Partnering for the Puurrr-fect Small Business Loan: The Story of Dr. Garthe, VMD
Veterinarian Dr. Garthe always had dreams of opening her own practice. Now, her dreams are becoming a reality with the help of Gateway Bank.
After working in other practices for over 35 years, Dr. Garthe decided to pursue starting her own. She wanted to launch as soon as possible, but it would take time and money to acquire a location, as well as construct and equip a new practice. Then, Dr. Garthe came up with a brilliant idea: She could provide mobile veterinary services to make house calls until her new office is ready.
This plan would all allow her to maximize her wait time and provide a convenient option for patients. Now she just needed the funds to make it happen. That’s where Gateway Bank came in.
Dr. Garthe met President James Christensen through a business broker, and she immediately noticed a difference. “I had talked with other lenders, but when I met with James, it was so much different,” Dr. Garthe explains. “He gave me the type of feeling I try to give my patients: that there’s a relationship and that they care.”
After talking with James, Dr. Garthe decided to proceed with Gateway on her small business loan. Since then, she has closed on her loan, signed a lease for her new office, and started construction.
Dr. Garthe has not only enjoyed partnering with Gateway to get financing, but also the experience after closing. “It’s been great working with a local bank that has amazing customer service and really cares,” she describes. “They put the extra time and effort into making sure you’ll succeed. You really become part of the family.”
We are grateful to play a small role in helping Dr. Garthe pursue her dreams and look forward to her practice, Paradise Point Animal Hospital, opening later this year near Tatum and Thunderbird! To learn more about her mobile clinic and future office, visit www.facebook.com/DrGartheOnTheGo.
5 stars from BauerFinancial: Relationship banking at its best
We’re proud to announce that BauerFinancial has awarded Gateway Bank a 5-star rating for the 34th consecutive quarter! Here is BauerFinancial’s release about the award.
January 2019: Coral Gables, Florida
BauerFinancial, Inc, the Nation’s Premier Bank Rating Firm, is pleased to announce that Gateway Bank, Mesa, Arizona has once again been awarded its highest (5-Star) rating for financial strength and stability. Earning a 5—Star rating indicates this bank excels in areas of capital adequacy, profitability) asset quality and much more. Earning and maintaining this top rating for 34 consecutive quarters, makes its status indisputable as one of the strongest banks in the nation.
”Gateway Bank’s ability to excel and consistently deliver a stellar financial performance, is a true testament to its values and dedication,” remarks Karen Dorway, president of BauerFinancial. “Through an unwavering commitment to its customers and personal relationships, Gateway Bank has distinguished itself as one of the strongest banks in the nation.”
Established in 2007, Gateway Bank has been building relationships and providing personalized solutions for its customers for 11 years. Today it operates through a conveniently located office on East Warner Road in Mesa and can also be found online at www.gcbaz.com.
Gateway Bank: “Your gateway to a new banking experience.”
Member of the FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender.
BAUERFINANCIAL, Inc., Coral Gables, Florida, the nation’s leading independent bank and credit union rating and research firm, has been reporting on and analyzing the performance of U.S. banks and credit unions since 1983. No institution can pay for or opt out of a BauerFinancial rating, Star ratings are all available for free at bauerfinancial.com.
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BAUERFINANCIAL, INC. PO. Box 143520, Coral Gables, FL 33114.
Loan CLOSED! Congratulations to the new owners of Kid Glove Inc.
Jack and Amanda Monti dreamed about acquiring a business in the Valley. With the help of Gateway Bank, they made that dream a reality.
Jack and Amanda came across an opportunity to acquire Kid Glove, a family-owned moving and storage company in Scottsdale, AZ. The business fit perfectly with their past experience and what they wanted to provide for their growing family of six.
Since the company was founded in 1992, the company has become known in the Valley for their furniture delivery and installation, residential and commercial relocation, and receiving and inspection services. They serve clients in many industries — designers, builders, realtors, home owners, and many more — and also provide 20,000 square feet of climate-controlled warehouse for receiving and storage.
The Montis were intrigued by the opportunity to acquire Kid Glove and needed financing for the purchase. Their attorney, James Kuzmich had worked with Gateway Bank for many years and referred them to us. EVP/Chief Credit Officer Don Thompson and Vice President Christie Boutain collaborated closely with Jack and Amanda on a creative financing structure. Don, Christie, and Anthony Bodnar worked with another lender that needed to be paid off and coordinated all of the key stakeholders, including the borrower, the seller, their respective attorneys, the title company, and the landlord’s agent and attorney.
