Northwest Wisconsin Regional Economic Development Fund, Inc. (NWREDF) and Northwest Wisconsin Business Development Corporation (NWBDC) awarded two phases of financing to help Hayward Main Street Gourmet Popcorn purchase critical equipment and a manufacturing building.
Hayward Gourmet was established in 2008 and was purchased by Jennifer Vobornik and her family in early 2013. Vobornik purchased the shop as an existing business because it was located on Main Street in Hayward, which is a very tourist-driven small town.
“When my family purchased the shop, we were very eager to keep the original recipes, expand the offerings and grow the business,” Vobornik commented. The primary goal was to have a place where her children could learn about running a business and finance, as well as a place for them to learn about job skills and working hard.
Since Hayward Gourmet is a family-owned company, it takes pride in a high quality product alongside strong family values. As the owner of Hayward Gourmet, Vobornik strives to create a family-orientated business alongside a professional high grade gourmet product by making the product in small batches made daily for its customers.
Hayward Gourmet use high-end packaging to secure freshness of its product. All of the recipes are homemade and blended from several ingredients resulting in great flavors.
In early spring of 2018, their seller financing agreement was coming due and NWBDC stepped in to help purchase the remaining equipment. Then as sales continued to grow and the manufacturing space became limiting in the Main Street retail spot, Vobornik found the perfect location on California Avenue for manufacturing, order procurement and production, while being able to keep the Main Street location as their primary retail spot.
With a diverse funding stream from online orders, school fundraisers, popcorn party business consultants, wholesale to retailers like Scheels, Hy-Vee, Burnett Dairy, and the retail store on Main Street, Hayward Main Street Gourmet Popcorn was busting at the seams. NWREDF was able to secure gap financing for the purchase of the manufacturing building later that summer.
“Without the help of [NWBDC and NWREDF] we would have never been able to realize our goal of creating a family run business and expanding it into a business that hires employees locally and across the nation,” Vobornik said. “We are also grateful for the advice given by our loan officer as it really helped us stage the growth and successfully set up the loans for both projects,” Vobornik added.
NWREDF and NWBDC revolving loan funding provided the gap financing to purchase needed equipment and then manufacturing space to allow Hayward Main Street Gourmet Popcorn grow successfully with its orders. To see if your business would qualify for a startup, transition or expansion loan product at NWRPC, contact loan fund manager Ken Pearson at (715) 635-2197.