Back in September a growing Vermont gluten free and vegan cookie company, Liz Lovely, Inc., competed on Shark Tank, a national television show where entrepreneurs pitch their business to multi-million dollar investors. The episode, airing on September 28, 2012 can be viewed with review and comments on Examiner.
Now, almost seven months later, the little green state of Vermont has taken care of its own and through socially responsible investing has provided Liz Lovely with the $200,000 and then some requested of Shark Tank without giving up ten percent ownership in the company to any sharks, as was the offer on the show.
Liz Lovely is a mission based, gluten free and vegan cookie company located in Waitsfield, Vermont. Sixteen varieties of gluten free, vegan, allergen friendly, non-GMO, 100% all natural cookies are handcrafted in Vermont’s Mad River Valley with no compromises to taste and texture. Founded in 2003 by Liz and Dan Holtz, Liz Lovely cookies can be found at over 2000 grocery retailers across the country.
“Our Shark Tank appearance and related publicity inspired interest from a deluge of out-of-state investors, but it would have been the wrong fit. They were solely seeking an unreasonably high financial return. They were not interested in sustainability, in Vermont, or in creating jobs in the Mad River Valley,” Dan remarks.
In Vermont, it’s sustainability in the working landscape that matters and the $200,000 and then some needed to grow Liz Lovely came from a financing package unique to Vermont. Northfield Savings Bank, a Vermont bank, was able to refinance the business and offer additional capital for equipment. The State of Vermont provided an employee training grant, and the business park landlord agreed to lease the additional space. Liz Lovely’s working capital to hire a sales force, cover marketing expenditures, and increase inventory came from the VSJF Flexible Capital Fund, L3C, a mission-based royalty financing source that provides equity-like loans through revenue sharing for expanding Vermont food and energy businesses.
Janice St. Onge, president of the Flexible Capital Fund explains, “Our royalty financing program (Flex Fund) preserves equity and decision-making abilities which was a good fit for a company whose mission is ‘real food, good jobs, and environmentally sustainable business practices’. In turn, we saw great market opportunity and a strong management team with good advisory capacity, and, it fit with our mission. Liz Lovely has a strong consumer following, passionate entrepreneurial owners, and a track record in growing good paying jobs. Additionally, through their continued support and mentorship of other emerging value-added agriculture businesses in the Mad River Food Hub, Liz Lovely is helping to advance the Flex Fund’s food system goal of conserving and protecting agriculturally productive land in Vermont and the region.”
“The Flex Fund was on our wavelength in terms of mission,” Dan remarks. “The Flex Fund does not take equity and we know exactly what our pay back is going to be. We can grow the business in the way we want, without giving up control or compromising our ethics.”
Liz Lovely currently employs 18 full time, salaried, full-benefits employees and may reach 20 by the end of the year. Growth plans include launching a new, single serve gluten free cookie line for the purpose of selling to institutions such as hospitals and ski resorts. Many of the ingredients used in Liz Lovely’s bakery are not currently part of Vermont's agricultural landscape (except maple syrup, which they buy exclusively in Vermont). However, Liz Lovely is committed to working to facilitate demand and/or access to the nascent market of wheat and rice production in Vermont and the region. They are looking to source unbleached wheat flour this year from Vermont producers.
Liz Lovely started as a way for a young couple in love to get to Vermont, build a life together, grow a business committed to the local economy, and provide a safe and healthy alternative to mainstream, commercially produced cookies. It took ten years to reach a million dollars in sales, and the publicity generated by Shark Tank sharply increased demand and customer engagement, turning the growth curve from a steady climb into a steep incline. Liz Lovely would not give up on their quest for financing and ringing true that Vermonters take care of one another, it was Vermont’s alternative financing options that sealed the deal.
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