With Gateway’s help, Jack and Amanda successfully closed on the acquisition in September 2018. Their goal was to make the process as smooth and easy as possible for themselves and Kid Glove’s team. The Montis are proud to have achieved that goal and retained all staff members through the transition.
“Thank you so much Christie, Anthony and Don,” Jack said. “Amanda and I are so impressed with Gateway Bank, and so happy to be working with you all. Thank you all so much.”
With the acquisition complete, Jack and Amanda are looking forward to continuing the company’s legacy and giving clients across the Valley the “kid-glove treatment”!
Loan CLOSED! Bunker Family Funerals & Cremation is expanding in Gilbert
Gilbert has been the largest municipality in the U.S. without a cemetery— until now, thanks to Bunker Family Funerals and Cremation. This fourth-generation family business, which currently runs two funeral homes in Mesa, is working with Gateway Bank for their construction and permanent loan so they can build a new funeral home and the first cemetery in Gilbert, to be called Gilbert Memorial Park.
Located at Queen Creek Road and 158th Street, Gilbert Memorial Park is set to open in 2019. It will encompass 22 acres of manicured gardens, indoor and outdoor cremation memorialization options, private family estates, as well as a new facility for funerals, spiritual services, tributes, luncheons, and more.
Gilbert Mayor Jenn Daniels and Town Council members joined the Bunker family for the park’s groundbreaking over the summer.
“This is a remarkable way to provide a needed service to the community. … It’s going to be a beautiful place run by a very reputable company,” Daniels told KTAR News 92.3 FM for a recent feature story.
Gateway Bank is proud to be part of the Bunker family’s new venture. Bunker has been a Gateway customer since 2012 and chose to partner with us on the loan for this new project because of our longstanding relationship and creative solutions to complex challenges.
For example, due to the size of the project, Gateway needed a participant bank to help with financing. Fortunately, EVP/Chief Credit Officer Don Thompson had developed relationships with several other banks over the years and was able to engage them as partners for the loan.
This deal also required a unique approach to underwriting and coordination with many stakeholders, including the Town of Gilbert, Bunker’s attorneys, and the participant banks. Through collaboration, due diligence, and frequent communication, we were able to navigate these complexities and bring the financing to close.
President Bryce Bunker commended Don and his team for their patience and perseverance. “Just wanted you to know that we appreciate your hard work on this loan,” he said. “We have loved banking with Gateway. Thanks in advance for pushing hard to get this thing done in the coming days! We appreciate you!”
Blake Bunker added,”Thank you for working with us on getting this loan done. I know it was a lot of work on your end and we asked a lot of you. We look forward to a successful and long-standing relationship with Gateway.”
Our goal at Gateway Bank is to help our customers achieve their dreams. We’re proud to be part of making Bunker’s vision a reality and providing the Town of Gilbert with a top-class funeral home facility and cemetery. Congratulations to Bunker on starting the next chapter in their business, and thanks to Don Thompson, Christie Boutain, and the Gateway team for working their magic!
For more information on Gilbert Memorial Park and to see the facility come to life, follow them on Facebook at facebook.com/GilbertMemorialPark.
Making a difference together
When Frank Rosenberg starts a business, he always looks to make a positive impact on his community. His latest venture, the LBW Training Center, fits right in with his mission to accomplish good. The training center is a healthcare education facility known for its unique style, and top-notch teachers. “We focus on providing high quality healthcare education and a fun learning environment,” said Frank.
In his first year of running the center, Frank and his team tripled the number of people taking courses, and maintained the center’s reputation for teaching the best courses in the valley. In addition to training approximately 3,000 professionals in the valley, Frank and his staff are very dedicated to giving back to our community. Of course, that’s where our two paths intersected.
Personal connections make running a business easier
Frank was introduced to Gateway bank through one of our employees, Scott Morris, at the Mesa West Rotary Club, where both men volunteer. Before banking with us, Frank was working with a large national bank. “Nobody there knew who I was. They just took my deposit and waved goodbye.” Now that he’s with Gateway, Frank says, “Things are more about relationships. The people at Gateway know who I am, and I know they’ll take care of me.”
Why we love our staff
“The people at Gateway are the best professionals in the area. I no longer feel stressed out about anything related to banking. They gave us a business line of credit when most banks weren’t offering that. They just have less hoops to jump through.” In addition to all that, Frank says what he really likes about us is our people. “The people at Gateway are really the best part about banking there.”
