It's one down and 20 to go for Folsom's Torrey Loomis, who's turning his quest for a business loan into a very public test of local bank lending practices.
He's seeking $850,000 for a venture he says could quadruple the sales of his film production company – Silverado Systems Inc. – to $10 million.
What's unusual is his vow to apply to 21 local banks and post the lenders' responses on his blog at http://silveradosys.blogspot.com.
His first target was a loan officer at Tri Counties Bank, who indicated the bank wouldn't be able to help him. The banker was nice about it, Loomis says, but wasn't comfortable backing an expansion that exceeded Silverado's "historical growth."
Loomis says he isn't surprised by the response and expects much the same at the 20 other banks he's targeting – despite Silverado's $225,000 in net income last year on sales of $2.8 million.
"My director of operations told me you basically have to prove … that you don't need the money to get any money these days," he says.
That's not exactly the case, says Rick Smith, Tri Counties' president and CEO.
He's not commenting specifically about Loomis' dealings with Tri Counties.
But he says banks haven't changed their policies; they're still lending to qualified applicants.
It's just harder to find them now that the recession has stripped the value of borrowers' real estate holdings – a common form of collateral – and cut their revenues and cash flow.
"We're the stewards of our depositors' money, and we still need to make prudent, safe and sound loans," he says.
Hollywood north
Speaking of Silverado, the company this week hosted final production work on a new Jennifer Love Hewitt film titled "Cafe."
The Indie film with an ensemble cast was shot in Philadelphia in May using Silverado's state-of-the-art "red" cameras, then edited at Silverado's Folsom studio.
This week, the film's director, producer and a technician were here for "color correction," one of the final steps before the film can be released.
Another Silverado-edited film, "Broken Hill," starring Timothy Hutton, is also about to be released, Loomis says.
Making a case
There's a good story behind this week's Alaska Airlines announcement about its March 2010 start-up of daily service between Sacramento and Maui.
It came about at least in part because a delegation of local folks flew to Seattle in August to pitch the idea.
"They hadn't been thinking (about the service)," says Sac International spokeswoman Cheryl Marcell, who was on the trip with her boss, G. Hardy Acree, County Supervisor Roger Dickinson and SACTO chief Barbara Hayes.
They met with four or five Alaska execs, talked up Sacramento and presented data showing how well Aloha Airlines did on that route before ceasing all operations last year.
"Their eyes were opened," Marcell says.
The Sacramento reps also had the right answer when the airline's officials asked how they had gotten to Seattle.
"Of course," Marcell says, "we flew on Alaska."
Reach Bob Shallit at (916) 321-1049. Back columns: www.sacbee.com/shallit.
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