New York Business Development Corporation - October 2006 Newsletter
Success Story of the Month

Referred By:

 
Type of Business:  Cheese/Yogurt Manufacturer
Financing:  $1,295,000

For years, Hamdi Ulukaya worked for his family's cheese manufacturing business in Turkey. In 1994, Hamdi began managing his family's U.S. importing operation while at the same time establishing dairy contacts for obtaining the milk necessary for an eventual U.S. operation. Mr. Ulukaya started Euphrates, Inc. in 1997 to operate a feta cheese manufacturing facility from rented space in the Johnstown Industrial Park.

The operation performed so well that in 2005 with the help of ESCDC and Key Bank, Euphrates purchased the building it was leasing. At around the same time that Mr. Ulukaya decided to purchase the Euphrates building, an excellent opportunity arose to purchase a former Kraft yogurt manufacturing facility south of Utica at a great price. Hamdi had been researching the U.S. yogurt market for several years and was looking for the right opportunity to get it started.

Mr. Ulukaya contacted Pat Mucci and John Rajter from Key Bank to help finance an ambitious project involving two properties. Messrs. Mucci and Rajter worked with ESCDC loan officer Tom McHale to structure more than $5 million in total financing including two SBA 504 loans. The financing included funds to purchase the two buildings and provide the working capital necessary to get the yogurt operation started. Today, the feta cheese plant sells nearly $8 million of cheese annually throughout the Northeastern U.S.; at the same time, the yogurt operation is gaining new customers each day.

What a success! ESCDC got the job done!
"This was a very difficult financing structure but Key Bank and ESCDC took nearly all of the burden off me and got the financing in place. I was impressed with how well the two lenders worked together and shared information to eliminate any duplication of work." Hamdi Ulukaya, Owner, Euphrates, Inc.

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