflin counties. Centre WISP Venture Company was formed in January 2019 in State College, PA by David and Laura Gibbons.

Centre WISP is an Internet Service Provider that started servicing customers located across the counties of Centre, Mifflin, Juniata, and Perry Counties in July of 2019. They serve customers in areas that were, until Centre WISP deployed service, either unserved or under-served.  The business has grown to provide broadband internet access to thousands of customers. SEDA-COG provided them loans in 2020 out of the SEDA-COG Broadband RLF loan fund so they could provide wireless service in Juniata, Perry, and Mifflin Counties.

This FTTH footprint in Centre and Mifflin counties will allow them to provide what is known as “gigabit symmetrical” service.  This provides 1,000 megabits upload and download speeds to connected homes. The first FTTH footprint they will deploy in Mifflin County will allow them to serve approximately 500 homes.

The second FTTH footprint that they would like to deploy following completion of the Mifflin County project, is located in Centre County. This is a smaller neighborhood than the Mifflin pilot project, but this neighborhood has underground utilities, so the deployment cost is somewhat higher per home.

They will also offer phone service for a nominal fee, and TV service through a partnership with a national TV provider, in order to be able to provide competitive “triple play” products.

The SEDA-COG EDA COVID-19 loan is for a term of 10 years with a fixed low interest rate. Centre WISP was also awarded $12 million through the FCC Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) to build fiber optic home internet in areas within Centre, Mifflin, Juniata, Northumberland, and Huntingdon counties. 

Tina Showers, SEDA-COG Principal Program Analyst worked with Jennifer Heebner, SEDA-COG Program Analyst, to bring this financing package to fruition.

“Centre WISP was in a bit of a unique position during the COVID-19 pandemic, in that their business actually grew significantly. As a telecommunications provider, they were classified as ‘critical’ during the pandemic and were not forced to shut down. Their business has essentially doubled in gross revenue and customer count over the course of the pandemic. Their services are needed even more so as a result of COVID-19 and we were thrilled to be able to help them,” said John Reichard, SEDA-COG Business Relationship Manager.

“Fiber To The Home (FTTH) is uniquely suited to address broadband challenges in rural areas. This FTTH build is the first of its kind of Mifflin County and will soon be the largest in Centre County in terms of serviceable homes,” said David Gibbons, CEO and Founder of Centre WISP.

“This service is bar-none the fastest, most reliable broadband available, and we’ve kept the price point accessible too. We’re activating customers in both service areas as we speak, and they are receiving real and immediate value from this significant investment,” he continued.

For more information about SEDA-COG’s loans, please contact John Reichard at jreichard@seda-cog.org or Brooks Luzier at bluzier@seda-cog.org.

As a community and economic development agency, SEDA-COG enhances the quality of life and economic advantage for residents and businesses in 11 central Pennsylvania counties through its vital partnerships and initiatives. SEDA-COG also is an advocate for the interests of its communities at the state and federal levels. For more information, visit www.seda-cog.org.

SEDA-COG recently assisted Actuated Medical, Inc. and Brave Stream LLC with a SEDA-COG EDA COVID-19 loan, a SEDA-COG ARC RLF loan, and a SEDA-COG IRP loan.

Actuated Medical, Inc. is a business based out of Bellefonte that strives to improve patient outcomes by designing the next generation of innovative and advanced medical devices.

The SEDA-COG EDA COVID-19 loan was for the purchase of new equipment. The new equipment will enable them to grow their machining capabilities, expand their neural device and endoscope research, and update some older equipment. The COVID loan was also for working capital to facilitate their ability to build inventory on a new product they have developed. The SEDA-COG ARC RLF and IRP loans were for property renovations that were completed by Weston Construction of Milesburg. 

“For more than 12 years, Actuated Medical has been located in 2 buildings. The SEDA-COG loans have enabled us to upgrade the facility and co-locate our team in one larger building. This is allowing us greater team interaction to innovate medical devices that improve patient outcomes. The funds have also been used to purchase advanced equipment to enhance our development capabilities and grow our contract services business,” said Maureen L. Mulvihill, Actuated Medical President & CEO

SEDA-COG partnered with Jersey Shore State Bank on this project. The SEDA-COG loans offered the borrower low-interest fixed rates for their financing needs. 

John Reichard, SEDA-COG Business Relationship Manager worked with Mulvihill and Trevor Stark, Commercial Lender at the North Atherton Street State College Branch of Jersey Shore State Bank, to bring this financing package to fruition.

Reichard said, “SEDA-COG is pleased to assist in the continued growth of Actuated Medical. The fixed rate loans we were able to provide will give the company some stability given the uncertain economic conditions and continued high inflation impacting small businesses.” 

For more information about SEDA-COG’s loans, please contact John Reichard at jreichard@seda-cog.org or Brooks Luzier at bluzier@seda-cog.org.     

As a community and economic development agency, SEDA-COG enhances the quality of life and economic advantage for residents and businesses in 11 central Pennsylvania counties through its vital partnerships and initiatives. SEDA-COG also is an advocate for the interests of its communities at the state and federal levels. For more information, visit www.seda-cog.org.

SEDA-COG recently welcomed Brooks Luzier as a Loan Officer within the Business Finance Department.

Luzier has over ten years of experience in banking, customer service, and sales. He previously worked as the Commercial Relationship Manager for Jersey Shore State Bank. Luzier currently serves as a Board Member for both the Lock Haven YMCA and the River Valley Regional YMCA. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Lock Haven University in 2010.

SEDA-COG is a community and economic development agency in Lewisburg and is one of seven Local Development Districts in Pennsylvania. SEDA-COG enhances the quality of life and economic advantage for residents and businesses in the 11 central Pennsylvania counties through its vital partnerships and initiatives.