Thanks, Frank. We appreciate your support and the opportunity to tell your story. We can’t wait to see what you do next. Whatever it is, we know our community will be grateful for it.
What we learned from “love your local bank” month
Local First Arizona put on a speed dating event to help local businesses get hooked up with local banks. We sent a group of our team members, including our president, James Christensen, out to the event to see what it was all about, and we were really happy with the spirit of local self-reliance.
The big bank blues
Lots of local businesses start banking with one of the big guys, only to find that they’re seen as small potatoes. James said he heard many small business owners talking about similar problems. “People were telling me they experienced very slow responses, or no responses at all. They were frustrated with not having a specific person for their account who they could call.”
Our team makes the difference
We’re fortunate to have amazing team members who are in this for the long haul. When James was talking to people at the speed dating event, he found that business owners really just want to find a reliable partner. “They wanted to find a connection. I told everybody when they came up that what makes Gateway better than everyone else is our team, and the amount of experience we have. Between myself and our COO and CFO we have almost 100 years of experience.”
This is how local starts
Right now, even though small and mid-sized banks like us control less than one-quarter of all bank assets, we account for more than half of all small business lending. The problem? Arizonans have deposited 96% of their money into banks with out-of-state ownership, leaving us with only 4%. One of the goals of events like these are to raise that percentage from 4% to 10%. Think of how much more good we’d be able to do for local businesses if got even close! With events like this one popping up, we know the only place to go from here is up.
Love comes full circle
When we started the Local Love campaign, we weren’t really sure what to expect. We hoped that by giving away part of our marketing budget to a small, local business, we’d be able to make a real difference for someone local, and meet people who truly cared about our community. As it turned out, we heard from quite a few passionate people about the many different businesses who were all well-deserving of the award. However, we could only pick one business to receive our award.
Congratulations to our winner, Antrim Air
After reviewing all of the submissions, we decided Antrim Air, a locally owned and operated HVAC repair company, would receive the award. Talitha and Anthony Gilmore founded Antrim AIr about three years ago and have dedicated themselves to providing high quality, honest repair work for people in our community ever since. They are true ambassadors of the spirit of the Local Love campaign and we couldn’t be happier to be helping them out.
True customer appreciation
When we contacted Antrim Air to let them know they had been selected, they didn’t even know they had been nominated. Their customers were the ones who had submitted a nomination, which helped validate Talitha and Anthony’s style of doing business. “For a customer to take the time to write why they love us is amazing,” said Talitha. “It’s very humbling, and a reminder of why we do business the way we do, because it does come back to you. Karma is real.”
Kindred spirits
As we got to know Talitha and Anthony, we grew even happier that they were selected for the award because of how much they value community. “I go to great lengths to shop local. I think that’s paying back. I’d rather help put your daughter through college than line the pockets of billionaires.”
We think Anthony and Talitha summed up all of our feelings about this campaign when they said, “This has been really awesome.”
Together, we’ll all go further
After falling in love with the atmosphere and food, we recently sponsored Food Truck Friday at the Gilbert Food Truck Food Court by paying the vendor fees for all of the trucks for a night. After the event, we spoke with our client, Casey Stechnij from Udder Delights, who shared some insights about food truck events, and why they’ve chosen us for their banking needs.
Building community
The food truck scene is thriving because they’ve built something special. The food is excellent, but it’s really about creating connections between people. There’s local entertainment, and the seating is set up community style to encourage conversation. Casey said that people have thanked him for setting up the tables like that, saying things like, “I met my neighbor of 15 years who I never met before, we shared a conversation over a hotdog.” Casey chose to bank at Gateway for many of the same reasons we wanted to sponsor the food truck event. “We team up and work with people who believe what we believe and who care about family, I believe Gateway is that kind of a bank. I wanted to support a bank who supports me and my community.”
We’re all in this together
Things like being able to eat sinfully good, locally produced ice cream and attend fun events like food truck friday are part of what makes our community special. We’re proud to be part of making these events possible in whatever way we can. Because as Casey points out, small businesses need a thriving, supportive community to succeed. “One thing I’ve learned after having been a dairy farmer my whole life, and especially since we started the Gilbert food truck events, is that as a small business you need response from the community. You can’t go at it alone.”
We couldn’t have said it any better ourselves.
